Perilous Beginnings

September 1797, during the ’Year of Peril’ and set against the background of the French Revolutionary War, Thomas Devenish takes command of His Majesty’s Revenue Cutter ’Diligence’. However she is an unhappy vessel and besides having to gain the trust of her demoralised crew he discovers that, as a former smuggler, he is under scrutiny. Whilst investigating the murder of one of his men, he also finds he is pitted against a scheming adversary. In addition, his family past returns to haunt him and the ongoing conflict with France brings a threat of its own. In the midst of it all he finds companionship and perhaps love.