AustLit

'David Manston has left his smuggling days behind. He is happy with his smallholding by the sea and his burgeoning romance with Alexandra Gedding, the daughter of impoverished gentry.

'Alexandra, however, is not averse to going out to help her twin brother Phillip smuggle in goods to help the townsfolk. She is even known to be quite handy with a rapier.

'However, Phillip has fallen in with a seriously bad crowd which has graduated from ‘honest’ smuggling to the murderous evil of wrecking.

'Alexandra talks to David, unsure what to do. If she involves the authorities, the townsfolk will see it as a betrayal and she also risks seeing her brother hanged.

'David tries to find out more about the wreckers from his old confederates including Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Payne, whom he hasn’t seen in years. Alexandra, meanwhile, has decided the best way to keep an eye on her twin is by involving herself even more in his plans.

'Nathaniel agrees to help and introduces Adam Hardacre as a fellow smuggler to David and Alexandra. Between the four of them, they must try to save Phillip from himself and stop the wreckers for good.'

Source : publisher's blurb