The Blighted Cliffs (Reluctant Adv/Martin Jerrold 1) [Paperback]

Move over Harry Flashman, there's a new cad in town! The first in the Martin Jerrold series of historical adventure novels in the vein of Flashman and Sharpe.

Not many men emerged from Trafalgar without an ounce of credit to their names, but courtesy of an over-fondness for rum and his habitual bad luck, Lieutenant Martin Jerrold managed it. In February 1806, he is given one final chance to redeem his reputation and dispatched to Dover.

Things don't augur well when, walking off the effects of a night in the tavern, Jerrold stumbles across a corpse lying on the beach. And they take a distinct turn for the worst when, to his horror and bemusement, he is suspected of murder. With a captain who despises him, and the local magistrate determined to see him hang, he knows clearing his name will require an imporbable reversal of his miserable fortunes. Somewhere in Dover's twisted streets, someone must know something. But Jerrold soon discovers that nothing is as it seems in a town where smuggling is a way of life, where everyone from the fishermen to the colonel of dragoons drinks only the finest French brandy...

Distrusted by his superiors, set upon by suspiciously well-informed thugs and attacked by the French at sea, Jerrold does find some sympathy in the less-than-respectable arms of the comely Isobel, but he knows he has but two weeks to save his skin - or perish in the attempt.

Not many men emerged from Trafalgar without an ounce of credit, but Lieutenant Martin Jerrold R.N. managed it. In February 1806, he is given one last chance to redeem his reputation and dispatched to Dover.

Things don't augur well when, walking off the effects of a night in the tavern, he stumbles across a corpse lying on the beach. And they take a distinct turn for the worse when he is suspected of murder. With the local magistrate determined to see him hang, Jerrold knows clearing his name will require an improbable reversal of his miserable fortunes. Somewhere in Dover's twisted streets, someone must know something. But he soon discovers that nothing is as it seems in a town where smuggling is a way of life...

Distrusted by his superiors, set upon by suspiciously well-informed thugs, attacked by the French at sea but finding sympathy in the less-than-respectable arms of Isobel, Martin Jerrold has two weeks to save his skin - or perish in the attempt.

The Blighted Cliffs marks the beginning of a rich, swashbuckling adventure series, featuring a reluctant hero for whom life rarely turns out as he intends.

Edwin Thomas grew up in West Germany, Belgium and America before returning to England to study history at Lincoln College, Oxford. His conclusion to the short story 'Death by the Invisible Hand' was published in The Economist in 1997, and the first chapter of The Blighted Cliffs was runner-up in the 2001 Crime Writers' Association Début Dagger Award for new fiction. The first two installments of the adventures of Martin Jerrold, The Blighted Cliffs and The Chains of Albion, are available in Bantam paperback.