I have been putting off reading this book.

I know, it doesn't make sense. But I have been enjoying the work of David Donachie for years, and it was just last summer that I learned of his death. Which means the last two books in this series are ... well, they're the last two books in the series. He's not going to write any more. And, while admittedly there are still books of Donachie's that I haven't read, this is his longest series, the series I was reading -- and he was still working on -- when he died. So I've delayed finishing it because I didn't want it to end.

On the other hand, I'm denying myself some top-shelf nautical fiction, and I can only ignore its siren call for so long. And so, it's back to sea with Lt. John Pearce, the reluctant British naval hero, to see what awaits him before his story's end.

A Troubled Course begins where the previous book, HMS Hazard, ends. Pearce and his crew of misfits have just taken a Spanish frigate, the Santa Leocadia, whose cargo of silver was going to fund Spain's entry into the war on France's side. With them is HMS Lively, the captain of which outranks Pearce but, because Pearce is sailing with admiralty orders, has no authority over him. And a building storm is pinning them against the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, where Spanish cannoneers are attempting to keep the British ships trapped until they can be taken and their silver recaptured.

It's just the first of Pearce's misadventures.

While Pearce's fellow captain is sent with the silver back to England, Pearce and Hazard are sent to Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean, where Admiral Jervis -- who holds Pearce in low regard -- commands. There, Hazard first carries despatches to Commodore Horatio Nelson off the coast of Genoa and joins him on a foray against an island held by privateers. Then, he's directed to Corsica, a troubled island beset by unrest and the limited zeal of the small detachment of British military there ... including a familiar, if unwelcome, face from Pearce's past.

Meanwhile, back in England, politicians and naval officials debate Pearce's fate. At the same time, various figures in Pearce's orbit, including smugglers with a grudge, questionable businessmen, prize agents, a noble thief-taker and, of course, Emily Barclay -- widow of Pearce's former captain and mother of Pearce's bastard son -- take steps that will alter Pearce's circumstances considerably when he returns. The details of Pearce's relationship remain unclear, certainly, as Emily has distanced herself from him for propriety's sake and, let's face it, their romance has seemingly lacked passion for some time. And, as always, no matter how successful Pearce's ventures are at sea, he will always find himself detested by officers who resent the means by which he attained his rank.

There is just one more book remaining in this series. I am eager -- if, at the same time, somewhat reluctant -- to see how Donachie will resolve his many tangled plot threads ... and how many might remain dangling.