Fiona Lanyon

In 1850s Australia, in the lively colony of Port Victory, Jack Dawkins aka The Artful Dodger, has transferred his fast fingers as a pickpocket to the nimble skilled fingers of a surgeon. Dodger's past returns to haunt him with the arrival of Fagin, luring him back into a world of crime. A greater threat – to Dodger's heart – is Lady Belle, the Governor's daughter, determined to become the colony's first female surgeon.

Two strangers strike up a conversation on a long journey. One is a suspect in an unsolved missing person’s case and the other an undercover operative on his trail. Their uneasy friendship becomes the core of this tightly wrought thriller, which is based on the true story of one of the largest investigations and undercover operations in Australia.