It's 1924 and John Edward Haddock, a young man with a fine reputation as a merchant marine at home on the sea, is offered an opportunity to make a cool thousand dollars … one half of his annual salary. All he has to do is drive the Black Duck, the fastest powerboat in Narragansett Bay, out to Rum Row, just outside the three-mile territorial limit of the USA, pick up a load of contraband liquor (it's Prohibition) and sneak it back ashore under the watchful eye of the U.S. Coast Guard patrols.

John Edward, the forefather of the Haddock clan of Little Penwick, has a lot to lose. He could lose his freedom and his life. He could lose his job and career. He could lose the chance to win the hand of the winsome Vollie Jeffords, who loves movies, live music, dancing and an occasional cocktail.

He knows it’s ‘wrong,’ but then everyone around him in Rhode Island is busy ignoring the laws against alcohol. And with the thousand bucks, he can start building the home of his dreams, and hopefully convince Vollie to marry him.

In this prequel novella, James Y. Bartlett adds a historical element to his popular Swamp Yankee Mystery series, in a Roaring Twenties story full of gangsters, bootleggers, Coast Guard commanders and one unforgettable, foggy night in the waters off Rhode Island.