Privateersman Mysteries - Böcker

David Donachie sails into a breach in the naval line, firing as he bears, with an exciting twist on the chronicles of the Age of Fighting Sail. Blending seagoing adventure with the mystery and twists of a whodunit, his Privateersman Mysteries series re-invents the genre.1793: The onset of Britain’s conflict with Revolutionary France. Harry Ludlow, forced out of the Royal Navy, becomes a privateer in partnership with his younger brother James. But for the Ludlows, murder and intrigue take more of their time than hunting fat trading vessels. Harry and James find themselves aboard the Navy’s 74-gun Magnanime. In command is a captain with whom Harry has crossed swords in the past. But when James is found standing over the body of a dead officer, Harry’s feud shifts into the background. From the dark bowels of this troubled ship of the line, where perversity hides in the shadows, secrets start to surface on all sides.

The second volume in The Privateersman Mysteries1794: For privateersman Harry Ludlow and his partner and younger brother, James, murder and intrigue take more of their time than the hunt for fat trading vessels. Arriving in the squalid, seething port of Genoa, they find it a tinderbox of tension, fed by the discovery of a hanged British sea captain and packs of English and French sailors at one another’s throats. At the behest of Admiral Hood, Harry is drawn into the midst of the lurid murder investigation, only to find himself mired in roiling layers of intrigue, avarice, and danger—and the deadly charms of a beautiful woman.

The third volume in The Privateersman Mysteries1794: Returning to England, Harry and James become embroiled in a vicious struggle between rival smugglers played out in the English Channel. Witnesses to a bloody confrontation, they flee to Deal—only to find that, behind its picturesque façade, the town is a haven for traders in contraband, seething with corruption and violence. The Ludlow brothers’ search for a well-deserved rest quickly turns into a savage contest of wills between Harry and an unseen enemy who intends to protect his livelihood by any means available.

The fourth volume in The Privateersman Mysteries1795: As war spreads across the globe, Harry Ludlow joins the struggle for the richest trade in the world. When half his crew is illegally pressed into the Royal Navy by the vicious Captain Toner, Harry sets off in pursuit. Toner’s ship reaches the West Indies with Harry close behind, and they sail into a maelstrom of piracy, corruption, and murder stirred up by a French privateer. Soon, the British officer in charge of the station calls upon each man to help as best he can. All the while, Harry’s kidnapped crew fights for survival on a ship driven to the point of mutiny.

The fifth volume in The Privateersman Mysteries1795: The discovery of an abandoned Spanish merchant ship off the coast of America plunges the Ludlows into a far-reaching conspiracy fueled by jealousy, ambition, and nationalistic fervor. The Bucephalas lies trapped under the gaping muzzles of the forty-two-pounder Spanish guns of the New Orleans harbor fort. It quickly becomes clear that the corridors of the governor's residence are just as busy with treachery, double-dealing, and murder as the back alleys of the sweltering city outside. Harry Ludlow must win freedom for his ship in a deadly game played out in the dark woods of the American hinterland.