The Devil of a Fix

Lawlessness prevails on the high seas at the start of the 18th century, with privateers and pirates vying with the English Navy for control of sea routes, commerce and plunder. Young captain Matthew Loftus, in command of a fast, well-armed three master, tries to trade honestly but quickly finds that self-serving merchants, his own, greedy, mistrustful crew, and even Abigail - the girl from the Whitby of his youth - harbour deep doubts. Cast down from his captaincy, he meets a deranged old astronomer with a secret almanac, the supposed solution to finding the longitude. To redeem himself, Matthew embarks on the quest of saving the lives of the hundreds of seamen who drown in wrecks simply because no ship can find its position at sea. Pursued by duplicitous merchants, ruthless privateers and the English Navy, Matthew's passage is strewn with the rocks and shoals of treachery and falsehood and the clashing currents of political trickery and ambition.