This was Patrick O'Brian's 9th book in the Aubrey/Maturin series and the title just about says it all. Most of the time is spent with some scent of treason threatening our heros' actions in one way or the other.
It was a good read but certainly not O'Brian's best. The ending left me scratching my head and wondering if I was missing some pages. A few points seemed contrived: the emphasis on Aubrey's men practicing their small arms and the repeated emphasis on how Aubrey had sounded the entire harbor in his youth. Both are important details but didn't need to be singled out quite in the ways that O'Brian accomplished.
On another note, this was the first book (in my editions of the Aubrey/Maturin series) that included a map.
