I've read a couple of novels set in the time of Queen Victoria of England, but this one is set during her infancy, when she was a young princess and heir to the throne rather than firmly seated upon it.
Blackstone by Richard Falkirk (aka Derek Lambert), is set in a time when the "Peelers" under Sir Robert Peel (metropolitan police force) was in the ascendancy and the Bow Street Runners (who were not restricted to one city, and were at times hired to solve crime - and thus susceptible to corruption), were on their last legs. Edmund Blackstone, one of the Bow Street Runners, who by his own admissions "is a bit of a crook" (and thus earns our empathy immediately), is assigned as a bodyguard to the young princess when a kidnapping plot is revealed.
Blackstone enters the royal household, which in itself is den of plots and conspiracies, before journeying back into the underbelly of London. Following an attempt on Blackstone, he is removed from his position and the young princess faces much danger. Along the way we constantly encounter the mysterious Henry Challoner who is either "a bit of a tool" (according to my own indecipherable handwriting) or is but a tool - I think both may be apt.
The story was well written and the action rolls along, building to the inevitable climax, where the end is revealed ..... to an extent.
Obviously since first reading this I now realise that this was just the one in a series of five. I do hope the other four (Blackstone on Broadway, Blackstone Underground, Blackstone's Fancy, and Beau Blackstone) will also be republished quite soon as I think this will be a series that will be successful.
(Side note: I like Goodreads member David's suggestion of a series starring Russel Crowe - or possibly Sean Bean or even Iain Glen)
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