The year is 1811, and Bow Street Runner Matthew Hawkwood is ordered by Chief Magistrate James Read to investigate the double murder of a coachman and a naval courier on the Kent Road. Hawkwood is initially puzzled as to why Read is so concerned by this relatively mundane case, but as his investigation unfolds, another body is discovered and a higher agenda begins to emerge—an attempt by the Emperor Napoleon to bring about a crushing military and psychological blow to Britain, the means of which would bring terror to the seas for years to come . . .