Visit my website at www.rowmark.co.uk for details of all my crime novels

I wrote the following article for the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) Debut Dagger Award and thought it might interest readers of my blog.  The Debut Dagger is open to anyone who has not yet had a novel published commercially. All shortlisted entrants will receive a generous selection of crime novels and professional assessments of their entries. The first prize is £700. The 2011 Competition will close on 5th February 2011. If you fancy a stab at it, and the chance to be a published crime writer, you can now submit the opening chapter(s) – up to 3000 words – and a short synopsis of your proposed crime novel.  More details are on the Crime Writers' Association web site. Winning the Debut Dagger doesn’t guarantee you’ll get published. But it does mean your work will be seen by leading agents and top editors, who have signed up over twenty winners and shortlisted Debut Dagger competitors. Choosing a location for the setting of a crime novel  by Pauline Rowso...

I'm delighted to announce that the second  marine mystery crime novel featuring my rugged fictional detective, Inspector Andy Horton, has been selected as one of ten titles to be featured in a special promotion in the UK throughout February aimed at promoting new and burgeoning talent. Deadly Waters will be featured as part of an "Arts Council initiative in conjunction with Legend Press called ‘Exclusively Independent’ aimed at bringing independent bookshops and independent publishers together to feature some of the best books from new and burgeoning talented authors." Wow! Books are selected on a monthly basis by an industry panel to feature in the promotion. Participating libraries in London are Shepherds Bush, Hammersmith and Fulham. Co-operating bookshops include: Housmans Bookshop, Peckham Review, Bolingbroke, City Books, Scarthin Books, Red Lion Books, The Family Bookshop and One Tree Books, and I think there might be others. My books are already sold nationw...

I will be signing copies of my latest Marine Mystery, Dead Man’s Wharf and the new paperback edition of Deadly Waters (as well as my other crime novels, of course,) at The Hayling Island Bookshop on Saturday 20 June 2009 between 11am and 12 noon as part of the celebrations for Independent Booksellers Week. Dead Man’s Wharf was recently published in hard cover and features my rugged detective, Portsmouth-based Inspector Andy Horton. If you are in the area and get the chance then do come along and say 'hello.' No ticket is necessary, just turn up on the day. Independent Booksellers Week was first introduced in 2008 and celebrates the best in local independent bookshops around the UK with a series of events. It runs from 15 to 22 June. For further information and directions please contact The Hayling Island Bookshop on 023 9246 6620 or visit their website at http://www.haylingislandbookshop.co.uk/

My Marine Mystery crime novels and my thrillers will be on show at The London Book Fair from 20-22 April 2009. They are on stand J205 so if you're going to the London Book Fair then do take time to come and say 'hello'. I will be there on Monday 20 April and Tuesday 22 April. I've got some appointments lined up but you can always browse the books and pick up a leaflet or two. You can even pinch a sweet! I'm looking forward to meeting my overseas literary agents and publishers and hopefully making new contacts. The World English language rights are available to my brand new Inspector Horton Marine Mystery - Blood Upon The Sand - the fifth in the series, and there has been some considerable interest in this title, (and my others) from UK and overseas so it should be interesting to see what happens. Hope to see some of you at the London Book Fair. FREE Signed copies of Deadly Waters There's an extract from Deadly Waters and the chance to win one of five signed cop...

Deadly Waters , the second marine mystery crime novel featuring my flawed and rugged detective, DI Andy Horton, is now published in mass market paperback (although officially it is released on 2 April 2009 - but what difference does a day make?) It retails at £6.99 but I'm sure you'll be able to get it cheaper than that on line and definitely at Amazon or The Book Depository. In the video I am reading an extract from chapter one of Deadly Waters. You can read more about Deadly Waters on my official web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk/deadly_waters.php or Click here to read an extract of Deadly Waters . Deadly Waters When a woman, the head teacher of a struggling local school, is found brutally murdered in Langstone Harbour DI Andy Horton is appointed to lead the investigation but not for long if Superintendent Uckfield has his way. Horton is given only a week to find the killer, after that he will be shunted off the case. Horton now has a point to prove as well as a complex...

