In Tasha Alexander’s novel The Counterfeit Heiress, after an unusual encounter at a grand masquerade ball, Lady Emily becomes embroiled in the murder investigation of one of the guests, a sometime actress aiming to pass herself off as the mysterious heiress and world tourist Estella Lamar. Each small discovery, however, qualified prospects to more questions. Was the designed sufferer Miss Lamar or the imposter? And who would want either of them dead?

As Emily and Colin make an effort to make sense of most this, a more substantial puzzle begins to emerge: Nobody has actually seen Estella Lamar in years, since her just contact has experienced letters and the occasional blurry news picture. Is she even alive? Emily and Colin’s investigation of this double mystery takes them from London to Paris, where, with their friend Cécile, they need to scour the darkest sides of the town searching for the truth.