Winner of the Society for Army Historical Research’s Fiction Prize 2020.

Set in Sicily against the turbulent background of the Napoleonic Wars, it is a tale of military derring-do and espionage.

It’s September 1810 and raids across the Straits of Messina to disrupt preparations for the French invasion of the island have been repulsed with heavy casualties. George Warne, a bright young British officer, suspects treachery. Back in Messina, ordered to investigate, Warne uncovers a shadowy underworld of spies, traitors and informers where nothing is quite as it seems and where danger lurks around every corner.

If the long-threatened French invasion erupts, will Sicily’s defenders be prepared? With its rich cast of characters set against the stunning backdrop of Messina, the Straits and the surrounding countryside, this novel brings early nineteenth-century Sicily vividly to life.