This book won the Pengin Most Wanted Competition recently - it's got a most unusual central protagonist and is set in Colonial 1880's Sydney.
From the Blurb:
One of the convict colony's soldiers has been murdered and Governor Ralph Darling is not pleased.
Reluctantly, he turns to Nicodemus Dunne for help. Dunne, a fallen Bow Street RUnner now transported to Australia, makes his living as a running patterer, hawking news on the dusty streets. Only he has the detective skills required to chase down the ritual killer and stop the ever-bewildering series of gruesome murders that follow the first.
Opening Lines:
A scarlet-coated soldier, a private of His Britannic Majesty King George IV's 57th Regiment of Foot, was dreaming, drunk and disorderly, as he leant against the bar with his head on his arms. He dreamt he was home in his West Middlesex village, safe and sweaty in the arms of his common-law wife. He hadn't seen her for years, didn't know if he ever would again.
Sydney, 1828. All is not well. One of the convict colony's soldiers has been murdered and Governor Ralph Darling is not pleased.
Reluctantly, he turns to Nicodemus Dunne for help. Dunne, a fallen Bow Street Runner now transported to Australia, makes his living as a running patterer, hawking news on the dusty streets. Only he has the detective skills required to chase down the ritual killer and stop the ever-bewildering series of gruesome murders that follow the first.
As he searches, Dunne joins forces with the entrancing seamstress Rachel Dormin and soon discovers that too many people, from the Governor down, have secrets worth killing for.