A mysterious murder leads presidential aide Adam Quinn to a Confederate spy ring in this “clever mystery” by the New York Times–bestselling author (Kirkus Reviews).
 
July 4, 1861. On Independence Day, the citizens of Washington, D.C., are celebrating as if the country hasn’t gone to war. But the city is teeming with Union recruits, and President Lincoln is at work with his War Department on a military strategy that will bring the conflict to a swift end. Manassas, Virginia, near Bull Run Creek, is in their sights.
 
As Congress convenes the next morning, a dead body is found hanging from the crane beneath the unfinished dome of the Capitol. Lincoln’s confidant, Adam Speed Quinn, is called upon to investigate what he soon determines to be murder. Working with Dr. George Hilton and journalist Sophie Gates, the former scout finds himself up against a Confederate sympathizer running a female spy network. She has an insidious plot to foil the Union Army’s march to Manassas—and it involves sending one of her most charming spies to get as close to Quinn as possible.