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Art Marvik knows the sea. He knows danger. And he knows that uncovering the truth can come at a price.
Art Marvik is the central character in my contemporary mystery thriller series, set against the backdrop of the sea and the coast.
Formerly a Royal Marine Commando and Special Boat Service officer, Marvik has been forced to leave the Marines after sustaining injuries during combat. His attempt to make a new life in the civilian world gets off to a disastrous start when the luxury motor cruiser he has been employed to protect is attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean.
Marvik survives with a bullet in his shoulder.
The boat's owner does not.
His first mission in civilian life has failed, and Marvik returns to his remote cottage on the Isle of Wight uncertain about what comes next.
Then he is drawn into a dangerous investigation.
And everything changes.
Marvik isn't a conventional detective.
He doesn't wear a police uniform or spend his days working from behind a desk. He is an undercover investigator working for the UK Police National Intelligence Marine Squad, reporting to Detective Chief Superintendent Crowder.
His missions take him into cases involving murder, disappearance, old secrets and crimes whose origins can stretch back decades.
He is tough, highly trained and intelligent, with a photographic memory and a natural ability to operate under pressure.
But he is also flawed.
Marvik finds civilian life difficult. His greatest fears are failure, being incapacitated and having to rely on other people. Beneath the toughness is a vulnerability he doesn't readily show.
And then there is the sea.
Marvik travels around the coast in his powerful motor cruiser, and the maritime world isn't simply a backdrop to the stories. It is part of them — from remote coves and working ports to open water, boats, cliffs and coastal communities.
I wanted to create a very different protagonist from my other crime characters.
DI Andy Horton is a renegade Portsmouth detective who often goes out on a limb to solve a case.
Inspector Ryga is a thoughtful Scotland Yard detective investigating crimes in 1950s Britain.
For Marvik, I wanted something different.
I wanted an action hero — but a flawed one.
Someone who wasn't necessarily bound by the official rules of the law, but who was nevertheless on the right side of it.
And, because I love writing about the sea, boats and coastal locations, I wanted the maritime world to be central to the stories.
So Art Marvik emerged: tough, capable and resourceful, but carrying the physical and emotional scars of his past.
The Story Behind Art Marvik
The Inspiration Behind Deadly Waves
On Location with Marvik in Lost Voyage
The Research Behind Lost Voyage
The Challenge of Writing Fatal Depths
Book 1
A young woman is murdered. A family has been torn apart by shame for fifteen years. And Art Marvik is about to discover that the past isn't finished with them yet.
When Marvik's former girlfriend, Royal Navy nurse Charlotte Churley, arrives at his Isle of Wight cottage frightened and convinced she is being followed, she tells him about a murder from fifteen years earlier.
Then Charlotte disappears.
Marvik finds himself drawn into a dangerous investigation that takes him from his uncertain new life back into the world he thought he had left behind.
With the help of his former Royal Marine colleague Shaun Strathen, he must uncover the truth before another innocent person dies.
Deadly Waves introduces Marvik, Strathen and the world in which the series unfolds.
Book 2.
A fifty-year-old mystery.
A murdered marine archaeologist.
And secrets someone is prepared to kill to protect.
Marvik's second investigation takes him to the Dorset coast, where he is tasked with uncovering the truth behind an old murder.
But during the investigation he discovers something that brings the case much closer to home — a computer disk bearing his late father's handwriting.
Someone wants it back.
And they are prepared to kill to get it.
Book 3.
A missing salvage vessel.
A lost voyage.
And a secret that must never be revealed.
When Marvik is called to investigate the disappearance of the salvage vessel Mary Jo, the case initially appears to have little connection with his previous investigations.
But the missing ship has a secret.
And someone is prepared to kill to make sure that secret remains buried.
His investigation takes Marvik along the south coast and into the dangerous world of marine salvage, from the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head to Newhaven and Eastbourne.
Book 4.
