Ratcatcher aka Hawkwood — James McGee

James McGee's historical crime thriller introduces a Regency-era James Bond who uncovers a sinister Napoleonic plot against Britain.

The year is 1811, and Bow Street Runner Matthew Hawkwood is ordered by Chief Magistrate James Read to investigate the double murder of a coachman and a naval courier on the Kent Road. Hawkwood initially wonders why Read is so concerned by this relatively mundane case, but before long, another body is discovered, and a higher agenda emerges -- an attempt by the Emperor Napoleon to deliver a crushing military and psychological blow to Britain that could lead cause terror on the seas for years to come. . . . Gripping and fast-paced, the first book in the Hawkwood Mysteries is an impressively researched novel of suspense that features an enigmatic hero facing a dangerous threat to his homeland during the Napoleonic Wars.