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There are advantages of setting crime novels, or any novel come to that, in a real place and that is being able to explore the area and draw inspiration from it, something that I do all the time with my thrillers and my DI Andy Horton crime novels, as my readers know. My crime novels are set around Portsmouth and the Solent area on the south coast of England. The sea is a very important feature in my crime novels, it creates the backdrop and atmosphere and almost becomes a character itself.  It's mean and moody, still and stunning, dangerous and deceptive, beguiling and beautiful and bustling with activity. And Portsmouth and the Solent area is indeed a very vibrant part of the UK, plenty here to draw inspiration from. I've started working on the next DI Horton novel, number eight in the series, and one thing I need to do, and soon, is visit the area where this DI Horton will be set, which is in Portsmouth, probably not far from the bustling commercial ...

It was a bitterly cold day in Portsmouth on the south coast of England on Saturday where my marine mystery crime novels featuring the rugged Inspector Andy Horton are set and where one of my two thrillers, In Cold Daylight is also based, and I was signing copies of my books and talking to customers at the local Waterstone's in the city centre. Thanks to all who braved the cold grey day to come and say 'hello' and for buying my books.  It was so cold, even in the store, that I couldn't take my coat off . I hope those receiving an Inspector Andy Horton crime novel or one of my thrillers in their Christmas stockings this year enjoy reading them. Thanks also to Denise and all Waterstone's staff who were extremely friendly and helpful  and to the Costa staff for feeding me.

One more day to go before the  Crime and the City CSI Portsmouth on Saturday 6 November at the John Pounds Community Centre in Queens Street, Portsmouth. The event is part of Portsmouth Bookfest and it is looking good. Tickets have sold out for the afternoon session which features crime authors: Graham Hurley, Peter Lovesey and Pauline Rowson (yes, me) along with police and forensic experts, but there are still some tickets left for the morning session 10 am to 12 noon, which features crime authors: Simon Brett, June Hampson and Pauline Rowson (I get to do it twice), along with police and forensic experts. Yesterday I was interviewed on Express FM and today I will be on Portsmouth Live TV  at 5pm. There should also be an article about me and the event in The News. I bet you'll be glad when I shut up about this event!  But it won't be yet, because hopefully there will be photographs from the event to post next week. So if you want to come along to Crime a...

A reporter from the local newspaper, The News , is coming today to interview me for an article which will appear in Friday's newspaper ahead of the Crime and the City CSI Portsmouth event in which I'm participating on Saturday 6 November along with fellow crime writers, Graham Hurley, Peter Lovesey, Simon Brett and June Hampson. On the panel we will be joined by police and forensic experts and the fingerprinting bureau will also be in attendance.  Delegates can have their fingerprints taken and pressed into a keyring to take away. A novel idea!  The event, which is broken down into two sessions (morning and afternoon) is selling extremely well, and I think the afternoon session has almost sold out. So if you want to come along you'd better book soon.  Details are on the page to the left of this blog or on my official web site . To get back to the reporter. She is also bringing a photographer, which is the worse part of the interview, it's always a dilemm...

I was made very welcome at the Southern region of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists on 22 October where I gave a talk on how I write, research and market my marine mystery crime novels and thrillers. Pauline Rowson talking to some of the members of the Southern region of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists What a lovely group of people and I was delighted to see that popular saga author Dee Williams , whom I've appeared with at a few signings was in the audience, along with crime writer, Peter Lovesey , a prolific writer with a string of awards including the Cartier Diamond Dagger for his career in crime writing and whose novels have been dramatised on television.  I'm appearing with Peter Lovesey at Crime & the City, CSI Portsmouth event on 6 November as part of Portsmouth Bookfest, and I'm very much looking forward to it. Peter Lovesey and Pauline Rowson Pauline Rowson and Dee Williams getting ready to have their phot...

Yes, I've gone underground, not for the purpose of gathering material for a new thriller or an Inspector Andy Horton crime novel. Neither have I decided to take up busking or begging for a living, but because I'm helping to promote  Portsmouth Bookfest . And if you're thinking that I might be walking the platforms with a sandwich board strapped to me then sorry to disappoint (although Colin at the Hayling Island Bookshop , organiser of the Portsmouth Bookfest would probably have suggested it if I'd given him half the chance).  I won't be there physically but if you cast your eyes over the posters near the main ticket office at Waterloo Underground this is what you will see. Sorry, didn't mean to frighten the horses.  Yes, it's my mugshot there in amongst other authors taking part in the Portsmouth Bookfest. I am in the middle top row.  Now your job is to identify and name all the other authors whose photographs are on the poster, in the proper order f...

