An Element of Chance

The fourth volume in The Privateersman Mysteries 1795: As war spreads across the globe, Harry Ludlow joins the struggle for the richest trade in the world. When half his crew is illegally pressed into the Royal Navy by the vicious Captain Toner, Harry sets off in pursuit. Toner’s ship reaches the West Indies with Harry close behind, and they sail into a maelstrom of piracy, corruption, and murder stirred up by a French privateer. Soon, the British officer in charge of the station calls upon each man to help as best he can. All the while, Harry’s kidnapped crew fights for survival on a ship driven to the point of mutiny.

Author Biography

David Donachie (1944-2023) was born in Edinburgh. He always had an abiding interest in military history, including ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, the British navy of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the clandestine services during the Second World War. He had more than fifty published novels to his credit, with over a million combined sales. David lived in Deal, the historic English seaport on the border of the English Channel and the North Sea.