I’m often asked this question. Who would play Inspector Andy Horton if there was a film or television series made of my Marine Mysteries. It’s quite a tricky question to answer in a way because my view of the actor to play Andy Horton might not fit with yours. Andy Horton has had a tough upbringing. Illegitimate and brought up on the streets of Portsmouth, his mother abandoned him as a child. He has no idea where she is or even if she is alive. Horton has been raised in children’s homes and with a succession of foster parents which makes him a loner, but with a desperate desire to belong. He finds this sense of belonging through joining the police service. He’s fearless where others are concerned, strong, an action man rather than a thinker with a strong sense of justice. He’s fairly tall, muscular and fit with short cropped fair hair. He rides a Harley and lives on boat. The rest I leave to you. He first appears in Tide of Death, then Deadly Waters , The Suffocating Sea and soon, Dea...

I have just received the Polish copy of my thriller, In Cold Daylight , renamed Fire and Water in Poland (Ogien i Woda) and it looks fantastic. The cover image is very impressive and the book is a cross between a hardback and paperback with a very unusual flap extending from the front and back cover which you can use as a handy bookmark - a brilliant idea. There is a lovely illustration of a lighthouse at the top of chapter one and an image of a boat at the top of the pages on the following chapters. Red Horse Poland have really embraced my concept of Marine Mysteries. On the back flap of the cover they have shown a picture of my thriller, In For the Kill (Uwiklany) with details about it. Fire and Water ( In Cold Daylight) is dedicated to my sister Chrissy - she'll be thrilled - and to my mum, to fire-fighters everywhere - the true heroes and especially for Bob (my husband) and Red Watch, Southsea (his former fire fighting colleagues). Thanks guys for all you do. So here is the de...

I'm in the Bookseller Magazine this week, or rather one of my crime novels is. It's the advertisement announcing the forthcoming publication of Deadly Waters in mass market paperback. Deadly Waters is due to be published on 2 April 2009 and will retail at £6.99 although you'll probably get it cheaper than that on Amazon and other on line bookshops! You can also pre order on Amazon, or you can order it from any bookshop. Deadly Waters has already been published in hardback and trade paperback (that's the larger size of paperback) and it is also available in Large Print and as a talking book or audio book. Next it will be the TV series and then the film. Only joking - though I wish I weren't. Still who knows, one day maybe someone will want to film my Marine Mysteries... Here's the blurb on Deadly Waters. "When a woman, the head teacher of a struggling local school, is found brutally murdered in Langstone Harbour DI Andy Horton is appointed to lead...

I'm happy. Why? Because my editor has just e mailed me to say how much she enjoyed my as yet unpublished new Marine Mystery DEAD MAN'S WHARF. This is the fourth Marine Mystery to feature my flawed and rugged detective DI Horton. This means there are no revisions- yippee! Why am I so pleased? Because if I have to revise one part of the book then it usually has an impact on the rest of the novel and you feel as though you are having to start writing it all over again. So, DEAD MAN'S WHARF has gone straight to copy-edit stage and will be published in the UK in hardback at the end of April 2009. And, in case you've lost track of the DI Horton Marine Mystery Crime Series, here's a re-cap: 1. Tide of Death (paperback) 2. Deadly Waters (hardback, trade paperback - that's the larger size paperback at £10.99, Large Print, Audio Book) Deadly Waters will be published as the smaller mass market paperback on 2 April 2009 at £6.99. Look out for more news and the new jacket...

I’ve just received from my publisher my copies of the Large Print version of Deadly Waters, which is now on sale. It looks really good and I hope it enables people who are visually impaired (sadly a growing number) to enjoy this marine mystery crime novel. Deadly Waters is already available as a talking book and in hardback and trade paperback and will shortly be published as a mass market paperback with a new jacket cover in April 2009. This and all my marine mystery crime and thriller novels are available as e books. The mass market version of Deadly Waters in the UK is the normal paperback size rather than the large paperback size and I know that it will please many of my readers who have already bought the mass market versions of Tide of Death , In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill . It will retail at £6.99 and is available for pre order from bookshops and on line. The Suffocating Sea , the third DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery, will be available in the large paperback version in...

