Young John Trenchard lives with his aunt in the village of Moonfleet half a mile from the sea. His peaceful existence ends dramatically when he discovers a secret passage into the vault of the powerful Mohune family, who once had control of Moonfleet. Wild stories abound of bloodcurdling cries and horrific deaths, for here lies the notorious Blackbeard who, it is said, haunts the churchyard in search of a fabled but ill-gotten diamond. Yet instead of glittering treasure Trenchard finds cargoes of contraband. Drawn into the dangerous, secretive world of smugglers it is not long before he is forced to flee the country.
This is a genuinely exciting tale similar in style to Treasure Island. Originally published in 1898 and set in the 1750's it's a story of violence and revenge with our hero travelling into Europe to escape before the mystery of the fabled diamond is solved.
This is great fun, the ending is Dickensian but that was how things were when this was written. I'd never heard of the story prior to buying this & I see it was made into a TV series with Ray Winstone a few years back, all in all and excellent read.
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