Matthew Pryde Adventures

by Malcolm Archibald 2 books in this series

Matthew Pryde is an engineer whose practical skills repeatedly draw him into danger during the renewed wars with revolutionary and Napoleonic France. The novels begin on the Northumberland coast, where lighthouse construction, wrecking and smuggling entangle Pryde with the secret of his own origins, then send him into espionage as Britain prepares for invasion.

The sequence combines technological history with adventure and mystery. Lighthouses, mines, roads and experimental weapons are not decorative background: they shape the plots and place a working engineer between local communities, landowners, soldiers and intelligence agents during the transformation of Britain at the opening of the nineteenth century.

Reading order

Books in this series (2 books)

#1 – Pryde’s Rock

Malcolm Archibald

Northumberland, 1803. Young engineer Matthew Pryde is sent to a remote coastal estate to persuade its owner that a lighthouse is needed after a succession of fatal wrecks. The assignment brings him back into contact with a former school tormentor and draws him toward smugglers, local…

Amazon World of Books

#2 – Pryde and the Infernal Device

Malcolm Archibald

England, 1805. Matthew Pryde is working as a mining engineer when officials recruit him for a mission across the Channel. Reports suggest that French experimenters are developing a weapon or machine connected with Napoleon’s preparations against Britain, and Pryde’s technical knowledge makes him a useful but…

Amazon World of Books