The Chrysanthemum Tiger

March, 1605. Since discovering that the injury he sustained years ago has lost its power to induce chronic seasickness, country doctor and former ship's surgeon Gabriel Taverner has joined the service of Walter Haverleigh, a wealthy and successful merchant, who has engaged him to tend the crew of the Luipaard on her voyage to the East. As the months and years of Gabriel's absence continue, his family and friends are struggling with the replacement he engaged. Doctor Maudsley Cheverell has turned out to be incompetent, arrogant and self-serving. When one morning his dead body is found in a ditch, it seems that nobody will regret his untimely death. However, when the body is examined, it is apparent that Cheverell was tortured by the application of a specific method from the East. Is there a connection to Gabriel and his time in Asia?