Book Synopsis:
Death came aboard with the cormorant. It arrived on the seventh day of our voyage…
This is the secret report of disgraced former Foreign Office clerk Laurence Jago, written on the mail ship Tankerville en route to Philadelphia. His mission is to aid the civil servant charged with carrying a vital treaty to Congress that will prevent the Americans from joining with the French in their war against Britain.
When the civil servant meets an unfortunate ‘accidental’ end, Laurence becomes the one person standing between Britain and disaster. It is his great chance to redeem himself at Whitehall – except that his predecessor has taken the secret of the treaty’s hiding place to his watery grave.
As the ship is searched, Laurence quickly discovers that his fellow passengers – among them fugitive French aristocrats, an American plantation owner, an Irish actress and her performing bear – all have their own motives to find the treaty for themselves. And as a second death follows the first, Laurence must turn sleuth in order to find the killer before he has an ‘accident’ of his own.
The new pageturning historical mystery from the author of BLACK DROP, a 2021 TIMES Book of the Year. Perfect for readers of Andrew Taylor, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and S.J. Parris.
My Review:
Blue Water is a gripping, absorbing historical novel from an author who’s fast becoming one of my favourite historical authors.
The reader is quickly drawn into the story and into the lives of the people on board the ship with an exciting chase across the waters. Not only was this a very exciting opening but it also cleverly gave the reader an introduction to life on the sea and the dangers people faced. It definitely wasn’t for the faint hearted and I don’t think I’d have wanted to be on board a similar ship, especially when I discovered what the toiled facilities were.
The ship helps create a locked door scenario which I always find really fascinating. It was very interesting to follow Lawrence in his investigation as he tries to find the murder and the treaty. All the passengers seem to have a motive and I thought it was clever how we learn a little bit more about each of them throughout the investigation.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author in the future. The style of writing took a little while to get used to but I think helped to add to the story as it helped draw the reader into the period more. The many twists and turns kept me guessing and the fabulous descriptions made me feel like I was actually there on the ship alongside the characters.
Huge thanks to Viper for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Leonora Nattrass studied eighteenth-century literature and politics, and spent ten years lecturing in English and publishing works on William Cobbett. She lives in Cornwall, in a seventeenth-century house with seventeenth-century draughts, and spins the fleeces of her Ryeland sheep into yarn. Her first novel, Black Drop, was published in 2021. Find her on Twitter @LeonoraNattrass
Over The Rainbow Blog 