A Conspiracy of Paper: A Novel (Benjamin Weaver Book 1)

Benjamin Weaver is an outsider in eighteenth-century London: a Jew among Christians, a former pugilist hired by the gentry to pursue debtors and thieves through the criminal underworld. When his estranged father—a notorious stockjobber—dies under mysterious circumstances, Weaver investigates a deeply personal crime. To uncover the truth, Weaver must navigate encounters with a desperate prostitute connected to his past, relatives who highlight his estrangement from the Jewish faith, and a powerful cabal in British finance who conceal their dealings through deception and violence. Using both intellect and physical skill, Weaver discovers the emergence of a new economic order built on stock speculation—one that threatens investors but poses real danger to Weaver and his family. Written with scholarly attention to period detail, the novel explores the origins of modern financial markets while following Weaver as he applies his knowledge of the emerging stock market to detective work.