Compelling mystery crime novels and thrillers

Compelling crime mystery novels by Pauline Rowson

The latest video showcasing all the gripping, multi-layered, mystery crime novels and thrillers by Pauline Rowson - the Inspector Andy Horton mysteries (14); the Art Marvik mystery thrillers (3); two standalone thrillers and the new 1950 set crime novels introducing Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Alun Ryga.

"Pauline Rowson is the mistress of weaving intricate plot twists in complicated tales that keep the reader on his/her toes to the very end...an author who never disappoints." Amazon

Dangerous Cargo, Art Marvik has a new and deadly mission

The second in this fast-paced, action-packed crime series featuring undercover investigator, former Royal Marine Commando, Art Marvik. His mission to catch a ruthless killer whose murders span over half a century.

Tough, fearless and fit, Marvik is not bound by the rules of the law.

Dangerous Cargo is now available as an audio book, narrated by Peter Noble. Also out in paperback, as an ebook, on Amazon Kindle and on Kobo.

On location with Inspector Andy Horton in, DEATH LIES BENEATH

DEATH LIES BENEATH is a multi-layered Detective Inspector Andy Horton mystery crime novel, number 8 in the series (14).

There are two locations that inspired me for the setting of DEATH LIES BENEATH, one was the marshes on the northern boundary of the city of Portsmouth, facing on to Langstone Harbour, Farlington Marshes. The other was the area of Tipner, or more specifically the sea bordering this north western boundary of Portsmouth, which filters into Portsmouth Harbour.

Here is a selection of photographs of the setting for DEATH LIES BENEATH.

Ex con Daryl Woodley is found dead in a remote location of Farlington Marshes. Farlington Marshes is part of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. It is a coastal grazing marsh and lagoon which has several pools, and a broad stream providing feeding and roosting sites for waders and wildfowl.

Farlington Marshes, featured in DI Andy Horton, Death Lies Beneath

The marshes were reclaimed from the harbour in 1771. During World War 2 it was used as a starfish site acting as a decoy for Portsea Island. The control blockhouses remain on the marshes

The Intelligence Directorate believe Woodley's murder is linked to big time crook Marty Stapleton currently serving time in prison. DI Horton is not so sure.

Farlington Marshes, featured in DI Andy Horton, Death Lies Beneath

He attends Woodley’s funeral in the hope it will give them a lead in an investigation that has drawn a blank at every turn. It does but not in the way he or anyone expected.

Then a woman's body is found on a rotting boat being salvaged in Portsmouth Harbour in Tipner Lake within the Portsmouth Harbour special protection area. Moves to reclaim the land for the expansion of Portsmouth were rejected in the early 1990s on environmental grounds but the area around the Tipner quayside has been cleared in preparation for the re-development which at the time of writing has not happened.

Portsmouth Harbour featured in the Inspector Andy Horton crime novels

DI Andy Horton's investigations take him across the Solent to the Isle of Wight

Horton is catapulted into a complex and frustrating investigation which takes him across the Solent to the Isle of Wight. As the tension mounts to solve the case, Horton receives a chilling message; time, it seems, is also running out for him personally…

"A fast paced excellent mystery, with an interesting diverse set of characters, and an intriguing hook at the end that has me eagerly awaiting the next installment in this series.Highly recommended." Mystery People

"A treat for fans of the puzzle-box mystery." Kirkus Reviews

"Rowson’s solid eighth police procedural featuring Det. Insp. Andy Horton...convincing characters and a coherent plot bolster a crafty solution to the crimes." Publishers Weekly

"Pauline Rowson is an excellent constructor of false trails and DEATH LIES BENEATH is no exception. Carefully plotted, Andy Horton is a likeable if flawed character." Mysteries in Paradise

Available in paperback and as an ebook, on Amazon Kindle and Kobo and as an unabridged audio book. Also available for loan from UK, USA and Commonwealth libraries.

Where to buy

Pauline Rowson's books at The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery)

Pauline Rowson's books USA

Pauline Rowson's books UK

From your local bookshop

Also available as an ebook and on Amazon Kindle, Kobo and for loan from UK, USA, Irish and Commonwealth libraries

Crime audio books - mounting suspense and pulse-pounding adventure

How did you come up with DI Andy Horton and Art Marvik, are they based on real people?

I like heroes. I make no apology for that and being married to a former veteran and fire fighter I had plenty of material to choose from.

Andy Horton is a combination of many men I have met during my adult life primarily those who I have met through my husband’s career as a fire fighter, fit, fearless, caring and with a strong sense of duty to the public. Andy Horton has all these qualities and along with being tough and resilient he is also deeply empathetic.

His empathy enables him to put himself in a victim’s shoes, to imagine events from their perspective (even the moments up to their death), making leaps of deduction few would be able to. And he’s most often right. But it also makes him vulnerable. He carries a lot of personal baggage as many people do, men especially, who have difficulty in unburdening themselves and sharing their problems.

Abandoned by his mother at the age of ten, with no knowledge of his father he's been raised in children's homes and in care. This has made him a very self-contained person, who finds it difficult to trust. He is especially tough on bullies, or people who abuse their power or position, as they remind him of the people in the children’s homes. When this happens, when his guard slips, he’s like a raw nerve. He fears his emotions will betray him.

