When obsession from the past is unleashed upon the present

The discovery of a 100-year-old murder in a client's family history leaves Esme Quentin bewildered by her client's curious reaction.

But with no instruction to find out more, Esme instead turns her attention to clearing the dilapidated outbuilding at her new cottage. Amongst the junk she finds a 17th-century map associated with the name Chalacombe, a local family with an intriguing and mysterious history.

As Esme begins to unpick the threads of the family's story, she is plunged back to a time when lawlessness ruled the high seas and piracy was rife.

The arrival of an unwelcome visitor raises questions which Esme cannot answer, and in a desperate search for the truth, Esme stumbles upon a bizarre and disturbing crime.

Has she inadvertently uncovered a link between the Chalacombe family's enigmatic past and the 100-year-old murder? But who might be threatened by such a revelation now, in the present day? Who has got the most to lose?