The Mute of Pendywick Place

London, November 3, 1881. A young woman slips through the curtains of fog down Pendy Corner to the 26th house in the row. She vacillates at the gate. For, past that sullen door, she must seek the help of the distinctively eccentric and impatient young language expert named Basil Collingwood. The fate of Europe, and indeed, the free peoples of the world may depend upon getting him to understand her. The only trouble? She cannot speak a word.

Christmas is forbidden at Pendywick Place. A tragic shadow from Basil Collingwood’s past looms over the season. Nevertheless, he plans to take Victoria to the Hampton Court Christmas Ball, to confront his former mentor - and her attempted murderer - Professor Winchester. If they can steal back Victoria’s unbreakable code from him, they may save England itself. If they cannot, it will put all of Europe in grave danger. 

An intruder has broken into Pendywick Place, attempting to steal back Victoria’s torn page. This spurs Basil and Victoria to strike up an alliance with Lord Fred Brody and his siblings - and it sweeps them to the bustling city of Bath in pursuit of the menacing Professor Winchester. But while they attempt to navigate the treacherous social waters, the tenuous bond between Basil and Victoria may be strained to breaking. And the looming confrontation with the increasingly-volatile Winchester if approached without heed, could prove to be fatal.

It is too late to retrieve the code. Victoria and Basil must instead recreate it and get it to the queen as fast as possible. To do that, they must travel to the remote Yorkshire seaside, along with Basil’s sister and her husband, and their friend Fred Brody, to a vast, empty house of Professor Winchester’s where Victoria’s reference books reside. But a ghostly presence begins to interfere, drawing closer and closer every day. Will Victoria, who has already lost so much and achieved so much, be able to stop her old mentor’s wicked plans once and for all?