The Dying Trade

Privateersman Mysteries #2

by David Donachie

1794: Arriving in the squalid, seething port of Genoa, Harry Ludlow and his partner and younger brother, James, find it a tinderbox of tension, fed by the discovery of a hanged British sea captain and packs of English and French sailors at each other's throats.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Military Fiction, Mystery, War, Adventure

383 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

aka Tom Connery, Johnny 'Two Combs' Howard, Jack Ludlow, Jack Cole.

David Donachie was born in Edinburgh in 1944. He has had a variety of jobs, including selling everything from business machines to soap. He has always had an abiding interest in the naval history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which he drew upon for the many novels he has set in that period. The author of a number of bestselling books, he lived in Deal with his wife, fellow A&B author Sarah Grazebrook.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a series about the dying trade of privateerman. This is book two. I have not read book one.

Privateerman Harry Ludlow and his partner and brother James arrive in the squalid, seething part of Genoa. They find it a tinderbox of tension, fed by the discovery of a hanged British sea Captain. The story is set in late 1700 and early 1800 when the British and French were fighting during the Napoleonic War. Admiral Hood assigns Harry to investigate the death of the British officer.

Donachie tells about smuggling boys and young girls from Eastern Europe and Russia to sell as slaves to the Ottoman Empire. There is some sea action toward the end of the book but mostly it is a murder investigation or murder mystery story. The book is well written and the characters are interesting. I read this as an audio book download from Audible. Peter Wickham narrated the book.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The brothers Ludlow, Harry and James, have survived the loss of their privateer schooner and crew, solved a murder mystery and reunited with a sort of adopted uncle who happens to be the Royal Navy admiral in charge of the Mediterranean fleet. It's 1794, there's a war on, and privateers and Navy men generally aren't on good terms with each other because they have to compete for a limited number of prizes. Nevertheless, Adm. Howe sends them ashore in Genoa with a hint that he'll consider helping Harry continue his privateering career, provided that Harry helps him solve the grisly murder of a Navy captain found strangled in the city's streets.

Harry and James don't get very far ashore before someone tries to kill them, too. In no time at all, they find themselves entangled in a complex weave of villainous conspiracies, from a squadron of privateersmen who suspiciously don't bring any prizes ashore to a French warship that somehow has the liberty of a port that is supposed to be allied with Britain. While Harry shops for a new vessel and a crew to sail it, James struggles in vain to check his brother's tendency to poke his nose into other people's business – like a sickly Italian count and his too-beautiful-to-be-believed wife, a ship's captain who everyone knows is not sailor and whose second-in-command is a known thief, a corrupt port admiral, an inkeeper who fleeces sailors of their hard-won prize money, and another captain with whom Harry soon shares a mutual death grudge.

Half murder mystery, half naval adventure, it starts to look like it's all going to unfold on shore, but then there do come some pretty exciting sea battles – all while Harry probes deeper and deeper into some disturbingly evil doings. There's combats on board a mostly abandoned ship, exchanges of gunfire between ships, fiendish traps, and a particularly nasty episode in which a man must fight for dear life against a bunch of rats. And in case it isn't already clear that an Adult Content Advisory is in order, there's also some pretty graphic nookie in this novel.

You'll go from wishing you were Harry Ludlow to being glad you aren't in only a couple of pages. You'll be brought to the edge of your seat, even if you're lying down, during several thrilling, suspenseful and shocking passages. And two books into your cruise with David Donachie's Privateersman Mysteries, you'll be on board for the next book, A Hanging Matter.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

workaday mp3



Read By: Peter Wickham
Year of Recording: 2008
Year Book Published: 1993
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Soundings Audiobooks
Abridged: No
Total Duration: 13hrs 25mins

Synopsis: From FF: Part naval swashbuckler, part mystery story, "The Dying Trade" tells the story of smuggling and death in the Mediterranean at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Harry Ludlow and his brother James find themselves in Genoa where Harry is commissioned to investigate a British officer's death.

How is it that David Donachie is not better known - injustice! I enjoyed the Ludlow brothers so much I have ordered the next book. Literature this isn't but adventure it most certainly is - high adventure of the privateers. 4.5*

[John Youngblood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I approach these books as a bit of a history lesson that's delivered within a story that's usually compelling, even if the characters may be somewhat exaggerated. This one gives you a look at life aboard a ship in the 1790's that's not with the royal navy with a captain that's a privateer, unlike most of this genre. And while there is naval action aplenty, the main story runs along the lines of the classic english mystery with surprising revelations of guilt at the end. If you've enjoyed other authors of this genre, Patrick O'Brian etc., I think this work represents an interesting variation.

[Cecelia Hightower]

The setting for this story was the late 1700 and very early 1800 when the British and French were fighting over trade on the European coast and all countries used privateers (i.e. basically pirates, but sailing under official letters/orders from some country). As with all adventure stories there were intrigue, double-dealing, and sea battles. All in all a fun light fun read with a very surprising ending.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off a bit meandering but picked up when the action got going.