On location with DI Andy Horton in A DEADLY WAKE

A DEADLY WAKE, number 15 in the DI Andy Horton series set against the backdrop of the sea on the South Coast of England in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, is available in paperback, as an e book, on Amazon Kindle and on Kobo.

See where A DEADLY WAKE is set and read the extracts. First though a brief outline of what's in store for DI Andy Horton in A DEADLY WAKE.

Inspector Andy Horton returns to his desk in Portsmouth CID after a tedious computer course in London to find there has been a series of highway robberies in his absence and an arson attack at the sailing club where the Chief Constable keeps his boat. What’s more the Chief’s boat is one of three that have been set alight and he’s demanding action.But when the fingerprint bureau phone Horton to tell him the prints of an unknown man found dead in a log cabin in a secluded bay on the Isle of Wight match those of someone he met six months previously, Horton’s priorities are clear. He travels to the island to identify the body but what greets him is totally unexpected. As he follows the trail of the dead man, he uncovers some startling revelations into his own mother’s past and the truth behind her disappearance over thirty years ago.

Read the extracts from A DEADLY WAKE and click on the location images to enlarge them

Andy Horton sipped his coffee on the deck of his small yacht in the Portsmouth Marina and stared across Milton Lake at the lights of the houses opposite. The crisp April breeze, after blowing a gale all day, had finally run out of energy and now barely lifted the limp halyards, causing only the occasional and feeble protest as they slapped against the masts. It was cold for April, but Horton didn’t mind that. In fact, he hoped the bracing night air would clear his head of the grime and bustle of London where he’d been banished on a course for the last two days.

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Horton placed his motorbike helmet on the floor behind his desk and lifted the receiver. It was DC Mark Leonard of the Arson Task Force with the news that there had been a fire at the sailing club at Tipner.
‘Not the building, but three boats have been destroyed in the yard,’ Leonard announced.
Horton knew the club well. They’d had a murder investigation close by it last June, when a woman’s body had been found on a sunken barge off the old quayside. The club and its quay were on the western shores of Portsmouth, just north of the international port and naval base. Gaye Clayton, the forensic pathologist, kept her sailing dinghy there. Horton hoped hers wasn’t one of the three boats that had been torched. He asked if Leonard knew whose boats had been destroyed.
‘That’s the reason I’m calling you. The club secretary, Richard Bolton’s here, and has just broken the bad news to me,’ Leonard replied. ‘One of the boats belongs to a retired dentist by the name of Venda Atkinson, the second to Councillor Dominic Levy.’
‘Head of the police committee.’
‘The same.’
‘Not good. Levy’s opinion of us isn’t high at the best of times. He’s bound to start jumping up and down, bellowing for results.’
‘Then he’ll have company because the third dinghy belongs to the Chief Constable.’
Horton emitted a groan.

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Horton rang through to the marine unit. ‘Are you still at the sailing club, Dai?’
‘Yes, but there’s not much more we can do here. We were just on our way to Horsea Marina to ask if anyone came through or went out of the lock in the early hours of the morning, save for the man who reported the fire.’
‘Postpone that for now.’ The chief wouldn’t be pleased, but Horton would get round that if he ever found out. ‘I need you to take me across to the island on the RIB.’ The RIB would be much quicker than the ferry and could moor up on the River Medina at Newport, the island’s capital where the hospital was based. It was also flat bottomed, which meant it would be able to get into Luccombe Bay. He told Elkins about the match of fingerprints with the body found in the cabin, and how he had met the man in October. He requested that Elkins pick him up from the secure berth at the international port in fifteen minutes.
Horton grabbed his sailing jacket and stopped long enough to brief Cantelli, giving him the same information he had Elkins. Then he made his way through the subway that ran under the motorway and across the busy port car parks to the secure berth where the RIB was waiting for him.

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The grime and fuel-filled air of the last two days in London slipped away from him as they crossed the busy Solent. There were several yachts and a few motorboats enjoying the spring weather. A cruise ship was heading towards the port, and a large container ship loomed on the horizon. Within minutes the RIB was rounding the chalk cliffs of Culver, on the island, heading past the coastal town of Sandown and beyond that Shanklin with its short promenade, nestling beneath
the town perched high on the cliffs. After rounding the headland, Ripley slowed the RIB and the sheltered bay of Luccombe came into view. Lying under the cliffs was a wooden hut which looked little more than a large shed.

"DI Andy Horton is a fascinating man to get to know, and his thoughtful approach to detection is a pleasure to read.” Publishers Weekly (Lethal Waves)

"Rowson’s plotting is deftly layered, and she successfully captures the mood of her protagonist’s tortured journey.” Library Journal (Undercurrent)

A DEADLY WAKE is available in paperback, as an e book, on Amazon Kindle and on kobo.