1828: Sydney is a city built on the backs of exiled convicts. But in a colony of criminals, how do you narrow down the list of suspects when a murderer is on the rampage?

Before his own deportation from England, Nicodemus Dunne was a London policeman, a Bow Street Runner. But after trumped-up charges of assault, he makes his living in the rapidly growing colony of New South Wales as a running patterer, spreading the news of the day by word of mouth. Confronted with a series of gruesome and horribly inventive murders, the governor seeks out Dunne for his investigative skills and his ability to infiltrate all levels of society to search out the killer.

With each mutilated body, the murderer has left clues for Dunne to decipher. As Dunne detects a common denominator in the identity of the slain victims, he draws a tighter noose around the culprit -- but can he catch his elusive quarry without becoming prey himself?