The devil's acre - Matthew Plampin

When betrayal is second nature, trust is the ultimate gamble.London, 1853. On the banks of the Thames, American entrepreneur Colonel Samuel Colt sets up a state-of-the-art weapons factory, capable of turning out his famous revolvers in their thousands. When Edward Lowry is hired as Colt's secretary, he is amazed by his good luck, but then he starts an affair with a girl from the factory floor, and realises that things are not what they seem. Among Colt's machine operators are a desperate gang from the Devil's Acre, and as guns start to go missing, it becomes clear that there are many with scores to settle and murder in mind.