By 1875, Wilkie Collins' reputation as the leading practitioner of "sensation fiction" had already been established. The Law and the Lady builds on that tradition by introducing one of English literature's earliest women detectives, Valeria Woodville, who investigates the murder of her husband's first wife in the attempt to prove him guiltless. Rich in plot and characters, including the extraordinary "manmachine" Miserrimus Dexter and his female cousin, "Ariel," the novel exposes the repression of Victorian domestic life and marriage.