To the disgrace of his family, an illustrious London shipping merchant has taken his own life. But his niece Rhia Mahoney believes her uncle has been murdered to conceal the secrets of his trading partners. And as she begins to investigate his death, her fears are realized when she is arrested for a crime she didn't commit.

Convict Michael Kelly's sentence is almost ended, but his plans are interrupted when a woman he has known since childhood, Rhia Mahoney, arrives in Sydney harbour aboard a prison hulk. And Michael cannot allow the men who falsely imprisoned him to condemn this young woman to the same fate...