The Mystery of the Green Ray

News of approaching war unsettles four friends during their annual boating holiday on the Thames in August 1914. Ronald, Dennis Burnham, Jack Curtis and Tommy Evans discuss what they owe their country and decide to turn back towards Richmond. Their talk moves between familiar jokes and serious expectations, placing the opening of William Le Queux's novel at a moment when ordinary pleasures give way to public responsibilities.

A different uncertainty occupies the later investigation: Myra McLeod has lost her sight, and the specialist Garnesk believes that finding the cause could help him restore it. Ronald and the General inspect boat marks in a cove and notice recently cut heather nearby. The General regards elaborate deductions with amused suspicion, while Garnesk treats the puzzle as a chance to learn something new. This science fiction mystery brings together medical curiosity, observations of the landscape and the uneasy work of deciding which small traces matter.