The Sign of Silence
1915
London, 1915. Edward Royle lunches with the exquisite Phrida Shand at an elegant restaurant, red tulips between them, discussing the strange vanishing of his friend Sir Digby Kemsley - an engineer whose identity has begun to unravel under scrutiny. Is he genuine nobility or a dangerous imposter? The question becomes moot when a woman's brutal murder is discovered in Sir Digby's flat, and Royle must navigate a labyrinth of deception, hidden loves, and past sins to find the truth. As if the mystery weren't poisonous enough, he faces the cruelest doubt of all: the woman he loves may be concealing secrets that could destroy him. Le Queux serves up a deliciously dark Edwardian thriller, where surface elegance masks murder, betrayal, and the desperate search for truth in a world where everyone wears a mask.
