Book excerpt: Young widow Annabel Chalfont, Countess of Fellbridge, has two small sons to raise, a mountain of her late husband’s debts to pay off, and a secret: she’s a shadow-shaper, able to manipulate shadow as anyone else might clay. She and six other high-born ladies with equally extraordinary abilities defend England against supernatural crime—but the world knows them only as the Lady Patronesses of Almack’s, Regency London’s most exclusive social venue. Annabel is part of the Ladies’ investigation of an extremely sensitive matter: the attempted blackmail of a member of the royal family. Meanwhile, she’s trying to help a lovelorn pigeon and discover why Lord Quinceton is suddenly shunning her and devoting himself instead to her fellow Lady Patroness, Frances Dalrymple. When the Ladies begin to suspect that one of their number might be leading a double life, Annabel wonders if all these circumstances might not be related…