War takes no prisoners. It involves everyone - even children. Twin brothers, Amed and Aziz, live in the peaceful shade of their family's orange grove. But when a bomb kills the boys' grandparents, they become pawns in their country's civil war.
Dr Mungo Lyon is recruited by the Crown to investigate a shipwreck and murder in the Scotland of 1829. His adventures lead him on a pursuit across the Scottish countryside, kidnap and treason, an unwanted trip to the West Indies, insurrection and falling in love.