The Matthew Pryde Adventure Series

The Matthew Pryde series is set in Great Britain at the time of the Napoleonic War. There are two central characters, Matthew Pryde, a young engineer, and Kate Denton, the daughter of a bookseller.

The first book in the series, Pryde's Rock (Severn House, 2007) follows Pryde's youth and very early manhood as he struggles to find his identity and a place in the world. He is helped by the confident, bubbly and very sensible Kate Denton, but his life is complicated when he is sent to Northumberland to find a suitable site for a lighthouse, and meets an old enemy and what might be a new romance...

This book is also available in an audio edition, published by Soundings and narrated by the superb Gordon Griffin:

  The second book in the series, Pryde and the Infernal Device, sees Matthew Pryde as a mining engineer in Kent. It is 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte is camped with a huge army on the shores of France and there are rumours of a French attempt to build a tunnel under the Channel. When Matthew is sent to investigate, he is surprised to find that Kate Denton also comes along. Together they face a variety of obstacles, including the threat of the guillotine. But what is the Infernal Device that also threatens the security of Britain? And what lonely secret prevents Kate forming a lasting relationship with Matthew?    

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Reader's comments:

'I've just finished Pryde and the Infernal Device. As a woman I appreciate Kate's independent spirit' - Jeri, Texas

'Outstanding. Left me wanting more' - Purplehaze

The audio version of Pryde and the Infernal Device, published by soundings and read by Jonathan Keeble.