Shadow in the North is the second in a trilogy by Pullman that features Sally Lockhart. In the first book, The Ruby in the Smoke, Sally arrives in London from India to discover her father is missing.

Her search for him leads her into great danger and introduces her to Webster and Frederick Garland, who assist her in exchange for her help in reviving their photography business. When Sally learns of her father's murder and her true identity, these new friends become her family. The Tiger in the Well (1990) completes the series of books.

Sally, now in her late twenties, finds life busy with her business, her daughter, and an investigation into an organization that is cheating Jewish immigrants, but when an old enemy reappears with a questionably legal marriage license, she must use all her wits and abilities to keep her life from falling apart...