July, 1841 A group of young women sit on the deck of a ship headed to the colonies of Australia, heads bent, busy stitching a beautiful quilt together, sunlight glancing from silver needles, overseen by their young matron Kezia Hayter.Until a piercing shriek tears the fabric of their small society apart - a woman has been brutally stabbed, her life hanging in the balance.But this no ordinary ship, the Rajah is transporting female prisoners. Thieves and convicts with crimes too petty to be hanged forced to immigrate to Australia.Trapped at sea, and on a ship full of convicted criminals, it falls to Kezia to determine which criminal is guilty of murder.