A thrilling mystery featuring detective Ebenezer Gryce of the New York Metropolitan Police Force, written by a pioneer of American crime fiction. Mrs. Daniels, housekeeper of the famous diplomat Mr. Blake, reports a missing person to the precinct where the detective Mr. Gryce works. A servant girl has disappeared, and Mrs. Daniels suspects she has been abducted. Strangely, Mr. Blake takes little interest in the young woman's whereabouts. Throughout the course of the investigation, Gryce and his assistant, Q., uncover some baffling details. Why does Mr. Blake frequent dark alleys in New York? Who is the woman in the portrait that hangs in his study? What ensues is a detective story that could only have been penned by the author hailed as "the mother of the detective novel."

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