Yes, our dear little Winkle Brig, Nutmeg, is back home on our driveway once again. We are still looking to sell her but the broker who was handling the sale didn’t really come up with the goods. It’s a long story and I won’t bore you with it, but it seemed more sensible to bring Nutmeg back and sell her ourselves. I used Nutmeg, or rather the Winkle Brig, in Tide of Death Deadly Waters and The Suffocating Sea my marine mystery crime series featuring my detective, DI Horton. Horton lives on board his boat after being thrown out of the marital home by his ambitious wife, Catherine. He’d been accused of raping a girl whilst on an undercover operation. In Tide of Death , the first in the Horton series, he’s back in Portsmouth CID, after evidence against him has broken down, but his marriage is wrecked and Catherine is refusing him access to his daughter. And that’s not all Horton has to put up with, but on the second day of his return to work he stumbles over the naked body of a man on...

England on a summer's day - sultry, sunny and still - I think not! Wet, windy and wild is more like it. Where has our summer gone? Is this the product of global warming or just a typical British summer? Whatever - crossing on the tiny ferry from Hayling Island to Portsmouth this morning was a bit of an adventure. Picture a small flat bottomed landing craft traversing the narrow stretch of Langstone Harbour in a Force Nine gale on a raging tide, the boat bucketing and dipping like one of those rides at the funfair with a bit of sea spray thrown in and you won't be far off the mark. The boat in the picture below is the Harbour Master's and not the Hayling Ferry, I hasten to add. And there whilst crossing, on my starboard side, was the concrete structure of the Mulberry, in the picture on the left ( the sea was definitely not this colour this morning). It was one of the floating harbours for the D-Day invasion which didn't make it out of the harbour, and which is the setti...

I know things are pretty tough at the post office but just how tough can they be if they need to use scarecrows to deliver my books! My wonderful local post office on Hayling Island, run by friendly and ever-helpful Andy and Sharon Altendorff, decided to enlist the services of a scarecrow to deliver my latest crime novel which is now available in paperback and called Deadly Waters. The Scarecrow, designed and made by Postmaster Andrew Altendorff and his gang, is part of the annual Scarecrow Festival held on Hayling Island in Hampshire. It runs from July 26th to August 9th and this year has attracted over 246 entries. Its main sponsor for 2008 is the Hayling Island Bookshop, and the award for the best scarecrow will take place on Saturday 2 August at the Hayling Carnival. There are some great scarecrows dotted around Hayling Island including the three fire fighters scrambling over the roof of our part-time fire station, the pirate in his boat in Church Road, the piano player on Havant...

Independent Booksellers Week kicks off on 1 July and runs until 8 July and I would like to say a little something in support of my local bookshop on Hayling Island where I will be signing copies of my novels, including the paperback version of Deadly Waters, on Saturday 5 July between 11am and 12.00 noon. This little something has appeared in my local newspaper The News on the Letters page and in The Bookseller magazine. All too often we complain and criticise so I thought it was about time some praise was due. "I fully endorse Independent Booksellers Week to celebrate the role that Indies play in the community and am immensely grateful as an author to those bookshops that have supported me. But I don’t think anyone can top my local independent bookshop, The Hayling Island Bookshop for sheer commitment to the community. Marie and Colin Telford ( in the picture above) are a breath of fresh air in our island community. Here are just a few of the things they do: Organise flower baske...

Ever wondered what Inspector Horton's boat looks like in Tide of Death, Deadly Waters and The Suffocating Sea? Here's our gaff-rigged sailing boat, a Winkle Brig called Nutmeg. The strange person in the shades clutching a newly released paperback edition of Deadly Waters is guess who?

