This is the fifth instalment in the Captain Daniel Rawson series and once again we see our hero undertaking dangerous missions behind enemy lines but unfortunately his character development seems to have come to a complete halt.

Now I'm all for 'boys own stories' but quite frankly the title of this book seems a complete misnomer. Whilst the text runs along at a reasonably good pace and it is an easy read there is also a lot of repetition of previous books and the author seems to have given up totally on the idea of writing action scenes. A large portion of this book deals with Daniel in Amsterdam trying to catch thieves who have stolen a tapestry intended for his Commander-in-Chief, Lord Marlborough, from his love interest's father's workshop whereas the battle of Malplaquet, one of the bloodiest that ever occurred in Europe, is all wrapped up in 10 or so pages. All a little disappointing.

Once again Marston gives a decent background into a War and period that I know little but this is not enough to raise it above the ordinary. ( )