Exactly 70 years ago today war-time leader Winston Churchill made his historic speech paying tribute to the efforts of the aircrew who were fighting overhead in the Second World War.  And to mark  this "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few," Churchill speech there are activities happening in London and across the UK, including a number of flights of the vintage aircraft of the Second World War. One of those flights will be right over my house. This afternoon at approximately 16.44 on their way from Thorney Island to Lee-on-the-Solent, I should be able to see and hear the distinctive sounds of a Spitfire, a Hurricane and possibly the deep throbbing noise of the Lancaster Bomber as they fly over Hayling Island. Portsmouth, being a dockyard city and naval base was heavily bombed in the war and Thorney Island was an RAF base, (now an Army base). I've always had a hankering to write a historical detective novel. I've wr...

Although photographs can never quite capture the beauty or magic of the Solent and Portsmouth harbour, this was indeed a magical moment when, returning to Portsmouth from the Isle of Wight on the Wightlink ferry, we were held up outside the harbour for ten minutes because the cross channel ferries were coming out of the narrow and  stunning entrance. We didn't mind at all because it was an opportunity to enjoy the spectacular sight. The sun was shining and we went up on deck to take these photographs.  In the photograph above, the fast cat Brittany ferry is following the Brittany car ferry out into the Solent while to the right the Hovercraft is making its dash across the Solent and in the foreground is a tourist pleasure boat called Wight Scene.  You can also see two of the Forts, Lord Palmerston's follies. I've seen this sight a thousand times but it never ceases to enthrall me. Portsmouth Harbour and the Solent is such a vibrant area and the sea ever ...

I thought I'd just post some photographs of some of the locations that inspire me and where my crime novels are set.  This is Inspector Andy Horton's patch - the Solent on the South Coast of England, home of my marine mysteries. The photograph on the left is of the Camber in Old Portsmouth and features in Deadly Waters and  The Suffocating Sea. Here is another view of it taken from on board the Wightlink ferry, which sails from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. My crime thriller novels , In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill are also set in the South. In For the Kill and the latest Inspector Andy Horton crime novel, Blood on the Sand   are set primarily on the Isle of Wight. This is a view of Bembridge Harbour, the Duver which features in both novels. I'll post some more photographs in due course. I hope you like them.

I know I've been bleating on about it but I can now say, (officially) that the NEW Inspector Andy Horton crime novel, Blood on The Sand , the fifth in the Inspector Andy Horton crime series, is published and on sale in the UK and Ireland. It will be published in the USA in May 2010. It is also available at your local library. Published in hardcover it is set on the Isle of Wight, rather than Andy's home town of Portsmouth, and for those of you who don't know where the Isle of Wight is, it's based on the South Coast of England, across the Solent from Portsmouth (and Southampton). It's a beautiful small Island ideal for walking, cycling and sailing, oh, and for Andy Horton to solve crimes! Blood on the Sand Inspector Andy Horton’s holiday peace is shattered when stepping out across an abandoned golf course on a cold, grey January, he finds himself facing a distraught young woman with a gun in her hand leaning over a corpse in one of the discarded bunkers. When...

My fictional detective, Inspector Andy Horton's home patch of Portsmouth, England has reached the finals of the bid for the UK's City of Culture 2013. The neighbouring cities of Chichester and Southampton are also on the list of 14 final hopefuls, which is great news because the heroes in my stand alone crime thriller novels, In Cold Daylight and In For the Kill also visit those cities.  My novels are set on the South Coast of England. Portsmouth is my home town.  It is where I was raised and the primary setting for my contemporary marine mystery crime novels so I'm obviously going to be biased in rooting for it.  I am often asked why set my crime novels here?  Why not?  There is a belief in some publishing circles that only novels set in London are acceptable or will sell worldwide, but that is nonsense as many crime fiction fans know. Many are set in Yorkshire, Scotland, the Cotswolds and the West Country along with crime novels ...

On 25 November I took part in a speed networking event for young students designed to help them examine career options involving English. Here, as promised are a couple of photographs from that event. The event was organised by the Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Education Business Partnership. There was only one school present, The City of Portsmouth Boys School, and only twelve students but the event was still worthwhile and enjoyable. The students aged between 14 and 16 were spilt into groups of four and spent fifteen minutes talking to me and asking questions about my crime novels and my writing career before moving on to talk to other business people present.  I enjoyed it and, from the feedback, so did the boys, which is more important. I was impressed by their intelligent questions and their ambitions, which included, for some of them, writing a book but when they were all much older (very sensible) and after establishing careers as an engine...

