The Devil to Pay

Blurb

The Devil to Pay is one of a series of nautical novels by C. Northcote Parkinson. It is set in the late 18th Century, when Britain was at war with Revolutionary France. Parkinson's hero is a junior naval officer. Unlike many fictional officers Parkinson's hero, Richard Delancey, does not have any powerful patrons to ease his way to promotion.
The novel starts with Delancey accepting the temporary command of a small cutter. Delancey is from the Island of Guernsey, and is fluent in French. His knowledge of French will make it easier for him to land Royalist agents who are part of a plan to prepare for an invasion to restore the French monarchy.
This secret mission appears to have been a failure. And it leaves Delancey on the beach, living on his half-pay.
So he leaps at a chance to accept the temporary command of a small customs vessel. He is unexpectedly successful at intercepting smuggled goods so one of the owners of some of the smuggling vessels offers him the much better position of command of a privateer.
He is a successful privateer commander. He has several successful cruises. But, eventually his ship is wrecked on the enemy shore.