Blue Water: the Instant Times Bestseller (Laurence Jago)

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Also on the passenger list is Comtesse de Salles, a French noblewoman fleeing her country, accompanied by her nephew Max, a former soldier in the French Royalist Army. Blue Water has all the intrigue and suspense of Black Drop but with a heightened sense of jeopardy and more personal stakes. 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. History is being rewritten, too, and the Orwellian Ministry of Culture subjects people to mind-control techniques such as unlearning. When the civil servant meets an unfortunate ‘accidental’ end, Laurence becomes the one person standing between Britain and disaster.

I was quite sure Leonora Nattrass must have read O’Brian and when I reached the acknowledgements at the end of the book I found that I was right! These narratives help to supplement the story told by Jago and breaks up the book into easily readable chunks. This is the sequel to Black Drop, Leonora Nattrass’ 2021 debut novel which introduced us to the character of Laurence Jago.I was also surprised when I read the author's note at the end and saw that some parts of the plot were based on historical fact, although the details have been added to and embellished using the author's imagination! Meanwhile, in the hope of redeeming himself he is compiling a report to Foreign Secretary Lord Grenville in Downing Street. The machinations of the plot are cleverly put together, Jago being the 'innocent' and surrounded by a wonderfully drawn cast of characters. I was impressed throughout with the author’s skills in recreating the period setting, including the formality of language and etiquette.

Having narrowly escaped London with his life at the end of “Black Drop”, unfairly disgraced former Foreign Office clerk Laurence Jago is once again surrounded by enemies and intrigue. Her historical note served to place the novel in context as well as providing fascinating details of the Jay Treaty, which was so vital to the plot and what is known of the Tankerville’s 1794-75 voyage. The new pageturning historical mystery from the author of BLACK DROP, a 2021 TIMES Book of the Year. These failed through being as predictable as night following day, and the last third of the book did see me tempted to skim through in an attempt to get to the end - not because I was eager to find out what happened to the treaty but because I was becoming bored with the whole merry-go-round and I just wanted it over, All in all, not a bad second outing for Laurence Jago.At points I was more worried about the bear than any of the humans but they grabbed my attention back when needed.

With President Eisenhower due to pay his first state visit, Rose, who had a hand in the assassination of “the Leader” a couple of years earlier and is surprised to be still at liberty, is tasked with meeting Queen Wallis for a background briefing.Yet again, Laurence finds himself in an awkward situation, but he is definitely trying to make the best of it. You may find book reviews, chocolate sampling, adventures with squirrels, and a lot of tea drinking, happening here. When the civil servant meets an unfortunate 'accidental' end, Laurence becomes the one person standing between Britain and disaster.

A short time into their journey and still quite a distance from their first stop at Madeira, a cormorant lands upon the vessel at the height of a storm – a sure harbinger of bad luck, according to the superstitious sailors. A delightful and immersive read which follows neatly on from Black Drop which I read last year (but can be read as a stand-alone). He is mulling over the offer of an apprenticeship to Philpott, while watching everything and saying very little. Instead we plod through the story with the full witted protagonist consistently coming to the wrong conclusions, with predictable red herrings and flat intrigue. Although I correctly predicted a few of the plot twists (and was impatiently waiting for Jago to discover them too) the eventual revelation of the fate of the Treaty came as a complete surprise to me.It is based on real ships and real events, which always make historical thrillers more fascinating to me. It is his great chance to redeem himself—except that his predecessor has taken the secret of the treaty's hiding place to his watery grave. The writing was superb and the period setting well rendered, but the plot development suffered from the limited scope offered by the book's setting. G. MACLEAN'A FINE ADVENTURE REMINISCENT OF PATRICK O'BRIAN' - SUNDAY TIMESThis is the secret report of Laurence Jago. 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.