Marine Mystery Scene

[Pauline Rowson]

I have set my Marine Mystery crime novels on the south coast of England where the sea becomes the backdrop to murder, treachery, deceit, betrayal, evil and revenge. They feature the flawed and rugged detective DI Andy Horton. He’s tough as a container ship, having dredged through the sludge of life's sewerage, since childhood. Abandoned by his mother when he was ten, with no knowledge of his father , Horton turns from battling with crime on the streets of Portsmouth, to battling with the elements on the ocean, anything to stop him dwelling on his past, like why did his mother walk out on him? Where is she now? Who was his father? Then just when he thinks he's found happiness, with a wife and daughter, Catherine, his wife, chooses to believe an accusation of rape incurred when Horton was working undercover. In Tide of Death, the first in the series, he’s back on his own again, living on his boat, and fighting for access to his daughter, trying to restore his reputation with his colleagues, whilst solving a complex murder case.
Horton is a brave earthy character, fearless with a desperate need to belong and yet always just on the outside. He’s never quite able to trust or let go of the enforced control that’s protected him throughout his tough childhood. A boy from the streets of Portsmouth, he’s been raised with the rough, the evil, the manipulative, the selfish and the vulnerable. He seeks justice and doesn’t much care how he gets it, just as long as the villains get caught.

Horton is joined in Portsmouth CID by Sergeant Barney Cantelli, half English, half Italian a family man married to Charlotte with five children. Cantelli stood by Horton during his suspension following the rape allegation. Laid back, easy-going, dark-haired and wiry, Cantelli has a great sense of humour and a strong sense of duty. Also on the team is lumbering and lazy DC Walters.

Course-mouthed, alpha male, Detective Superintendent Uckfield heads the Major Crime Team. He joined the force with Horton. Uckfield is prepared to sacrifice anything – including his friendship with Horton –on the altar of ambition.

I have added some photographs to my page of DI Horton's Marine Mystery country. I will be adding further details to the site with photogrpahs of the various locations of each marine mystery crime novel and what sparked my inspiration for each book.