THE LOST PROPERTY OFFICE​
A novel of indecent ambitions

JW just wants to settle down with today's Wordle, but when Raghu, his crypto-billionaire client, loses a finger to a French gangster, he is drawn into a street war that might become a global one.

 

JW runs London’s most discreet recovery service from plush offices in St James’s Square. Priceless art, regrettable photos that could end a celebrity career, plans for nuclear enrichment plants – if someone has stolen it, he can get it back. Maybe because he’s brilliant. Or maybe because his gangs nicked it in the first place.

 

When Raghu, a crypto billionaire with too much money and too many secrets, asks JW for help – after a French gangster known as La Marseillaise lops off one of his fingers in an effort to persuade him to freeze the accounts of eight Russian oligarchs – JW is drawn into a war that stretches from Hoxton to Moscow. Rival crews flood London’s streets and political certainties in the Kremlin crumble. He must decide whether he’s fixing a problem … or starting a revolution.

 

In a city where everyone wants something returned – money, power, dignity or missing digits – JW may be about to lose control of what he’s set in motion.

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The Lost Property Office reimagines the story of the real 1720s crime boss Jonathan Wild in a near-future London where the ‘Bloody Code’ – which specified the death penalty for even the smallest of crimes – has returned.

 

It's our past ... and maybe our future too.