Hoare and the Secret Agent by Martin Kessler is a new maritime mystery that continues the adventures of Captain Bartholomew Hoare as he crosses swords and matches wits with a lethal cadre of continental operatives. Set in 1806, the early action centers around three murders in the back alleys of Portsmouth's vast naval yard. In solving them, Hoare uncovers a plot aimed at the very heart of the Royal Navy's blockade strategy. A decision to disobey orders launches him on a desperate sea chase in the dangerous waters of the English Channel towards his final confrontation with an implacable foe. Fans of Wilder Perkins' original novels will rejoice at the return of a hero that one reviewer called, "an enchanting cross between Horatio Hornblower and Agent 007." Martin Kessler has retained all of Hoare's eccentricities, as well as many of the original cast of recurring characters. To them, he has added a colorful assortment of new players on both sides of the high-stakes struggle to contain Napoleon's ambitions for world dominance. Mr. Kessler inherited Jane Austen from the series' creator. He has expanded her role and her reach, as Jane's favorite brother and beloved cousin play important parts in thwarting the enemy conspiracy. Readers of Patrick O'Brian's Aubry/Maturin novels and C. S. Forester's classic sea stories will find themselves at home in this milieu. Kessler's dialogue sparkles with humor and authenticity, while his action scenes are thrillingly rendered. The book's historical setting is elegantly researched; the depiction of the Great Age of Sail will please the loyal readership of armchair mariners without excluding landlubbers who don't know "a Blue Peter from a Black Pudding." And in keeping with Wilder Perkins' tales, Bartholomew Hoare's moment of greatest peril is averted by his womenfolk! Hoare and the Secret Agent is the first of a projected trilogy by Martin Kessler. Its word count of 84,000 makes it a full-length novel, as well as a fast-moving page-turner. His second installment will be entitled Hoare and the Sicilian Defense.