For Marvik, this one is personal.
A woman is murdered off the Dorset coast.
Among her possessions Marvik discovers a notebook containing his late father's handwriting and a mysterious computer disk.
Then someone breaks into his London bank safe deposit box.
The notebook and disk are the only things taken.
Marvik believes they could hold the key to discovering what really happened to his parents, who died in an underwater explosion.
When a bomb is planted at his home, the investigation becomes a fight for survival.
With Shaun Strathen's help, Marvik sets out to uncover the truth — and discovers that someone is prepared to kill to keep it hidden.
Fatal Depths brings together threads that have been woven through the earlier books and takes Marvik deeper into the mystery surrounding his parents' deaths.
Book 5.
The latest Art Marvik mystery thriller.
A missing friend.
An abandoned yacht.
A cryptic message.
And a body that isn't who Marvik expected it to be.
When Marvik receives a disturbing call from the Garda, he learns that his former Royal Marine colleague and close friend Shaun Strathen has disappeared.
Strathen's yacht has been found drifting in Ballyandreen Bay.
But there is no sign of him.
A cryptic note is discovered aboard:
Art, sorry it's come to this. Look after things for me. Per Mare, Per Terram.
Marvik heads straight to Ireland.
His search takes him to a cottage by the sea, where a decomposing body is discovered.
But it isn't Strathen.
So who is the dead man?
Where is Strathen?
And what has his disappearance uncovered?
Marvik's search leads him into a dangerous network of criminal masterminds, and he will have to survive long enough to expose them and find his friend.
Lethal Storm was published by Joffe Books in November 2025.
The Marvik mysteries take place in a world I know and love — the coast and the sea.
Marvik's investigations take him around Britain's coastline and beyond, from the Isle of Wight and Dorset to East Sussex, Devon and Ireland.
Boats, harbours, cliffs, coves and open water are woven into the stories, creating locations where danger can arrive from any direction.
The sea can offer freedom.
It can also conceal secrets.
And for Marvik, it can be both refuge and threat.
Each Art Marvik mystery is a complete investigation, so you can pick up any of the books and follow the individual story.
However, I recommend reading them in order if you'd like to follow Marvik's personal journey and the developing story surrounding his past and his parents' deaths.
1. Deadly Waves
2. Dangerous Cargo
3. Lost Voyage
4. Fatal Depths
5. Lethal Storm
The books are available in paperback and ebook, and on Kindle Unlimited.
Explore the books above to find out more.
Follow Art Marvik
I'm also gradually building a dedicated Art Marvik Facebook Page, where I'm sharing glimpses into Marvik's world — the sea, the locations, the character and some of the inspiration behind the mystery thrillers.
I hope so.
I love writing about Marvik, researching his world and putting him into situations where his skills, resilience and ability to survive are tested.
There are still plenty of dangerous waters for him to navigate.
Watch this space.
See where the Art Marvik mysteries are set.
"Pauline Rowson has built another lovely series of books. All have such believable characters and great yarns. Great reading in every one."
"Interesting characters, full of mystery and intrigue. Art Marvik is a tough determined man, placed in situations requiring all the years of being a marine commando."
"I really like his character and the way he digs into the tasks he's set."
"Read all four books over two weeks. Couldn't put them down. Its all SO very believable. I can't wait to read more adventures of Art and Shaun. Highly recommend this series."
"It's a gripping yarn. One you can't put down, same as the previous ones. There must be a follow up."
"I worked in this world and am delighted that the author has captured the chaos and confusion of the shadow lands! This is as good as Greene and Le Carre. Well done."
Pauline Rowson lives on the South Coast of England and is the best selling author of many crime novels, published by Joffe Books. Her popular crime novels include the DI Andy Horton Solent Murder Mystery series, the Art Marvik mystery thrillers and the 1950s set Inspector Ryga mysteries. Subscribe to her newsletter for all the latest books news.
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