The Marvelous Boy — Peter Corris

It's no secret that the people who hire Hardy have nowhere else to turn -- and Lady Catherine needs her heir to be found now

Lady Catherine presides over the declining fortunes of the Chatterton estate, which is lacking a suitable heir. When she hears of a grandson she never knew, Cliff Hardy takes the job, reluctantly, of finding him. From the run-down boarding houses of Darlinghurst to the social set of Canberra, Hardy finds the case forcing him into some of the strangest roles a private detective has ever had to play.