It is March 4, 1861, the day of Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration, and the president-elect’s trusted entourage is on their guard. Allan Pinkerton, head of security, is wary of potential assassins. And Lincoln’s oldest friend, Joshua Speed, is by his side, along with Speed’s nephew, Adam Quinn—called back from the Kansas frontier to serve as the president’s assistant and jack-of-all-trades.
 
Despite the tight security, trouble comes nonetheless. A man is found stabbed to death in a nearby room, only yards from the president. Not wishing to cause alarm, Lincoln dispatches young Quinn to discreetly investigate. Though he is new to Washington, DC, he must navigate through high society, political personages, and a city preparing for war in order to solve the crime. Quinn finds unexpected allies in a determined female journalist named Sophie Gates, and Dr. Hilton, a free man of color. Together they must make haste to apprehend a killer. Nothing less than the fate of the nation is at stake.