Long Spoon Lane - Anne Perry

You need a very long spoon indeed to dine with the devil.

Early one morning, two bombs explode in an East London street. Forewarned of the anarchists' attack, Thomas Pitt of the Special Branch arrives in time to chase the bombers to a tenement in Long Spoon Lane. There, two men are arrested and one shot dead - but who and where and is the killer?

As Pitt investigates, he uncovers truths more disturbing than the acts of a few misguided idealists. There's a web of corruption within the police force, and all the clues point to Inspector Wetron of Bow Street as its mastermind. But as head of the sinister Inner Circle, Wetron has powerful allies in every sphere.

Fears aroused by the attack are being whipped up by the press, and a bill to arm the London police is about to be rushed through Parliament. Then Pitt's most deadly enemy, Sir Charles Voisey, approaches him with the proposal that they join forces, to prevent Wetron becoming the most powerful man in England. In spite of the danger to himself, his family and his colleagues, Pitt feels he has no option but to agree.