Kent 1787: Captain Edward Brazier has been wounded in the fight at the end of the second book and is in hiding. Betsey has been imprisoned in her home by her brother Henry, who is contemplating having her committed to an asylum. Several people have been killed too, but will this put Edward into a better position to both rescue Betsey and put an end to the smuggling?

I said in my review of the second book that the series could stand some editing, and despite my enjoyment of the setting, characters and story I now state that the series could have done with a lot of editing. After another tubby volume that could best be described as “more of the same” I feel let down by the fact that the whole adventure would have been so much better if there had simply been less of it. Tales of smuggling rings, romance, mystery, murder and other historical derring-do work best if they are exciting; when dragged out too much they lose momentum. Mr Donachie is a talented author whose thrilling tales of naval action are his best work; he knows his period and conjures up the mean streets of Deal very well. He has likeable heroes and hissable villains (a few in the middle would have also been a good idea) who populate the town and go about their businesses in an authentic-seeming way. Reading a romantic novel written by a man and told from the man’s viewpoint is also interesting, and readers who enjoyed Poldark will find much to enjoy. Stepping back from it all my main tip to the author is surely that if you want to write an exciting adventure story it really does need to be a lot shorter than this.

Reviews of other titles in this series

Contrandband Shore I
Lawless Place II
Blood Will Out III