Sydney, 1871. Twenty-five-year-old widow Tatty Crowe is the owner of busy undertaking firm Crowe Funerals. Life and business are good until Tatty notices how many women are dying after unlawful abortions, and after a terrible tragedy strikes close to home, she vows to expose the culprit. And then there are the whispered rumours of baby farming. Once again Tatty sets out to investigate the crisis and finds herself immersed in the dark and sometimes heartless world of paid foster care and adoption. Along the way she encounters an old foe, and clashes with a new adversary who, it transpires, is far more dangerous. From the grim slums of Chippendale and Newtown to the grand houses of Woolloomooloo to Sydney's rowdy Criminal Court, comes the next chapter in the story of compassionate and clever - but headstrong - Tatty Crowe.