DI Andy Horton an instinctive and intuitive copper

Inspector Andy Horton - a man defined by a tormented past, but with hopes for his future.

Since creating my Harley Davidson riding, sailing detective I’ve come to know him extremely well.  I hope my readers have too.

In addition to solving complex, intriguing crimes on his patch, Portsmouth on the south coast of England, he’s also had to cope with personal and professional trauma and has had to come to terms with his lonely past.

Living on board his small yacht in Southsea Marina since his estrangement from his wife, Catherine, following a gross misconduct charge of which he was completely innocent, Andy is rarely at peace, unless he is on the sea or fighting crime.

The first in the series THE PORTSMOUTH MURDERS sees Andy back at work following his suspension, with a point to prove – he’s still a good and honest copy.  He is out to clear his name and restore his reputation, while at the same time solving the murder of a local businessman whose naked body Andy almost trips over, while out running on a foggy August Bank Holiday.

Raised in children's homes after his mother abandoned him as a child, Andy has a desperate need to belong and yet is always on the outside because of his inability to completely trust.  Having been deserted by his mother, and then his wife, he finds it hard to forge relationships. Yet, Andy knows, and works hard to overcome these fears, as the series progresses.

He’s an instinctive, intuitive cop, tough and resilient, but deeply empathetic. A dry sense of humour is the key to his investigative approach and a deep sense of justice. His greatest strength is his ability to put himself in a victim’s shoes, to imagine events from their perspective (even the moments up to their death), making leaps of deduction few would be able to. And he’s most often right. He’s especially tough on bullies, or people who abuse their power or position, as they remind him of the people in the children’s homes in which he’s been raised. When this happens, when his guard slips, he’s like a raw nerve. He fears his emotions will betray him.

He feels a duty of care to the victims of the crimes he investigates and often feels like he’s the only person looking out for them; the only one who can bring the guilty to justice so that the dead can rest. No one cared about him when he was a child; he won’t let that happen to anyone else.

As the series progresses, we follow Andy's mental torments, his divorce from Catherine, her refusal and delaying tactics to prevent him seeing his nine-year-old daughter, Emma, and the quest for him to discover the truth behind his mother's disappearance when he was a child.

Added to that, of course, he has some intriguing and difficult investigations to pursue and crimes to solve!

If you haven’t already dived into Andy Horton’s world then I hope you will give him a whirl. Starting with the first in the series, THE PORTSMOUTH MURDERS.

THE TIPNER LAKE MURDERS (number 19 in the DI Andy Horton Solent Murder Mystery Series) is published by Joffe Books on 14 August 2025

Available to pre-order from Amazon from 19 June 2025

Available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and Paperback.