Lizard Village, 1903. It’s the beginning of a new century, and wireless telegraph companies around the world are scrambling to develop the new communications technology. But Italian prodigy Guglielmo Marconi beats them to the punch by sending the first wireless signal across the Atlantic from his station on the Lizard. Naturally, his feat has bruised some egos, but no one expects sabotage—much less murder.

After two apparently accidental deaths at the Marconi transmission station, Charles, Lord Sheridan, an amateur forensic detective and avid wireless enthusiast, is asked to head an investigation. And when he finds that valuable equipment and the notebook describing it have disappeared, the deaths look more like murders than accidents.

Meanwhile, Kate Sheridan visits Lady Loveday, who lives on nearby Frenchman’s Creek and whose little girl has recently drowned. Soon it becomes clear that the drowning and the dirty tricks at the station are connected to an enigmatic stranger—and to foreign espionage, malicious intrigue, and inexplicable messages sent out of the blue…