The Assassination Bureau Limited

The late Queen Victoria may have been the longest-reigning of any British monarch to date, but in early 20th Century Britain there are still a great many avenues firmly closed to women. For Sonya Winter, her burning passion - and one such closed door - is journalism. A systemic boys' club, any female hoping to break down its walls needs her wits about her and the luck of a lifetime.

Sonya, however, believes she has just the thing.

Having noticed a pattern in a number of high-profile deaths and disasters, Miss Winter believes she has uncovered the existence of a top-secret international agency offering killers for hire. Seeking out Lord Charles Bostwick, the American-born proprietor of the most respected newspaper in the land, she sets about convincing him to commit to her story - and when he accepts the proposal, immediately sets about securing a most fascinating tale.

Through a blind street-hawker and a genteel Mayfair milliner, Sonya soon finds herself in the presence of the suave Ivan Dragomiloff, chairman of The Assassination Bureau (Limited), and international association of ruthless - but apparently principled - killers: they will take on any case as long as a sound moral argument can be made against the target.

A man of charm and effortless cunning, Dragomiloff is never the less taken aback to discover the victim Miss Winter has in mind: himself! Quickly deducing the commission would be an excellent task to challenge and trial his company's various international players, he accepts the job - and so begins a cat-and-mouse chase that leads both Ivan and Sonya across Britain and continental Europe.

In the process they unveil a horrifying scheme to bring about an unimaginably destructive war that will have every country of the civilised world fighting with each other. If Ivan can ensure Sonya's co-operation to first save himself, they may also be able to save Europe, and the rest of the planet.