Charles Maddox was an up-and-coming officer for the Metropolitan police until a charge of insubordination abruptly ended his career. Now he works alone, struggling to eke out a living by tracking down criminals. Whenever he needs it, he has the help of his great-uncle Maddox, a legendary “thief taker,” a detective as brilliant and intuitive as they come.
He’s approached by Edward Tulkinghorn, the shadowy and feared attorney, who offers him a handsome price to do some sleuthing for a client. Powerful financier Sir Julius Cremorne has been receiving threatening letters, and Tulkinghorn wants Charles to—discreetly—find and stop whoever is responsible. What starts as a relatively straight forward case soon spirals out of control, and is further complicated when uncle Maddox shows signs of forgetfulness and anger, symptoms of an age-related ailment that has yet to be named. (To further confuse matters, this book is published in UK under another title – Tom-All-Alone’s.)