Lord Eames and his family - change of name in the DI Andy Horton Mysteries!

OK so some of you are wondering why, having read the originally published DI Andy Horton crime novels, and now revisiting them in their new incarnation with Joffe Books as the Solent Murder Mysteries, that the Eames family name has changed. Or perhaps you haven't even noticed it, and new readers will be totally unaware of this switch. But for those of you who did a sort of double take here is why Lord Richard Eames, (not Andy Horton's favourite person) has changed his name and that of his family.

But before I explain ...

In case you are wondering what I'm wittering on about, not having got to THE FARLINGTON MARSH MURDERS yet (book 8) when the Eames name is first mentioned, Lord Richard Eames has something to do with the disappearance of Andy Horton's mum, Jennifer, when he was ten years old. What that is I'm not saying because I would spoil the pleasure (I hope it is) of reading all fifteen in the series ( soon to be sixteen- 2022).

As many of you know DI Andy Horton’s mum walked out on him when he was a child. He returned home from school one day to find her not at home. Nothing unusual in that. She worked as a night time croupier in a casino in Portsmouth and Andy was used to getting himself off to bed and up in the mornings. Even when she wasn't there the next day he thought nothing of it. But as the days drifted on he became concerned and upset. A teacher noting this reported it and Andy was taken into care. Then followed a succession of children's homes and foster care until he was finally placed with a police officer and his wife and Andy's life changed for the better.

His past has shaped him. He doesn't always follow the rules, he despises bullies because they remind him of the kids at school and in the children's homes. He's always looking out for the underdog and has the ability of putting himself in his victim's shoes right up until the moment of death. His instinct and empathy, honed by his upbringing and experiences, have enabled him to make leaps of judgements others can't or are unable to make and therefore help him to solve crimes. He's self-contained, afraid to show his feelings, but he’s a risk-taker who always seeks justice. He has a desperate need to belong yet is always on the outside

Andy put his past behind him ...

He tried not to hate his mother or feel angry that "she had gone off with another man and didn't want a kid in tow", until an investigation, THE HORSEA MARINA MURDERS (3) violently intrudes on his past and exposes nerves that he thought were long ago dead. This in turn leads him to start questioning what really happened to Jennifer Horton on that fateful foggy November day when she vanished. And this thread is weaved in the subsequent DI Andy Horton Solent Murder Mysteries until the truth is finally revealed in book number fifteen!

So back to Lord Eames and the change of name ...

Just prior to publication of THE OYSTER QUAYS MURDERS (9) it was discovered by my publisher's reader that there really is a Lord Eames, and a very fine fellow he is too. Some discussion ensued, do we keep the name or change it so as not to risk offence?

Names are always difficult to choose and it is impossible to have ones that don't exist anywhere in the world. I check as far as I can but some are bound to slip through the net. Yes there is a disclosure at the beginning of the books and indeed in every work of fiction that the characters in the books bear no resemblance to anyone living or dead but sometimes caution is the better part of valour and that is why Eames has been changed to Ames in these Joffe editions of the DI Andy Horton Solent Murder Mysteries.

But rest assured, only the names have changed, the characters are exactly as I created them.

Happy reading.