Cambridge, 1939. The opening weeks of the Second World War, and the first blackout—The Great Darkness—covers southern England, enveloping the city. Detective Inspector...
A Treacherous Coast
1796. Pearce and his wife Emily are in living in Bath when Minister of War Henry Dundas turns up and suggests a second mission to the Vendée, this time as a liaison between the...
The Perils of Command
John Pearce, having negotiated the highly questionable sale of the two French prizes taken in The Devil to Pay, has left HMS Flirt, as well as the crew and the wounded Henry Digby...
The Colour of Murder
John Wilkins meets a beautiful, irresistible girl, and his world is turned upside down. Looking at his wife, and thinking of the girl, everything turns red before his eyes – the...
Death of an Airman
George Furnace, flight instructor at Baston Aero Club, dies instantly when his plane crashes into the English countryside. People who knew him are baffled—Furnace was a...
The Devil to Pay
1794. Stuck in Palermo harbour, the headstrong Lieutenant John Pearce and his trusty Pelicans must repair the battle-damaged HMS Larcher with only meagre funds to do so. Sailing...
A Close Run Thing
John Pearce is hiding in Gravelines with his mysterious companion, known to him as Oliphant. Although they find a crew willing to take them back to England, they learn on the...
On a Particular Service
John Pearce is going home. But he has to avoid capture by an Algerine warship, having his Pelicans pressed into a British frigate and that's before they are at risk of being...
Calamity in Kent
In the peaceful seaside town of Broadgate, an impossible crime occurs. The operator of the cliff railway locks the empty carriage one evening; when he returns to work next...
The End of the Line
After the death of leading haematologist Professor Anstruther, antiquarian book dealer Anthony Sparrow is tasked with clearing out his mansion of its books and papers. He soon...