The paperback version of Deadly Waters has now been published and I have just received my copies from the publisher. It's what is known as a trade paperback, not sure why, whereas Tide of Death , In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill are all mass market paperbacks, the smaller variety. The trade paperback version of Deadly Waters is the same size as the hardback version but cheaper. It retails at £10.99 but you will be able to get it cheaper on Amazon. I've just looked and it's £6.25, which is a good price. A smaller, mass market version of Deadly Waters will be published but I'm not sure when. With a bit of luck it could be in time for Christmas. I'll keep you posted. But just to tempt you, if I can, into buying a copy, here's the blurb on the back cover. When a woman, the head teacher of a struggling local school, is found brutally murdered in Langstone Harbour DI Andy Horton is appointed to lead the investigation – but not for long if Superintendent Uckfield h...

Here I am again this time at The London Book Fair where I launched the publication, in hardback, of my latest Marine Mystery featuring my detective, Inspector Horton. I am pleased to say that The Suffocating Sea has received some positive reviews from the American press (now would I tell you if it had received grim reviews???) It has been hailed as being full of ‘unexpected twists,’ ‘a gripping suspense-filled murder case,’ and an ‘entertaining read in an engaging series for British procedural fans.’ So I am quite pleased. But as always I want to do better and make each book stronger and more gripping than the last one. What writer wouldn't? And I think that once a book is published the author always feels he or she could have improved it. The Suffocating Sea is set in Portsmouth, England and is the third in the Inspector Horton series and my fifth crime novel to be published since 2006. Here they are in order: The Inspector Horton Marine Mysteries Tide of Death (paperback) Deadly...

Time to dust off the new calendars and ditch the old ones, read your horoscope and wonder what 2008 will bring. For me 2007 was a very exciting and enjoyable year, one in which my Marine Mysteries gained new readers, and were featured in major promotions and my thriller, In Cold Daylight, reached the long list for World Book Day, Spread The Word 2008 Prize. So what's in store for 2008? In January the voting will continue for World Book Day Spread The Word Prize. Will In Cold Daylight make it into the Top Ten to be announced in February? Will it be up there on World Book Day on 6 March 2008? Who knows? But fingers crossed. The Marine Mystery Deadly Waters is released in paperback in March and the third DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery called The Suffocating Sea is published in hardback in April. So there will be some book signings to undertake and the chance to meet readers. And the fourth Andy Horton Marine Mystery will be finished by March. Then there's the London Book Fair i...

Yes, it's that time of year again when one is inclined to look back over the happenings of the year and set targets and goals for a new year. And it's been an interesting and exciting 2007 for me and my novels. The time has flown by, I can hardly believe it is Christmas. So, before I look forward to 2008, here is a brief summary of the just a few of the key happenings for me in 2007. January 2007 The New Year kicked off with my three marine mysteries being featured in the Paperback Preview Supplement of the The Bookseller Magazine. I was also thrilled to be chosen as the Author of the Month for Hampshire Libraries and my new thriller In For The Kill was featured in both Waterstone’s and Borders promotions in the UK. February 2007 I embarked on a tour of book signings and library talks which resulted in meeting some lovely people, new readers and existing ones, and getting some good media coverage in various magazines and newspapers. March 2007 A feature article appeared in Be...

It's OK I am not about to confess that my real name isn't Pauline, or that I'm not a female (I think a quick viewing of the videos on the right will prove I am), it's just that I'm often asked why all my novels are written from the male point of view. I didn't originally intend to do this, indeed my first attempts at novel writing were with female lead characters. But I should have known then that I had an inclination to write with a male voice because I found myself much more interested in the men's actions in my books and how that impacted on others than the women's. But it wasn't until I wrote Tide of Death featuring Andy Horton that I knew this was right for me. A little light bulb flashed in my brain, something went ping and I knew I was home. That doesn't mean to say that I don't have strong and sometimes quirky and evil females in my novels because I do, it's just that I find it more exciting writing with a male protagonist. I gues...