March 1605. Country doctor and former ship surgeon Gabriel Taverner is ready for his next adventure. He can't wait to leave Devon and tend to the crew of the Luipaard while sailing the Eastern seas. As years pass by Gabriel's family and friends back home are struggling with his substitute physician. Doctor Maudsley Cheverell turned out to be as incompetent as they come and unpleasant at best. So when he is found dead in a ditch one day no one seems to be too surprised. Only when examining the body it seems like Cheverell was tortured using a specific method from the East . . . Is there a connection to Gabriel and his time in Asia? Where is he now? And how did the quiet English town of Tavy Valley suddenly get involved in a dangerous plot?

Part of the Gabriel Taverner series.