Thane Parker, Earl of Mansfield, is home from the war and prepared to do his duty to family name and estates. His guardianship of the crippled teenage daughter of a dead friend has a scandal brewing that can be easily quelled if he takes a bride. Scandal, though, is of little importance when compared to his secret mission for crown and country. A serial killer who is on the loose appears to be of noble birth. He is so focused on tracking down the villain he has little time for wife hunting.

Miss Lindsey Crompton, daughter of a spectacularly successful merchant, is determined to make her own way in the world unencumbered by a husband or society's strictures. Her most cherished dream is to become a private detective and set up a discreet agency focused on solving mysteries for highborn clients. This ambition is in direct opposition to her mother's goal to use Lindsey's stupendous dowry to buy the family a connection with a titled family. After her failure with Lindsey's elder sister, her mother will stop at nothing to succeed in marrying Lindsey off to the vile Lord Wrayford, heir to the Duke of Sylvester. Lindsey's only hope is to use her sleuthing skills to find proof of Lord Wrayford's perfidy and to spy out something that makes him undesirable and unworthy in even her mother's eyes.

With each bent on their own mission, it is only a matter of time before Thane's path crosses with Lindsey's. Despite Thane's focus on trailing a killer, he is far from immune to Lindsey's luscious form and challenging personality. For her part, Lindsey must put aside her body's traitorous response to Thane's touch when clues begin to fall into place that point to Thane as the serial killer stalking the maids of London.

NEVER TRUST A ROGUE is Olivia Drake's second book in the Heiress of London series.