1. The Devil’s Own Luck
In 1793, former naval officer Harry Ludlow commands the privateer Bucephalas with his younger brother James. A visit to HMS Magnanime renews Harry’s feud with its captain, but the conflict changes when James is discovered beside the body of a murdered officer. To clear his brother,…
2. The Dying Trade
Harry and James Ludlow arrive in Genoa expecting prizes but find a British captain hanged and French and British sailors close to open violence. Admiral Hood asks Harry to investigate before the murder destabilises an already divided port. The brothers encounter commercial rivalry, espionage and a…
3. A Hanging Matter
Returning to England in 1794, Harry and James witness a violent clash between rival smugglers in the Channel and flee to Deal. The port’s respectable appearance conceals an organised contraband trade protected by intimidation and corruption. Their attempt to remain uninvolved fails when an unseen opponent…
4. An Element of Chance
When Captain Toner illegally presses half of Harry Ludlow’s crew into the Royal Navy, Harry follows him to the West Indies. The chase enters a region of privateers, corrupt officials and contested trade, while the seized sailors approach mutiny aboard Toner’s ship. A French privateer creates…
5. The Scent of Betrayal
An abandoned Spanish merchant ship draws the Ludlow brothers into a conspiracy off the American coast. The Bucephalas is then trapped beneath the guns of New Orleans, where officials and merchants use murder and double-dealing to protect competing national interests. Harry must win permission for his…
6. A Game of Bones
In 1796, the exhausted Bucephalas returns towards the Cinque Ports and pursues what appears to be an easy merchant prize in the Channel. Fog and misjudgement turn the chase into a damaging engagement that leaves Harry Ludlow seeking refuge in the Solent. There he finds the…