Scholastica, or Tick, has grown up helping her father make candles in his shop. The experience has its ups and downs--while constantly smelling like tallow makes it hard for Tick to keep friends, stray cats love her. Still, she delights in the work and the fact that she can help Papa. Because she's a girl, Tick can never be a true apprentice in the trade, but since she gets to do the job anyway, what does it matter what she's called?...Then one morning...

Mrs. Violet Wood is London's premier medium. Her ambition and work ethic are relentless, and her unique abilities have earned her quite the reputation among London's elite. Mrs. Wood knows just how to read her wealthy patrons and deliver them exactly the messages they long to hear from their loved ones visiting from beyond the grave. However, one London newspaperman is on a quest to expose the false mediums among them, just as the pressure increases...

Aurelie is an overworked, under-appreciated apprentice at Basil's Bakery. She values the stability the job offers, so she keeps her head down and doesn't dare to dream big-- until a stranger walks in and hands her a set of Seeking stones. In a country where Seeking was old-fashioned even before magic went out of style, it is a rare skill, but Aurelie has it. The bounty hunter, Iliana, needs help rescuing someone from the dangerous Underwood. Now Aurelie...

"London, 1668. When printer's apprentice Lucy Campion comes to the aid of a desperate young ragpicker, arrested for graverobbing, little does she suspect that the meeting will have unexpected consequences. For when Mercy finds a dead woman in the ruins of Christchurch, dressed in unexpected finery, it's to Lucy who she turns for help ..."--