In this installment of Pope's Ramage series, our hero is escorting a convoy back to England from the Caribbean. Sometime during the voyage, another British frigate appears and fires on Ramage's ship, after which Ramage and the boys board the other ship, where they are met by the other captain, who steadfastly asserts that his ship did not fire on Ramage. Well, Ramage leaves one of his lieutenants on board for the rest of voyage (the new ship joins the convoy as an escort). When the convoy arrives in England, the other captain, or course, files charges against Ramage for Ramage having boarded his ship and removing him from his command. OK, then the trial.
The whole episode with the other ship and subsequent trial read like a thriller. The reader can hardly wait to find out why the other ship fired with the captain and crew all deny having done so. A suggestion that they're under a voodoo spell is not serious, but well taken. There really seems to be no explanation. Well, the trial is conducted by an old enemy of the Ramage's, who seems hellbent on finding Ramage guilty by disallowing any testimony that might explain Ramage's actions. Everything seems hopeless. Well, as always, there's a way out of the problem. As is the case with all of Pope's (and I suppose everyone's) books, it's not whether he'll get out of it, but how. Even though the story is captivating, I must admit I was a bit unsatisfied with the finale. The solution was not quite as Perry Mason-esque as I would have liked. I would have liked a bit more suspense and a few twists to explain everything. I won't give anything way, though--you'll have to read the book! So, maybe I should take off part of a star. But all in all, it was a very good read and I enjoyed it a lot. I'll keep going with the series.