It's 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be tried for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. But no sooner is the Saardam out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock are slaughtered. Ominous whispers travel throughout the crowded decks. And then comes the first murder. With Pipps imprisoned in the depths of the ship, can his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, solve the mystery before the ship descends into anarchy?