The Dark Secret of Josephine by Dennis Wheatley (Vintage 1973 Illustrated Hardcover)

Roger Brook – Prime Minister Pitt’s most daring and resourceful secret agent – had sailed for the West Indies with a party that included three beautiful women. His purpose: pleasure. But the Caribbean, blue seas, lush tropical islands and palm-shaded beaches, was infested with pirates. The slaves of the ‘Sugar islands’ were in revolt. All this Roger Brook encountered. But also he uncovered a mysterious episode in the early life of the Empress Josephine – a mystery that had its effect on the Parisian intrigues that led to Napoleon receiving his first great command: the Army of Italy. A mystery that tied together many strange scenes and unlikely events.