A Lawless Place — David Donachie

The second volume in The Contraband Shore trilogy.

1787: Captain Edward Brazier is devastated to find Betsey, the woman he wants to marry, imprisoned in her own home by her brother, Henry Tulkington, and trapped in an illegal marriage. With Brazier suspected of acting as a spy for a prime minister seeking to halt smuggling activity on the coast and still posing a threat to Betsey's increasingly deranged brother, he is walking a dangerously fine line.

But Tulkington's arrogance is making him enemies, even in his own family, and his actions are becoming increasingly violent towards everyone who thinks to defy him. Brazier's only option is to join with the darker denizens of Deal in the hope of constructing an alliance which will see his lady freed.