London
Christmas, 1889
The widowed Queen Victoria reigns over an empire on which the "sun never sets," and London is bright with holiday decorations. Detective Rudyard Bloodstone's career is moving along well as Holborn Station's lead investigator. And, his year had gotten even better when he met London's celebrated music hall star, Honeysuckle Flowers.

As he and his lady embark on celebrating the holidays, Rudyard grows homesick for Wales and his family there. He makes plans to see his parents and thinks it is the perfect time to introduce Honeysuckle to them. To his unhappy surprise, his mother paints her with a trollop's brush. His mother is firm: he is loved and missed and most welcome in the family home but not his lady. He must choose between them and to choose means the risk of losing the other.