Privateersman Harry Ludlow and his partner and younger brother, James, find that murder and intrigue take up more of their time than the hunt for fat trading vessels. Arriving in the squalid, seething port of Genoa, they find it a tinderbox of tension, fed by the discovery of a hanged British sea captain and packs of English and French sailors at each other's throats. At the behest of Admiral Hood, Harry is drawn into the midst of the lurid murder investigation, only to find himself mired in roiling layers of intrigue, avarice and danger – and the deadly charms of a beautiful woman.
