Blackstone's Fancy

'Neat doesn't stand a chance. I shouldn't be surprised if the Gasman doesn't floor him in the first round just like Jack Randall beat Jack Martin... And you, Blackie? Haven't you made a wager?'
Blackstone nodded. 'Ten pounds on the Gas-man.'
'And you a Bow Street Runner.'
'What of it?'
'You're supposed to break up a prizefight, not support it.'
And that, Blackstone reflected, was no more than the truth.

Blackstone's involvement in the lurid and exciting world of prizefighting also involves him with blackmail, kidnap, and murder, not to mention attempts on his own life. Moreover, rioting and the incidence of crime at prizefights had been put forward as evidence of the need for a new police force. So it is doubly important that Blackstone, the Bow Street Runner working on both sides of the law, should be successful.

Blackstone's Fancy is the second Blackstone novel.