Through subterfuge, he acquires the body of a girl looking similar to Simplicity who had died through suicide, and prepares it to be found after a faked attack (during which the real Simplicity would hide) witnessed by Charlie and Disraeli during a planned excursion into London's sewers. Additionally, a mysterious assassin known only as the Outlander is rumoured to be looking for Dodger and Simplicity.ĭodger decides that the only solution is to fake Simplicity's death. He learns that the family of Simplicity's husband is pressuring the British government to return her, and that the government cannot outright refuse this demand. This political dimension of the case (along with his celebrity status) soon have Dodger meet some of the Empire's top politicians, such as Benjamin Disraeli and Robert Peel. Her husband had then done nothing against his family's decision to destroy all evidence of the unsanctioned marriage, including Simplicity herself – the vicar and two witnesses to the wedding have already been killed.

Through their activities (and from the recovered Simplicity herself), Charlie and Dodger learn that the girl had secretly married a prince of one of the German states and thereby become an obstacle to a planned political marriage. This endangers Simplicity and prompts Charlie to have her moved to the house of his rich friend Angela Burdett-Coutts. These incidents turn Dodger into a celebrity, which helps him gather information, but also make it impossible for him to stay anonymous. During the next days, Dodger thwarts a robbery attempt at the offices of the Morning Chronicle when meeting Charlie, and causes the arrest of a murderous barber named Sweeney Todd when he tries to improve his appearance before meeting Simplicity. Charlie gives Dodger the task of finding information on the streets about her and the carriage from which she escaped. A doctor treats her injuries and discovers that she was pregnant and the child is lost.ĭodger's actions impress the gentlemen, as does the genuine affection they quickly see growing between him and the girl, who is tentatively called Simplicity. This is witnessed by two gentlemen, Charlie and Henry, who take the girl to the latter's nearby home, accompanied by Dodger. The protagonist Dodger, a street urchin and tosher, emerging from a sewer drain, comes to her help and chases away the attackers. One night on the streets of London, a battered young woman leaps from a carriage, followed and assaulted by two men. The book was released on 13 September 2012 in the UK. 13 September 2012 (UK), (Doubleday Children's)ĭodger is a novel written by Terry Pratchett, set in early Victorian London, and inspired by Charles Dickens's character the Artful Dodger.

Dodger pratchett