Pickpocket's Apprentice

When magistrate Patrick Colquhoun orders a habitual thief transported to Botany Bay, he doesn’t realize a fourteen-year-old boy has been left behind—not until young John Pickett is hauled into Bow Street for stealing an apple. Colquhoun arranges a job for John hauling coal, where John promptly falls in love with pert Sophy. At nineteen Pickett stumbles into a criminal investigation which will change the course of his life. [Prequel to John Pickett mysteries] Regency Mystery Novella by Sheri Cobb South; originally published by the author and Belgrave House/Regency Reads