His interactions with the other characters was interesting, although I didn't feel his interactions with Lizzie McKendrick brought anything more to the story. I was also surprised when I read the author's note at the end and saw that some parts of the plot were based on historical fact, although the details have been added to and embellished using the author's imagination! This historical detail was great and I really felt like I was on board the Tankerville thanks to Nattrass' descriptive writing. The passenger manifest may look all above board but, after the first death occurs, it almost begins to appear as motley and suspect as the crew sometimes comes across. It was very interesting to follow Lawrence in his investigation as he tries to find the murder and the treaty.

As Blue Water opens, the ripples of what happened back then are still rocking Laurence Jago’s world. As the story progresses, Jago finds that his fellow passengers all have their own motives to find the treaty for themselves. Where Black Drop dealt in political machinations and espionage, life aboard the Tankerville is fraught with very real danger and a more urgent risk to life and limb. I was quite sure Leonora Nattrass must have read O’Brian and when I reached the acknowledgements at the end of the book I found that I was right!This is the secret report of disgraced former Foreign Office clerk Laurence Jago, written on the mail ship Tankerville en route to Philadelphia.

After the dramatic events of “Black Drop”, ill-fated Laurence Jago is once again at the centre of political intrigue in “Blue Water”.In this sequel to Black Drop, our protagonist Jago (who may - in the preceding story - have committed light treason) is onboard a mail ship bound for Philadelphia. His real mission is to deliver the Jay Treaty, a document of great importance to the peace between the US and Britain. Trapped on the ship with travellers including two penniless French aristocrats, an Irish actress and a dancing bear, Laurence must hunt down both the lost treaty and the murderer, before he has a tragic 'accident' himself. Monstrous, other-worldly, in the empty expanse of ocean, she loomed over us with her two decks, her extravagant gilding, and rank upon rank of open gun ports. At points I was more worried about the bear than any of the humans but they grabbed my attention back when needed.