Since the death of her husband, Anne Blakhall has carried on their shared tailoring business in the heart of London. Rather than remarry, she has taken on a lover: Daved Weir, a foreign merchant who must conceal the fact he is a Jew, or face deadly peril.
Dame Frevisse of St Frideswide's nunnery is in London to arrange funeral vestments for her cousin's murdered husband, the Duke of Suffolk. She encounters Anne and Daved, but her duty and their love become more dangerous as a rebel army approaches the city. Threatened by the Inquisition, Dame Frevisse must find out who is guilty and whether anyone at all is innocent.