Sussex, 1780. Anatomist and recluse Gabriel Crowther is reluctantly drawn into the lives of local high society when a dead body is found by impulsive, frustrated Harriet Westerman.

Shortlisted for the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award 2011

Germany, 1784. Daniel Clode cannot say whether or not he killed the woman. But what of the madness he feels, and how did she drown on dry land? Harriet Westerman knows Daniel is not a murderer; her sister would not have married such a man. She and the reclusive Gabriel Crowther must travel to save him from the axeman's steel.

London, 1785. When the body of a West Indies planter is found pegged out in the grounds of St Paul's, suspicion falls on one of the victim's former slaves, who was found with his watch on the London streets. As Harriet and Crowther begin investigate, however, they find the answer is not that simple. Together, they negotiate the interests of the British government, the secrets of the plantation owners, and a network of alliances stretching across the Atlantic. And they must confront the uncomfortable truth that some people are willing to do great evil when they believe their cause to be just.

An epic story of love, betrayal, courage and war that brings together two of Wilbur Smith's greatest families in this long-awaited sequel to his worldwide bestseller, The Triumph of the Sun. Cairo, 1887. A beautiful September day. Penrod Ballantyne and his fiancee, Amber Benbrook, stroll hand in hand. The future is theirs for the taking. But when Penrod's jealous former lover, Lady Agatha, plants doubt about his character, Amber leaves him and travels to the wilds of Abyssinia with her twin sister, Saffron, and her adventurer husband, Ryder Courtney. On a mission to establish a silver...