Dead Man's Wharf - Inspector Andy Horton, number 4

TV diving personality Nicholas Farnsworth's life is threatened...

A deranged elderly lady in a nursing home claims she's been attacked by an intruder...

A mother's conviction that her son's death on Christmas Eve was no accident...are the incidents related? Horton believes not but soon he's caught up in a complex investigation with far-reaching international implications

'Rowson turns out an exemplary procedural.' Starred Review Kirkus (USA)

Horton and Cantelli are called to a nursing home where an elderly resident, suffering from dementia, claims she's been attacked by an intruder. Horton is ready to dismiss it as senile ramblings until he discovers that her room-mate has died, the dead woman's belongings are missing and her son, convicted for armed robbery, has been found dead in his cell. Coupled with a series of threatening telephone calls to a television personality, and a mother's conviction that her son's death on Christmas Eve was no accident, Horton finds he is caught up in a complex investigation that has far-reaching international implications. With the pressure on to find a killer, and hampered by his belief that his bosses are lying to him, Horton discovers that he's stepped into a web of intrigue, deception and corruption that stretches back into the past.

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. Pauline Rowson has been hailed as "redefining the genre of the police drama”. Her cops are tough yet fallible.

Inspector Andy Horton

Inspector Andy Horton is a flawed and rugged cop, instinctive, tough and resilient, but deeply empathetic. A man very much defined by a tormented past, but with hopes for his future. Living on board his small yacht in Southsea Marina since his estrangement from his wife, the sailing detective is a man rarely at peace, unless he is on the sea. When fighting crime he is prepared to take risks and is fearless in his search for justice. He's been raised in children's homes and foster homes after his mother abandoned him as a child. He has a desperate need to belong and yet is always on the outside. Being alone is his greatest fear, yet he is alone.

Compelling, multi-layered, gripping, a great read for mystery lovers.

The DI Andy Horton books in order

Reviews

'Rowson turns out an exemplary procedural with the requisite plot twists, double-crosses and all loose ends tied up neatly in a sailor’s knot.' Starred Review Kirkus (USA)

Dead Man's Wharf Audio Book Review

Gordon Griffin's delivery enhances the story's setting, the Solent area of the south coast of England, with its atmosphere of mist and the scent of the sea. As gruff Inspector Andy Horton uncovers fact after fact concerning the mysterious deaths at a nursing home, the scope of the crimes only seems to grow. Griffin makes us feel the pain and terror of hidden violence. It's a moving portrayal.

D.R.W. AudioFile Magazine 2013, Portland, Maine