Blue Water: the Instant Times Bestseller (Laurence Jago)

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Everything you want in a page-turner is here: all the best aspects of a thriller, with twists and turns you're not expecting, plus a healthy dose of sentimentality and the opportunity for a good weep. After the dramatic events of “Black Drop”, ill-fated Laurence Jago is once again at the centre of political intrigue in “Blue Water”.

Jago is assisting a civil servant to safely carry an important Treaty to Congress that will prevent the Americans from joining with the French to wage war against Britain. 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. Overall, this is a hugely enjoyable read, with real historical events expertly woven into a fast-paced and exciting story.And yes, you could read Blue Water as a standalone but why would you want to miss out on his first foray in the corridors of power and such deliciously dark yet authentic historical fiction?

Trapped on the ship with travellers including two penniless French aristocrats, an Irish actress and a dancing bear, he must hunt down both the lost treaty and a murderer before he has a tragic 'accident' himself. In the first book he struggled with the opium addiction and the temptation is still there, onboard the Tankerville. The treaty has disappeared, and several of Jago’s fellow passengers, who include French aristocrats fleeing la Terreur, an American plantation owner and a mysterious Irish actor with a dancing bear in tow, appear to have motives for stealing it. The new page-turning historical mystery from the author of BLACK DROP, a 2021 TIMES Book of the Year. 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.An interesting take on a ‘locked room’ mystery, Blue Water lures readers onto a voyage with a missing treaty and a murderer. I would definitely recommend this to fans of historical fiction and a classic “who done it” Murder mystery! It’s December 1794 and former government clerk Laurence Jago has just left Britain aboard the packet ship Tankerville.

If you haven’t read Black Drop and don’t want spoilers, let alone any hints as to what he gets up to in Blue Water, you probably need to stop reading at the end of this paragraph. When the civil servant meets an unfortunate 'accident’, Laurence becomes the one person standing between Britain and disaster. The latter are hugely entertaining, particulalrly in regards to the seamen and their myriad myths, legends and superstitions. 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. Fans of Patrick O’Brian’s historical naval stories will find much to enjoy here, while crime fiction lovers looking for something well plotted, absorbing and a little different to their usual fare will enjoy Blue Water too – I know I did!I had no idea who all the characters were, and even as the plot progressed it was confusing as mostly they lacked any real distinctions. With almost the entire story taking place at sea and therefore with a limited number of characters, the mystery has a ‘locked room’ feel and kept me guessing until the end.