1889. Barely a year after the mysterious Jack the Ripper's murderous rampage and equally mysterious disappearance the city of Mansfordshire, England is shaken by a series of brutal "mangling" murders that plunge the city into an abyss of fear. Investigating the case, Continental Operatives Jeffrey Tiffen Smythe and his partner the gender bending adventuress lady Fiona Fiziwigg uncover the threads that bind the murderer, his victims, the highest echelons of society, it's lowest dregs, and even the police officers investigating the case in a tangled web of mystery, adventure, intrigue--And murder!