By most standards, HMS Pandora should be a happy ship. Her captain is young, but is a patient and decisive leader. Her officers and crew are eager to get to sea, and some of them have served together before -- a smattering of characters returning from the first book in the series, His Majesty's Ship: Midshipman King, who has passed his lieutenant's exam but hasn't yet been confirmed in the post; Lewis, whose natural abilities lifted him from able seaman in the first book to master's mate; and seamen Flint and Jameson (the latter was a ship's boy known as Matthew in the first book, but maturity has granted him surname status).

In fact, everything seems pretty good for the ship and crew as they prepare for Pandora's first voyage in December 1796 -- except for the first lieutenant, Pigot, a brute of man who threatens to turn the shipboard community to Hell.

Then Pandora, en route to join Admiral Jervis in the Mediterranean, spies what looks like a French fleet in the heavy fog. Their investigation confirms the sighting but leads to a pitched battle with a French frigate -- after which Lt. Pigot is found dead, apparently from a bullet to the head at close range.

Certainly there are plenty of suspects, but Jackass Frigate is not a naval murder-mystery. Readers may have their own suspicions as to who pulled the trigger, but author Alaric Bond isn't interested in spinning out a whodunnit. In fact, even as the mystery continues aboard ship, Bond lets readers know the culprit's identity.

That's perfectly fine. This isn't a mystery novel, it's a naval adventure, and there's plenty for Pandora to sort out besides the murder (which won't be resolved entirely until they reach Gibraltar). Meanwhile, there's a prize ship to deal with, and a pair of badly damaged vessels that must be nursed into a safe harbor. There's some interaction between Pandora's Captain Banks and Jervis and, perhaps more interestingly for history buffs, a touch of Commodore Nelson, whose fame is about to achieve new heights as Jervis's ships -- including the tiny Pandora -- sail into destiny against a larger, stronger Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent.

Although frigates such as Pandora did not play a major role in the battle, readers will certainly be satisfied with their view of the action -- particularly since circumstances place several members of Banks' crew on Nelson's ship, HMS Captain, until the shooting is over. As in his previous book, Bond lets the narrative flow among characters, so readers get a varied perspective into the tale.

The only real flaw of the book is the lack of a cast of characters and a glossary, both of which were included in the previous book. Since most of the people in this book are new, I sometimes didn't recognize a name when it popped up in the text and wished I could quickly refresh my memory about who, exactly, it was. And, while many naval terms have become ingrained after reading so many books in the genre, you can always count on seeing one or two that you don't recognize, and the context doesn't always make the meaning clear.

It's a minor quibble, but it was such a nice feature in the first book I really missed it in the second!

Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed Jackass Frigate and look forward to continuing with Bond's adventures!

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