Captain John Cook was seated in a typically uncomfortable ante room in the war office, having been summoned by telegram to meet with a number of senior army officers. Nominally serving in the Durham Light Infantry he was prepared for the meeting to come, although for the life of him, he could find no reason for it in his recent conduct.
Although nominally on the strength of the DLI, John Cooks’ war had thus far been mostly fought on paper with several investigations and enquiries into various occurrences and happenstances both at home and overseas. Informally he had been referred to as ‘the military policeman’ despite neither formal training nor experience as a detective. He enjoyed the patronage of his uncle who was determined to promote the young Captain and to protect his favourite niece by law from losing her husband in the mud of France and Belgium.
The highly varnished and polished oak doors on the eastern side of the room opened noiselessly and a head looked in.
‘We’re ready for you now Captain’ said the head and then disappeared
Marwick Head is the fist book in a new series featuring Captain John Cook and his valued assistant Matthew Nicholson as they both come to terms with one of the most shocking and unpredictable incidents of World War One - the sinking of the cruiser HMS Hampshire just off the Orkney Isles. On board the Ship was the formidable Field Marshal H Kitchener on a secret mission to Russia. There were 12 survivors out of over 700 men aboard that night . Kitchener was not among them.
But what sank the ship, a vessel that had survived the bloody battle of Jutland just a few days earlier without a scratch? Was it the ferocious storm, or was it the German Navy. Britain needed answers and Cook was sent to find them.