The Wreck of the Mary Deare

[2] According to Jack Adrian, the book "at a stroke launched him into that rarefied empyrean most writers yearn for though few attain, supersellerdom.

"[3] The success of the book - and the 1959 film based on it starring Gary Cooper - enabled Innes to buy his own 42 ft ocean racer, which he named Mary Deare.

[3] The book tells the story of a very old ship described as "a deathtrap of rattling rivets", which is found adrift at sea by salvager John Sands.

Sands boards it hoping to claim it for salvage, but finds the first officer, Gideon Patch, still aboard and trying to run the ship on his own.

It soon becomes apparent that the shipowners were planning to wreck the Mary Deare all along and have Patch as the fall guy.