The setting for DI Andy Horton mystery Death Surge

The DI Andy Horton crime novel DEATH SURGE, number ten in the series of fifteen (I'm writing number 16) takes place in August. My inspiration for my crime novels primarily from locations and all are set against the backdrop of the sea mainly on the southern coast of England. The sea is my brand or trademark if you prefer. I’m often walking the coastal paths close to where I live on the South Coast of England looking for a good place to put a body! A fictional one that is. I can't pass a boatyard, beach or bay without thinking there must be a dead body or a skeleton there somewhere that will spark the idea for a new crime novel.

Two locations around the sea and the harbours are featured in DEATH SURGE - the tunnels at the Hilsea Lines, in Portsmouth and Fort Gilkicker, Gosport overlooking the Solent.

Hilsea Lines, Portsmouth

The Hilsea Lines are a line of fortifications which were built to protect the northern approach to Portsmouth from attack in 1544. They were rebuilt in the 18th and 19th century when there was a renewed threat of a French invasion, which never happened. They belonged to the army, providing barracks, ammunition stores and a series of tunnels beneath the earth mounds, before becoming derelict and overgrown until designated a conservation area with now a series of nature trails around the moat and the creek which once made Portsmouth an island before the two road bridges and motorway were constructed.

The moat and Langstone Harbour from Hilsea Lines - DEATH SURGE

DI Andy Horton at the top of the Hilsea Lines looking down across the moat and to Langstone Harbour.

Fort Gilkicker

Another location that is featured in DEATH SURGE is Fort Gilkicker, Gosport overlooking the Solent, an ancient monument that is to be developed into exclusive houses and apartments. The fort had originally been built in 1871 to protect Portsmouth harbour and to defend the deep-water anchorage at Stokes Bay. It was abandoned by the military years ago and left to rot by the council; surrounded by a wire fence, out of bounds to the public but inside it are the derelict barracks and ammunition stores. The builders have yet to move in.

The sea has always held a fascination for me and once the sea is in your blood it never leaves you. It seemed only natural for me to turn to it for inspiration for my crime novels. From the setting and (usually a body in the DI Andy Horton crime novels) springs the basic ideas for the plot which is further developed and fleshed out, along with the characters, as the novel progresses.

"A crisply written, cleverly plotted procedural with a nice twist, Rowson’s latest also continues the intriguing saga of Andy’s search for the mother who disappeared in mysterious circumstances when he was a child." Booklist.

Death Surge is available in paperback, on Amazon Kindle, on Kobo and as an ebook, also as an unabridged audio book narrated by Gordon Griffin and published by Soundings.

POSTED BY: PAULINE ROWSON
AUGUST 16TH, 2021 @ 6:27:08 BST

The setting for DI Andy Horton mystery Death Surge

Hilsea Lines, Portsmouth

Fort Gilkicker

Death Surge is available in paperback, on Amazon Kindle, on Kobo and as an ebook, also as an unabridged audio book narrated by Gordon Griffin and published by Soundings.

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