Barclay and his wife Emily are sharing the voyage home and Pearce must stay close to both – difficult given his loathing for the captain and his feelings for Emily. Then she discovers the incriminating evidence Pearce holds against her husband, papers that could destroy his career and potentially her security.
Back on British soil following a gruelling voyage, the Pelicans hope their troubles are over, but with the important documents missing, their real concerns are just beginning. Emily holds the key, but do her loyalties lie with her husband or her conscience?
David Donachie was born in Edinburgh in 1944. He has always had an abiding interest in the naval history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well as the Roman Republic, and, under the pen-name of Jack Ludlow, has published a number of historical adventure novels. David lives in Deal with his partner, the novelist Sarah Grazebrook.