Code of Honour
'A first-rate historical thriller, full of period detail, fascinating characters, unexpected twists, mystery, intrigue and action.’
~ Peter Tonkin
1812
Britain’s war against Napoleon continues.
Will Fraser and Duncan Armstrong have served their country well as spies, exposing traitors and rescuing betrayed royalists.
Now they are asked to support military operations in the Peninsular War. The French are using a new code which is proving impossible to decipher. Will and Armstrong must work with Spanish guerrillas to intercept messages between French Commanders and pass them to Wellington’s codebreakers.
Will is reluctant, however. Portugal was where he was falsely accused of cowardice and desertion and forced to leave the army. And Captain Harcourt-Browne, the jealous and vengeful officer who caused his downfall, is still serving there.
But Will is given a compelling – and personal – reason to carry out the operation. If he does so, there’s a slim chance he could be reinstated.
Enemy agents are soon on their trail; agents who want them dead. Somehow Will and Armstrong must evade them and join the guerrillas in a daring attempt to uncover Napoleon’s battle plans.
But Will’s troubled past catches up with him. Four years ago he lied to protect the woman he loved. Now he must own up to that lie to save himself.
Rosemary Hayes has written over forty books across different genres, from historical fiction to chapter books for early readers and texts for picture books.
An interview with Rosemary Hayes
What Inspired you to start writing?
I’ve always loved making up stories. I wrote my first ‘book’ when I was ten, in pencil, on file paper, and sent it to a publisher whose name and address I’d found on the back of a book. I was very disappointed when they wrote back and said they couldn’t publish it! Even though they encouraged me to keep on writing I was so cross that I threw it on the fire. I wish I’d kept it; I expect it was dreadful!
I’ did a lot of writing in my work but I didn’t start writing fiction until after I’d done a creative writing course where I learned about plotting and shaping a book and creating believable characters.
So many things spark one’s inspiration. An overheard conversation, for instance, an incident you witness in the street, something that happens in your own family, the effect that global events have on the lives of ordinary people. Something will lodge in my brain and niggle away and I’ll know I’ll have to write about it one day.
What was the hardest part about writing this book?
‘Code of Honour’ is the final book in a trilogy. The hardest part was at the beginning when I was plotting out the three books and, as is always the case with historical fiction, doing a lot of research about the period in which they are written (during the Napoleonic Wars).
Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?
I became very fond of both my main characters. Captain Will Fraser is a disgraced soldier who sacrificed his career to save another and his loyal and badly wounded sergeant, Duncan Armstrong, is tough and stoic and just gets on with life without complaint. They both have their demons and are damaged but their flaws are what, in my view, make them human and relatable.
If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?
That’s a hard one! I think Tom Hiddleston would be work as Captain Will Fraser. He’s very good at looking as though he has the woes of the world on his shoulders! And James Mcavoy could carry off the role of the tough Armstrong. And I’d love Jessie Buckley to play one of the women – just because I think she’s such a wonderful actress.
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
These three books Traitor’s Game, The King’s Agent and Code of Honour I hope show something of what goes on during warfare aside from the battles. The underbelly of war, if you like. The extent and complexity of spying on your enemy – the huge network of British undercover agents, their handlers, the extraordinary risks they took, the codes they broke and the ways in which they got the information they’d gleaned back through enemy lines. By its nature, spying is secret but it’s contribution to the war effort is immense.
Of course, now, in the age of the internet when information can be transmitted worldwide in seconds, espionage is very different from undercover work in the early 19th century.
Praise for Rosemary Hayes:
‘Rosemary Hayes' Soldier Spy is a first-rate historical thriller, full of period detail, fascinating characters, unexpected twists, mystery, intrigue and action. It reminds me of Berrnard Cornwell's brilliant, Regency-set Gallows Thief. I am pleased to see that it is the first of a trilogy and look forward to reading more about the dashing Will Fraser.’
~ Peter Tonkin, author of The Richard Mariner thrillers
‘One of the very best historical novels I have ever read.’
~ Sandra Robinson, Huguenot Ancestry Expert
‘An absorbing tale told with sensitivity. The forgotten struggles of Huguenot refugees come to moving, heartrending life.’
~ Steven Veerapen, author of A Dangerous Trade
Buy this Books
Soldier Spy Series
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Rosemary Hayes
