Bow Street Runners and bare-knuckle fighters, radicals and pickpockets, resurrection men and bluestockings…find out more about Dan Foster’s world.

On this page you’ll find information about some of the events, people and places Dan Foster encounters in the course of his investigations. I’ll be adding to this information over time, and as the series continues.

Dan Foster and the Bluestockings

In Death Makes No Distinction, Dan investigates a crime in the literary world when the bluestocking Louise Parmeter is murdered, leaving the working-class poet Agnes Taylor to mourn the loss of a patron. Louise Parmeter and Agnes Taylor are fictitious, but their stories were inspired by the lives of Mary Robinson, Hannah More, Ann Yearsley and Harriette Wilson. Find out more about these women in Dan Foster and the Blue Stockings (PDF Document).

Dan Foster in Southwark

In The Butcher’s Block, the second full-length Dan Foster Mystery, Dan is working undercover in Southwark, London in a case that sees him crossing paths with body snatchers, blood-thirsty revolutionaries, French agents and British spies. Some of the places Dan would have known or visited can still be seen today. Find out more about Dan Foster in Southwark – The Butcher’s Block   (PDF Document).

Dan Foster and the Money Makers

In The Fatal Coin, Dan encounters a ruthless gang of highwaymen and counterfeiters operating out of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, England. In the course of his investigation, he also comes across the work of Birmingham industrialist Matthew Boulton, who manufactured legitimate coin of the realm. Find out about the history behind the story in Making Money: The Fatal Coin (PDF Document).

Dan Foster and the Pugilists

Find out about the pugilists Dan encounters in Bloodie Bones.

Contents: Jem Belcher, Tom Belcher, Jack Broughton, Elisha Crabbe, Jack Firby, Bill Hooper, George Ingleston, John Jackson, Tom Johnson, Daniel Mendoza, Stephen Oliver, Hen Pearce, Jack Slack, George Stevenson, Bill Ward, Bob Watson. Read Dan Foster and the Pugilists (PDF Document).

Dan Foster and The Bow Street Runners

Find out about the background to Dan Foster’s career as a Bow Street Runner and some of the people he works with.

Contents: The Bow Street Runners, Sir William Addington (Chief Magistrate), John Townsend (Bow Street Runner).  Read Dan Foster and the Bow Street Runners (PDF Document).