It only seems like five minutes ago I was writing the entry for June and here we are in July (and with little sign of the summer in the UK). So what's happening in July?



On 5 July I am to be guest crime author at the annual conference of the British Society of Criminology taking place at the University of Portsmouth, Institute of Criminal…

I'm often asked how I research police procedures and police matters for my crime novels and while the DI Horton crime series certainly doesn't conform to policing in the real world  there is an underlying reality about some of the situations and procedures.



So where do I get my research from?



From talking to real live police officers, those working on the coal face and those who have also retired and my thanks here to the officers in the CID, the Major Crime Unit and the…

I have been invited to be a guest panel author at the annual conference of the  British Society of Criminology taking place at the University of Portsmouth, Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, (ICJS) between 4–6 July 2012. I will be on a panel on the afternoon of 5 July with my fellow crime writers, Graham Hurley, Peter Lovesey, June Hampson and Linda Regan.



The conference is themed around ‘Criminology…

After the Severn House drinks party it was time for another drinks reception this time hosted by CrimeFest and with the purpose of announcing those authors shortlisted for some of the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers Shortlist. Here are some photographs from the event where I was lucky enough to meet up with some DI Horton fans and chat to them about the…

Just as in CrimeFest 2010 this year’s CrimeFest was again a glorious hot day with wall-to-wall sunshine in Bristol.  Not the best time to be closeted inside the Royal Marriott Hotel but a very pleasant one to be strolling along the regenerated dock area and catching the little ferry across the narrow strip of water, which I managed to do. It was great to be back on the water, albeit for about two minutes, and I wondered whether DI Horton might take a trip into Bristol on his yacht one day.…

I'm looking forward to being at CrimeFest this coming weekend where I will be appearing on a panel on Friday 25 May at 9am. This will be my third year of attending and if it's anything like the last two it will be enjoyable and fun.

CrimeFest is a convention for people who like to read an occasional crime novel as well as for die-hard fanatics. First organised in June 2008, CrimeFest is now one of the most popular dates in the crime fiction calendar. The annual convention draws top…

 I was interviewed…

Over a hundred people turned out on a damp May day yesterday in Hook in Hampshire to hear me talk about my Solent based thrillers and my marine mystery detective crime novels featuring the hunky DI Andy Horton, and what a marvellous audience they were.



My thanks to the programme secretary Angela Powell for organising the event…

May is going to be a busy month not only will I be writing the ninth in the DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime series but I'll also be giving a couple of talks..



May also sees the publication in hardcover in the USA of the seventh in the DI Andy Horton series  A Killing Coast  which was published in the UK in January…

I am frequently asked questions about the cover designs for many of the DI Horton crime series so I thought it was about time I exposed the genius behind some of the broody and evocative covers that grace the bookstore and library shelves in the UK and the USA and which are seen on various web sites including, of course,…

Here are the photographs from yesterday's interview on Vectis Radio when I was on air with Pete Walkden talking about my marine mystery crime novels and thrillers set in the Solent area.  My crime novels feature the flawed and rugged DI Andy Horton and there are now seven in the series with number eight being published in July 2012. I…

My fictional detective, DI Andy Horton, is based in the Solent  area and the Horton marine mystery crime novels include members of a fictional Hampshire Police Marine Unit - Sergeant Dai Elkins and PC Ripley who are nothing like the two police officers I introduced on Saturday from the team of the Hampshire Marine Police Unit at the Crime…

I want to say a huge thank you to the staff at the National Museum of the Royal Navy and the Library for all the help and time they gave to me today answering innumerable questions in aid of my research for the current DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel which is set in and around the museum in the Historic Dockyard Portsmouth. I learnt so much, all of it a great help.



A special thank you to Rowannah…

I was delighted to meet up with my publisher, Severn House at the London Book Fair. Below are some of the team from Severn House and me with Kate Lyall-Grant and the jacket cover of Death Lies Beneath which will be published in July 2012.…

Here is the cover image for the new DI Andy Horton crime novel Death Lies Beneath, which will be published in the UK in July 2012. It is the eighth in the DI Horton series.

April is looking to be a busy month. First up is a visit to the London Book Fair to meet my overseas agents, my editor and my publisher, Severn House.  It's always great visiting the London Book Fair and catching up with all my friends and contacts in the publishing world.…