Madeline Deveridge is all too aware of the whispers behind her back, the rumors that she dispatched her husband to the next world and concealed her crime. But Madeline has a far more pressing problem than being called the Wicked Widow. She fears that she and her beloved aunt are being haunted! And all the evidence points to one improbable culprit: the ghost of her late husband. Of course it is impossible, but Madeline cannot take chances. So she dares summon the only person with the power to help her uncover the truth--Artemis Hunt. Brilliant, relentless, reclusive, Artemis has made it his business to keep much of his private life hidden. No one knows that he's the owner of the Dream Pavilions, London's favorite pleasure gardens, or that he's a master of an arcane society. Curiosity brings him out on a fog-shrouded night to meet the infamous Wicked Widow, but his amusement quickly flees when he realizes that Madeline has learned enough about his affairs to wreak havoc on his carefully ordered existence. He must secure her guarantee never to divulge his secrets to anyone, even if it means helping her track down a phantom. As soon as the bargain is struck, Artemis and Madeline find their arrangement complicated by a searing desire, and the frightening realization that the ghost poses a very real danger. Now they must plunge into a world of intrigue and ancient mysteries, where a tantalizing passion--and a calculating killer--will not be denied.