AustLit

'Fourteen-year-old Christabel McManus is bored and lonely. Since the death of her mother, her father has thrown himself into his work, and she has only her governess and the cook for company. When a servant's eight-year-old son is kidnapped, Christabel impetuously decided to rescue him—by dressing as a boy and heading into the squalid and crime-ridden streets of The Rocks.

'What begins as a game takes a terrifying turn, as Christabel discovers that the notoriously violent gangs that infest the slums are not the only threat; an outbreak of the deadly bubonic plague is imminent. And when Christabel, too, is kidnapped, the game becomes very dangerous indeed'. (Source: Author's website)