In for the Kill my crime thriller novel featuring Alex Albury is set on the  Isle of Wight , just five miles off Portsmouth on the south coast of England. It is a beautiful Island with lots of lovely walks and spectacular coastal views, very popular as a holiday resort in the spring and summer months, and heaven for walkers and cyclists, as well as becoming increasingly famous for its music festivals. The pace of life is slower and the Island has one of the best sunshine records of any part of Britain. It is only twenty three miles by thirteen miles and can be reached by boat, Hovercraft,(Hovertravel) or ferry (Red Funnel or Wighlink). The stretch of water between the mainland and the island is reputed to be one of the most expensive in the UK! But it's well worth the visit. My new DI Horton marine mystery crime novel, Blood on the Sand , which is being published in February 2010, is also set on the island. Horton has sailed in...

Lee-on-the-Solent Library is my destination this afternoon to give a talk about my marine mystery crime novels and my life as a writer. It's a lovely little place with a High Street set just off the seafront. I'll be able to gaze across the Solent, which of course, is Inspector Andy Horton's patch, to the Isle of Wight beyond, getting a view of the western part of the Island and Cowes - a different view of the Island compared to that seen from Portsmouth and Hayling Island where we look across to Ryde and the eastern reaches of Bembridge. I haven't featured Lee in my crime novels, but there's time yet.  The Andy Horton I am currently writing, ( number six) is coming along a treat.  It's a shame though that the World's biggest liner has sailed.  It was anchored off Lee-on-the Solent (and not Southampton as the Daily Telegraph reported). The Oasis of the Seas is longer than four football pitches and cost £800m. The 6,296-passenger Oasis of the Seas dropp...

I've just received the cover image for the new Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novel which is being published by Severn House on 26 February 2010. I hope you like it. The design follows through from my previous crime novels by using the marine theme. Blood on the Sand is the fifth in the crime series to feature the flawed and rugged detective and is set on the Isle of Wight rather than Horton's usual patch in Portsmouth.   It is being published in hardcover in the UK and the USA and is already availabe to pre-order through Amazon.

I'm back from Hayling seafront, lovely breeze, the sea looks & feels great. Oh, I do love to be beside the seaside... especially on a very hot day like today. Though, honestly, I love the sea no matter what the weather and as many of you know it is the inspiration for my crime novels. Having been brought up close to the sea in Portsmouth, on the south coast of England, it is part of me. I spent many days of my youth sprawled out on Southsea and Hayling beach sunbathing, and no, I didn't know anything about skin cancer then. Like all my friends I smothered myself in baby lotion and cooked under a blistering sun. It sends shudders up my spine to think what damage I must have done to my skin. Now, like a good girl, and of more mature years, it's sun factor 25 and a hat. The forecast is for a hot sunny week so plenty more sea breeze and walks along the beach on Hayling Island and on the Isle of Wight where I have a little bolt holt, which enables me to do lots of lovely ...

My little local independent bookshop - The Hayling Island Bookshop - didn't win the title of the Independent Bookshop of the Year Award which was announced at the British Book Industry Awards last night, shame. The title went to the Hungerford Bookshop and I am sure was well deserved. Never mind, Hayling , there's always next year and from all of us on Hayling Island and the surrounding areas of Havant, Emsworth, Waterlooville and Portsmouth you are our number one star.

My radio phone in interview with Alex Dyke on Wight FM on 16 April was lots of fun. It was great to talk to people via a phone-in and to answer questions they’d e mailed in regarding my novels and how I write. I'd love to do more radio phone-ins so hope I can link in with other radio stations on this soon. I was also delighted to find that the Captain sailing the Wightlink ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, on my way over to the Isle of Wight for my radio interview, was Captain Paul Marshall who was the Captain on the St Clare at the time of my eight hour marathon book signing event in May 2008. He left the bridge on Wednesday - in the capable hands of his chief officer I hasten to add - to come and say 'hello' and chat while we waited to sail into Fishbourne. All in all a pleasant couple of days on the Isle of Wight, where my thriller, In For The Kill is set. The Suffocating Sea (an Inspector Andy Horton crime novel) also ends on the Isle of Wight.

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...

"The library service is nearing a "crisis point" because of cuts and closures, union leaders warned as they launched a campaign to reverse the trend." Telegraph.co.uk We need our libraries. Libraries serve our communities and provide FREE books, and access to other services that many people cannot afford. I'm a huge fan of libraries - if it hadn't been for my small local library in Portsmouth I would never have discovered the joy of reading and hence writing. Through my library I discovered the wonderful Enid Blyton and as I grew older the great Malcolm Saville and other authors like John Creasy , Leslie Charteris , and so many others. In my house money simply wasn't spent on books because there were other priorities for my parents who worked hard for little money. My father was an aerial rigger and my mother worked part-time in the launderette so most of their income was spent keeping a roof over our heads and making sure that we never went without foo...