Former war photographer, Eva Paisley, insists that Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Ryga, return with her to the Devon coast where she has been staying with a friend, a former refugee from Belgium.  Eva remains tight-lipped about the reason, saying only that she’s puzzled and concerned over something she has heard since arriving there a week ago.  Ryga, off duty for the weekend, is only too pleased to escape London for the sea air and spend time in Eva’s company.

Eva takes him to a house in the fishing port of Brixham where the son of her friend is adamant that he’s seen a body on the shore ‘all bashed up’.  Eva claims the little boy has been talking of nothing more for a week. The boy’s mother dismisses it as an over-active imagination but Eva’s not convinced. Now the child is adamant the body he saw was on the very night of their arrival.

Ryga asks the child to take them to the location, not expecting to see anything, but is stunned to find the child has been telling the truth; on the dark shore, on the wet January night is indeed the body of a man, stabbed through the heart and tangled up in fishing nets.  After making some preliminary enquiries, Ryga, who has no jurisdiction to investigate, has to hand the case over to the local police. Very soon though, after a series of startling revelations, he is summoned back to Devon to discover why the dead man who left the town eleven years ago has returned and why someone hated him enough to murder him.

Deadly Waters, Inspector Andy Horton (2)

When a woman, the head teacher of a struggling local school, is found brutally murdered in Langstone Harbour DI Andy Horton is appointed to lead the investigation – but not for long if Superintendent Uckfield has his way. Horton is given only a week to find the killer, after that he will be shunted off the case.   Horton now has a point to prove as well as a complex murder case to solve. A note was found on the victim – Have you forgotten ME? – along with money wrapped up in a five-pound note and smothered with honey. Is there a clue in ‘The Owl and the Pussy-cat’ rhyme? Is it simply a senseless murder by an unhinged killer or does someone close to the head have a motive for murder?  As Horton delves deeper into the investigation, aided by Sergeant Cantelli, the tension mounts. With the clock ticking Horton is soon forced to take a decision that will put his life on the line .
 

Set against the atmospheric backdrop of the sea in the Solent area of Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight on the South Coast of England.