This was a weird one.

The villains felt threatening, the mystery was gripping and the descriptions of rugged Scottish islands set the haunting mood well. The slow reveals of John's past during the war kept the tension, and the crimes committed were incredibly grim and difficult to read about, especially as a woman. I'm unsure how accurate the historical stuff was but as someone who doesn't know much about the Napoleonic wars, it was very interesting to learn about.

It was a good read, though I did feel like there was a lack of connection to the characters, I didn't care for the romance and that quite often the book did get tedious. There were also subplots that didn't really go anywhere (like the eye operation), and the plot twist and reveal at the end felt rushed in favor of quite dragged out descriptions of John's travels.