About the book

“Archer has a real gift for family sagas, and here, with Warwick, he’s launching what promises to be a series just as riveting as the Clifton Chronicles.” —Booklist THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA William Warwick has always wanted to be a detective and decides that, rather than become a lawyer like his influential father, he will join London’s Metropolitan Police Force. And so, after university, William embarks on a career that will define his life: from his early months on the beat to his first high-stakes case as a fledgling detective in Scotland Yard’s arts and antiquities squad. THE END OF AN OLD REGIME Investigating the theft of a priceless Rembrandt painting, William meets Beth Rainsford, a research assistant at the gallery with whom he falls hopelessly in love. But Beth has a secret—one that threatens to tear her and William apart. Meanwhile, as he follows the trail of the missing masterpiece, William comes up against an art collector and his influential lawyer, a man who knows everyone and sfears no one—and will use whatever means necessary to keep William off his client’s trail. . . “Archer is a master entertainer.” —Time