The Chiswick Villain by Barbara Millar is a novel set in Victorian England. James Ashley is a particularly colourful character who grew up in the poverty stricken East End of London as a Cockney who had only ever known poverty. He meets Moll Raby in Newgate Prison and a romance soon springs up between them. James and Moll, upon their release from Newgate Prison, pledge to set out to make their fortune, and make a formidable pair as they set out to rob, deceive, and otherwise deprive the rich Chiswick folk of their worldly goods in the most effective manner, using every trick in the book.