Kent, England, 1762. Bloody smuggling wars are raging on England's southern coast. It's a time of daring men and bold women, and deadly skirmishes between rival gangs and the law. John Smith, a man both hanged and drowned, returns to his home village, swearing vengeance on the landowner who killed his father. There is no quarter asked or expected when Smith begins to carve out his place among the Free Traders of Kent. What he doesn't know is that the Preventative Service has sent Ambrose Grant - their most effective man - to hunt him down.

Burmese War, 1852. Unable to join the famous Royal Malverns, Jack Windrush is commissioned into the despised 113th foot. Determined to rise in the ranks and make a name for himself, he is sent with the 113th to join the British expedition. But when they get involved in the attack of Rangoon, Jack realizes that war on the fringes of the empire is not as honorable and glorious as he expected. After a chance meeting with a renegade British soldier, Jack witnesses the true terrors of war, and begins to question the whole framework in which he has grown up.

Hours later, the man’s cold body lies in the city mortuary, alongside the woman he couldn’t save. And his sister, unconventional nurse Gemma Tate, tracks down troubled police inspector Sebastian Bell to unravel the truth. Sebastian has enough pressure to solve the murder of an aristocratic heiress without Gemma meddling in his case. But the cryptic sentences she brings him from her brother’s notebook could be a crucial lead. If only they knew what “milky way” meant.

1878: When his family loses their home, to Jack Roberts, who has grown up hearing stories of the Crimean war and the magnificent charge of the Heavy Brigade, the choice between working in a dangerous factory or enlisting in the army and putting on the famed red uniform is an easy one. But when fighting for Queen and Country takes him far from home to defending a small mission station from overwhelming numbers, it is anything but easy and bravery and stoicism take on new meaning.

After surviving the Battle of Culloden in 1746, young Hughie MacKim swears a blood oath to avenge the murder of his brother. Trained as an infantryman in Fraser's Highlanders, Hugh joins the Army himself and follows the trail across the horror of war in North America, through to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in September 1759. But how can he trace the men in the anonymous ranks of the British Army?

When the body of a young man is found stuffed into the tomb of a medieval knight, Parish Constable Daniel Haze is tasked with investigating his first solo murder case. Suspicion instantly falls on the only stranger to arrive in the village of Birch Hill just before the crime took place, but the American captain proves to be an unexpected asset. A former soldier and a skilled surgeon, Jason Redmond is not only willing to assist Haze with the investigation but will risk his own safety to apprehend the killer.

It is the year 1915, and the British and Ottoman Empires clash in a deadly struggle in the Middle East. Tasked with keeping the Ottomans out of Suez Canal, Major Andrew Selkirk discovers that his real assignment is to retrieve a Bengali spy working for those who vow to see British rule out of India. After landing on the west coast of Palestine, Selkirk discovers the Ottomans have taken the spy captive. Even more troubling are the plans by Ottomans and Germans to draw Afghanistan and Persia into the war against Great Britain.

Salisbury, 1226. A young pregnant woman is found tangled in reeds in the river Avon, her identity a mystery. Grieving widow Ela Longespée is determined to succeed her husband as sheriff of Salisbury, and quickly takes charge of the investigation. She soon finds herself in the thick of a neighborhood scandal and a struggle to maintain her authority. With multiple suspects, can she identify the true killer? 

In the spring of 1809 the British Army, spearheaded by Sir Arthur Wellesley, pushes north to drive the French out of Portugal. Captain James Craven, a prize fighter and rogue recruited to teach the use of cold steel is along for the ride, seeking riches and wine. As quick with his mouth as he is with a blade, Craven is caught in a forbidden duel by Wellesley himself on the eve of battle. The outcome is not what he expected. Craven’s life is about to take a major turn and descend into a whirlwind adventure beyond his wildest imagination.

Crowner John is summoned to investigate the murder of a tin miner. The victim worked for Devon's most powerful and successful mine owner, Walter Knapman. There seems, to be only one motive - to sabotage Walter's business. But the tinners have their own laws, and they are none too pleased at Crowner John's interference. How on earth can Crowner John sort all this out when his own life is in turmoil?