Old marries naive and young. Very well written, liked it much.
For the naval interested reader, this is a condensed account of a successful raider, from when there was neither radio nor much telegraph. It has important facts from the captain's diary augmented with all other things that became known afterwards. Not to be missed if you're into mil history.
Although an excellent read in the first half, I couldn't stand the improbable and contrived events in the second half, which was more like a Wilki Collins mystery. It may well be your fit, and it's worth a try.
Futrelle's Thinking Machine short stories, while distributed in a dozen titles here on manybooks, are quite worth the download. There may be a few with improbable events, but in general they are problem-solving detective stories in the best Sherlock Holmes tradition.