The Wharf by the Docks

A father's doubts about a promising young barrister disturb the comfort of a country house near Canterbury. George Wedmore has bought back his family's former home, The Beeches, but his conversation with Doctor Haselden turns from country life to Dudley Horne, the young man nearly engaged to his elder daughter. Dudley's changed manner and his father's troubled history give Wedmore reasons for alarm. Florence Warden's novel brings romantic uncertainty into contact with a family business once based at a Thames wharf.

The contrast between domestic routine and danger becomes sharper around Christmas. A troublesome festive log disrupts dinner, while Max keeps his recent adventures to himself. At breakfast, a newspaper report of a body found near Limehouse Pier leaves him deeply shaken by the possibility of a connection to his own experience. Readers drawn to suspense will find family conversations, guarded disclosures and an unsettling river mystery woven closely together.