The Crimson Circle

A shadowy figure controls a cabal of criminals that could bring London to its knees

In the black of night, a gang of workmen gather in the forest of France to assemble a guillotine. They open a few bottles of wine as they work, and one hammers a nail into the wrong spot. At dawn, the nail blocks the blade, and a prisoner survives to escape his fate. Many years later, that nail will doom more than a dozen men.

In London, a ruined financier stands on the verge of committing suicide. He is co...