Book news and writing tips from Pauline Rowson - one of Britain's most exciting crime writers

Andy Horton investigates a body washed up in Portsmouth Harbour in A Killing Coast. A body found floating in the sea off Portsmouth harbour throws detective Andy Horton into a complex case that questions his capabilities. Not only does he need to find a brutal killer, but he also has to prove he's still up to the job.

 'Multilayered, twisted, and complex...a surprising conclusion and a satisfying read.' Booklist






Where to buyPauline Rowson's books at The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery) Pauline Rowson's books USAPauline 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

Lost Voyage, number three in the series featuring former Royal Commando, Art Marvik, now an undercover investigator with the UK's National Intelligence Marine Squad, is available in hardcover and as an ebook.

Detective Chief Superintendent Crowder, asks Marvik to investigate the disappearance of a salvage vessel, the Mary Jo, which went missing in 2003.  As Marvik delves into the past, it becomes clear that he faces a desperate battle to keep others safe from a ruthless assassin – one who will stop at nothing in order to protect the secret of the Mary Jo’s last voyage from ever being exposed.

"Plenty of action, I didn't want to put the book down. A good read for mystery/ thriller fans." Net Galley


Read an extract from Lost Voyage
Marvik once again went over his boat. All was secure. No one had entered it. He swallowed a couple of strong painkillers, then froze as he felt a movement on the pontoon. He steeled himself in readiness. His cabin lights were on. He cou…

Pauline Rowson's Inspector Andy Horton crime novel, Fatal Catch, is to be published in mass market paperback by Harlequin Books USA in September 2018.

Fatal Catch is the twelfth in the Inspector Andy Horton police procedural crime series of which there are currently thirteen. They are set against the atmospheric backdrop of the sea in the Solent area of England in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight and have been critically acclaimed both in the UK and in America.

Hailed as "exemplary," "multi-layered" and "cleverly plotted"  Andy Horton has been described as an "especially good series hero, a likeable fellow with plenty of street smarts and the requisite personal baggage" by US reviewer Booklist.

Pauline says, 'Detective Inspector Andy Horton is a man very much defined by a tormented past, but with hopes for his future. He is an instinctive copper rather than an intellectual one, tough and resilient, but deeply empathetic.  His greatest s…

Where to buy Pauline Rowson's books USAPauline 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

Read an Extract from the Art Marvik Mystery, Lost Voyage, number three in the series published by Severn House in hardcover and as an ebook in the UK, Commonwealth and the USA.

Art Marvik, former Royal Marine Commando, is surprised to receive an unexpected summons to meet Helen Shannon, a woman he helped on his first mission, in the middle of the night. When a body is discovered in her flat, Marvik is convinced that Helen is being framed for murder, but why and by whom?

Shortly afterwards, the head of the National Marine Intelligence Squad, Detective Chief Superintendent Crowder, asks him to investigate the disappearance of a salvage vessel, the Mary Jo, which went missing in 2003. As he delves into the past, it becomes clear that Marvik faces a desperate battle to keep Helen and others safe from a ruthless assassin – one who will stop at nothing in order to protect the secret of the Mary Jo’s last voyage from ever being exposed.

Read an extract from LOST VOYAGE, an Ar…

Miss you London Book Fair 2018 but I'll be back. Here is a brief glimpse of only a portion of the years I've been going to the London Book Fair.




Where to buy
Pauline Rowson's books at The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery) Pauline Rowson's books USAPauline 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

I was trying to recall how many times I have visited the London Book Fair and have to admit that I can't. I do however remember that the first time I visited  the London Book Fair was in 1998. It's hard for me to believe that it was so long ago.  My first impressions were that it was like no other exhibition I had ever attended and that impression remains, although I have witnessed the changes over the years.

In 1998 I was running my own Marketing and PR Agency and had branched into writing a series of marketing sales and assertiveness books (which are published by Crimson and Matrix Media) so I thought the London Book Fair would be a good place to eye up the competition and find new contacts.  What struck me was that whereas in every other exhibition I have attended people on the stands try to sell me something, at the London Book Fair no one wanted to sell me anything! In fact nobody even wanted to speak to me. I have since learnt over the years that the London Book Fair,  …

A compelling thriller of identity theft, fraud, embezzlement and murder.

"A change of direction at every turn. Keep notes on all the players. If you like Jeffery Deaver, you'll love this story. " Amazon 5* Review






Where to buyPauline Rowson's books at The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery) Pauline Rowson's books USAPauline 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

Where to buy
Pauline Rowson's books at The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery) Pauline Rowson's books USAPauline 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

How do you find a ghost ship once the trail has gone cold?  And how do you locate it if it has been lost in the frozen seas of the Arctic?

These were two questions that sparked the idea for the third in the Art Marvik mystery series, LOST VOYAGE. It also fitted neatly with the fact that Marvik’s late father, Dan Coulter, was a renowned oceanographer with a special interest in the Arctic and it had been the Arctic where he had met Marvik’s mother, Eerika, a marine archaeologist while working on a joint expedition with Norway in 1989.

I decided to conduct further research

Desk bound research I hasten to add rather than physically embarking on an expedition to the Arctic. I’ll leave the tough stuff to my fictional characters.


I discovered that historically difficult to access, the Arctic Ocean once viewed as a remote and barren landscape has now become the fastest warming region of the globe because of climate changes.  On current predictions the entire Arctic Ocean will become ice-free…

Uncovered during my research for my crime novels -  Skeletal Remains!

Trace amounts of DNA from bone remains can be recovered and analyzed by a molecular geneticist. DNA survival is greatest in dense bone, such as teeth, than in any other type of tissue.
Bones from murder victims have been successfully identified almost a decade after the person died using comparative DNA typing and DNA markers. DNA markers from the bone sample are compared to DNA markers from samples from the possible parents of the victim. If enough DNA markers are analyzed and these markers match the parents, it is possible to conclude with a high level of certainty the identity of the victim. The degradation rate of DNA extracted from rib bones has also been used to determine the time interval since death of a victim.

Skeletal remains can often also give clues to sex, race and in some instances country of origin as advances in forensic science allows mineral samples to be extracted from the bones and cross refer…

April gives me the chance to showcase another of the Inspector Andy Horton crime novels, this time number seven in the series, A KILLING COAST and also the third in the Art Marvik mystery series LOST VOYAGE. Both crime novels are set in the month of April.

Throughout April there will be articles on both novels, including the story behind them, extracts and links to the book trailers. Meanwhile here is a little bit about each of the novels.




A Killing Coast, Inspector Andy Horton 7 by Pauline Rowson   When a body is found floating in the sea off Portsmouth harbour, Detective Inspector Horton initially judges it to be an accidental death. Soon though, to his dismay, he discovers he’s got it very wrong. Accused of being incompetent by his boss, and with the head of the Major Crime Team coming down heavily on him, Horton wonders if he’s allowed his ongoing investigation into the disappearance of his mother over thirty years ago to cloud his judgement. With no clear motive for the murder, H…

Former Royal Marine Commando, Special Boat Services Officer, Art Marvik is tough, highly trained, fearless, intelligent and fit.  Injuries inflicted while in combat have forced him to leave the Marines and seek a new life in Civvy Street. He 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 failed on his first mission in civilian life, and Silent Running, the first in the Marvik series, opens with him reeling from it.

Soon though he is launched on a new and dangerous career working as an undercover investigator for the UK's secret law enforcement agency, the National Intelligence Marine Squad (NIMS) headed by Detective Superintendent Philip Crowder. Marvik is aid…