THE ACCIDENTAL BUCCANEER

A brilliantly witty adventure of mistaken identity, mutiny, and one highly opinionated chicken.

Jeremy Smythe is the second son of the Earl of Urmston. He is also a charming hedonist who has spent his life enthusiastically squandering his potential. But after a spectacularly ill timed indiscretion with the brilliant Lady Eleanor Driffield, Jeremy suddenly finds himself facing a duel with Captain Blenheim of the Admiralty. Blenheim is a ruthless man who acts with chilling precision, so fleeing the capital seems like the only sensible option. Sadly, Jeremy's luck takes a massive dive when he accepts a stray shilling in a tavern and wakes up press-ganged in the back of a caged carriage.

Once aboard a Royal Navy frigate, a slight administrative error registers the aristocrat as "John Scythe, duck farmer". Relegated to the hold to manage the ship's poultry, which includes a highly suspicious and determined hen named Ethel, Jeremy attempts to simply keep his head down and survive the voyage.

Then a violent mutiny breaks out.

Jeremy's pure survival instinct leads him straight into the captain's wardrobe to hide. He emerges moments later, stumbling onto the deck while accidentally holding the former captain's severed head. Naturally, the mutinous crew erupts into cheers. Just like that, Jeremy finds himself the entirely accidental captain of a pirate ship.

Navigating the Irish Sea, the doldrums, and a French corsair is bad enough. But then Jeremy makes a shocking discovery in his own cabin. His newly appointed steward "Harry" is none other than Lady Eleanor herself. She has escaped her arranged marriage disguised in a boy's coat and is expertly patching up the wounded crew.

Now, Jeremy has a crew of outlaws looking to him for leadership, an Admiralty captain hunting them across the Atlantic, and a Royal pardon burning a hole in his pocket. He has no choice but to do the one thing he actually does best. He has to talk his way out of catastrophe.

Filled with unforgettable characters like a cheerfully toothless sailing master and a towering, poetic chef, The Accidental Buccaneer is perfect for readers who love Wodehousian wit, the sharp satire of Terry Pratchett, and the high seas escapades of Patrick O'Brian.