He feels a duty of care to the victims of the crimes he investigates and often feels like he’s the only person looking out for them; the only one who can bring the guilty to justice so that the dead can rest. No one cared about him when he was a child; he won’t let that happen to anyone else.

An Inspector Andy Horton Mystery

And what about Art Marvik?

With Marvik I wanted a character who was not bound by the official rules of the law, but who was nevertheless on the right side of it and the Marvik novels had to have all the hallmarks of my brand – a troubled hero, the sea, boats, interesting and diverse characters and lots of action.

Marvik, like Horton, is also fit and tough, but he is a former Royal Marine, Special Boat Services officer while Andy Horton is a copper. Whereas Andy Horton is emotionally scarred, Marvik is physically scarred having incurred facial injuries in combat. He’s also desperately trying to adjust to a new life outside the services and this can be very difficult for a number of veterans (and fire fighters) who have seen a lot of action and trauma and experienced many high adrenaline fixes.

Marvik thought he’d be able to adjust and carve out a new career for himself on the sea, but his first job as a private maritime security operative goes very wrong when the luxury motor cruiser he was travelling on and had been detailed to guard, gets attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean, and Marvik finds himself with a bullet in his shoulder and the boat’s owner dead. He’d failed on his first mission in civilian life, and Silent Running opens with him reeling from it. When he’s invited to work undercover on dangerous assignments for Detective Superintendent Crowder’s National Intelligence Marine Squad, Marvik grabs it with both hands.

Marvik's role is to go into a mission with the minimum of information, to probe, ask questions, stir up trouble and provoke the truth and a killer into the open. There are currently three in the Marvik mystery thriller series, Silent Running, Dangerous Cargo and Lost Voyage.

The Art Marvik mystery thrillers

Who would play Inspector Andy Horton or Art Marvik in a TV series of film?

As to who would play them on TV or in a film that is difficult to answer because every reader sees the characters differently, especially Andy Horton who I have never physically described in any of the novels. When I ask readers this question the actors they come up with are: Tom Hardy, Jason Statham and Paul Bettany. Michael Fassbender I think would make a great Art Marvik. His characteristics as described on IMDB are: "Deep, calm voice combined with emotionally intense gritty performances” Sounds like my man.

Read an extract from Detective Inspector Andy Horton Mystery, Death Lies Beneath

DEATH LIES BENEATH is number 8 in the Detective Inspector Andy Horton series of police procedural mysteries (14). It is set in June, so I thought it appropriate to feature it here on my blog this month. Like most of my crime novels it is inspired by locations in the area where I live and where the novels are set, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. It is also inspired by topical crimes. In this case, metal thefts, fraud, salvage operations and more.

If you've not read Death Lies Beneath then here's a taster. Read page one of Death Lies Beneath below.

It is available in paperback, as an e book, on Amazon Kindle and on Kobo and also as an unabridged audio book narrated by Gordon Griffin.

DEATH LIES BENEATH

When ex con, Daryl Woodley is found dead on the marshes bordering Langstone Harbour the Intelligence Directorate believe his murder is linked to big time crook Marty Stapleton currently serving time in prison. DI Horton is not so sure. He attends Woodley’s funeral in the hope it will give them a lead in an investigation that has drawn a blank at every turn. It does but not in the way he or anyone expected. A body is found on a rotting boat being salvaged in Portsmouth Harbour throws Horton into a complex and frustrating investigation. As the tension mounts to solve the case, Horton receives a chilling message; time, it seems, is also running out for him personally…

"A fast paced excellent mystery, with an interesting diverse set of characters, and an intriguing hook at the end that has me eagerly awaiting the next instalment in this series. Highly recommended." Mystery People

Page One of DEATH LIES BENEATH

Tuesday 7 June 3.20pm

‘Anything?’ Detective Superintendent Uckfield asked hopefully.
Inspector Andy Horton shook his head and pulled at his black tie. Loosening his collar, he stepped into the shade of a tree in the crematorium gardens hoping to find some relief from the burning sun and wondering what Uckfield, head of the Major Crime Team, and Detective Chief Superintendent Sawyer of the Intelligence Directorate had expected they’d gain by a police presence – a weeping confession from the killer of Daryl Woodley over his coffin? That would have been nice but Horton knew that Woodley’s handful of mourners would sooner have their private parts tattooed with a blunt and dirty instrument than confess to a crime. And grassing to the police was only one step below being a paedophile in their code. They’d got nothing out of them during the investigation into Woodley’s death and they’d get nothing now. And neither would the crime reporter from the local newspaper, Leanne Payne, he thought watching her slim figure move amongst the mourners as they stood blinking in the bright sunshine like miners released from deep underground.
She addressed a shaven-headed, skinny man with tattoos up his hairy arms. Reggie Thomas, like Daryl Woodley, had been released from Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight in March. When questioned, Reggie claimed to have no knowledge of why his former fellow inmate had been assaulted just off the Portsmouth waterfront eighteen days ago, or why, after three days in hospital, Woodley had risen from his bed and somehow ended up dead at the marshes to the north of the city three miles from the hospital. No one claimed to have driven him there, it was inaccessible by public transport and he could hardly have walked that distance.