Spitalfields, 1840. Catherine Sorgeiul lives with her Uncle in a rambling house in London's East End. When a murderer strikes, ripping open the chests of young girls and stuffing hair into their mouths to resemble a beak, Catherine is both horrified and fascinated.As the murders continue to panic the city, however, she gradually realizes she is snared in a deadly trap, where nothing is as it first appears -- for lurking behind the lies Catherine has been told are secrets more deadly and devastating than anything her imagination can conjure.