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Blood on the Sand  has been published in Large Print format by Severn House.  It is the fifth in the marine mystery series of police procedural crime novels featuring the flawed and rugged DI Andy Horton .. It is already available in hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback and as an e book, on Kindle and Nook.  The unabridged audio book version was published in 2011 by  Isis Publishing and and is read by the accomplished actor, Gordon Griffin. Blood on the Sand is published in the UK and the USA by Severn House and has received rave reviews in the States. Reviewer Booklist says: 'This is another solid entry in a consistently well written series. Like Ed McBain, Rowson works many subtle variations on the procedural formula (including very interesting relationships between Andy and a couple of his superiors). A definite winner in the crowded field of British procedurals.' "Inspector Andy Horton’s holiday peace is shattered when stepping...

I'm delighted that Blood on the Sand, the fifth in the DI Andy Horton series of marine mystery police procedural crime novels set on the South Coast of England is to be published in Large Print by Severn House on 31 December. It is currently available in hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, as an e book and an audio book. I'm pleased to say that Blood on the Sand , set primarily on the Isle of Wight, has received some great reviews. "Another solid entry in a consistently well written series. Like Ed McBain, Rowson works many subtle variations on the procedural formula (including very interesting relationships between Andy and a couple of his superiors). A definite winner in the crowded field of British procedurals." Booklist "A rapid fire tale." Kirkus "The very tight plotting was very impressive and make me want to look out for further books by this author. A very enjoyable read."Eurocrime Inspector Andy Horton’s holida...

This month sees the publication as an unabridged audio book of the fifth in the marine mystery series of police procedural crime novels featuring the flawed and rugged DI Andy Horton Blood on the Sand. Read by the experienced and accomplished actor, Gordon Griffin, Blood on the Sand is published by Isis Publishing and is available in cassette and CD format and as a download. Blood on the Sand is published in the UK and the USA by Severn House and has received rave reviews in the States. Reviewer Booklist says: 'This is another solid entry in a consistently well written series. Like Ed McBain, Rowson works many subtle variations on the procedural formula (including very interesting relationships between Andy and a couple of his superiors). A definite winner in the crowded field of British procedurals.' Set in the Solent area and the Isle of Wight, Blood on the Sand is already published in hardcover, trade paperback and mass market paperback. It will also be available i...

Murder, treachery, deceit and betrayal set against the backdrop of the south coast and the Solent? It must be another case for DI Andy Horton .  I'll be appearing at the Isle of Arts Festival Ventnor at the splendid Royal Hotel ,Ventnor on Sunday 17 April at 4pm. Tickets cost £3.00 I'll be revealing what inspires me and how I research and write my crime and thriller novels, two of which are set on the Isle of Wight, the DI Horton crime novel Blood on the Sand and the thriller, In For The Kill. All my crime novels and thrillers are set around the Solent area, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. I do hope some of you can join me on the Isle of Wight and I look forward to the talk at the Royal Hotel , a magnificent hotel. Tickets can also be purchase on the door there.

Read an e Book Week 6 - 12 March 2011 is coming round again and some might ask whether we need a week set aside to promote the benefits of reading an e book because they are now so popular.  But although the purpose of  Read an E Book Week is the same as when it was first devised, i.e. to encourage people to read e books this year also sees it celebrating the fortieth anniversary since the first e book was created. Amazing?  Yes.  You can read all about it on the Read an E Book Week web site. I have supported this initiative for the last two years and am again supporting it this year.  Visitors to my web site (and here) will be able to download  Chapter One of Dead Man's Wharf which is published in mass market paperback on 11 March.  It is already available in hardcover, as an e book, on Kindle and as an unbridged audio book. I hope you enjoy the tatster of Dead Man's Wharf  .  Plus check out the Read an E Book Wee...

I received my author copies of the latest DI Andy Horton marine mystery to be published as an unabridged audio book yesterday and it looks and sounds great. Dead Man’s Wharf is the fourth in the marine mystery series of crime novels featuring Inspector Andy Horton and is set in Portsmouth and the Solent area. It was chosen as the Best of British Crime Fiction by The Book Depository and given a star rated review by USA reviewer, Kirkus. It is also available as an e book, in hardcover and trade paperback (although I think they have sold out of the hardcover and trade paperback) but it will be published as a mass market paperback on 11 March 2011. Dead Man’s Wharf is published by Isis Publishing , the World’s leading publisher of unabridged audio books, who have also bought the rights to the fifth in the series, Blood on the Sand , due to be published as an audio book and digital download later in the year. Dead Man’s Wharf has been released in CD and cassette form and as a ...

Dead Man's Wharf and Blood on the Sand will be published as unabridged audio books this year and available as downloads, as well as in CD and cassette format. Not sure when exactly they will be published but I think Dead Man's Wharf is in the Spring and Blood on the Sand later in the year. You can probably check on Amazon. I'm really pleased about this because audio books are great for those who are visually impaired, for busy people on the move, and for those who simply like to relax and listen to a good read.  I'm also delighted that Gordon Griffin is reading them. He reads my other Inspector Horton audio books: Deadly Waters and The Suffocating Sea . In addition, Dead Man's Wharf is being published in Large Print on 24 February 2011. And don't forget the new Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, Footsteps on the Shore is being published in hardcover in a week's time on 27 January 2011. You can pre-order all these titles onl...

After bashing away at the keyboard over Christmas and the New Year I decided it was time to get out in the fresh air and exercise the legs instead of the fingers.  Yesterday my husband and I took off for the Isle of Wight where many of you know that a couple of my crime novels are set. Blood on the Sand an Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, is set on the Island and yesterday my husband and I had a picnic lunch by Bembridge Lagoons where Andy meets up with Detective Superintendent Uckfield while investigating the murder of Owen Carlsson. The sun even came out for us at this beautiful spot while we ate a baguette lunch. ( Not so in the novel it's pouring with rain) In For The Kill , one of my thrillers is also set on the Isle of Wight, around Bembridge and Brading, and the protagonist, Alex Albury, also travels to the mainland to Portsmouth and Petersfield and even to Guernsey to track down the man who framed him for fraud and embezzlement and destroye...

Having used up tons of scraps of paper (re-cycled from having to print off reams of previous manuscripts) and having almost worn my pencil down to a stub, not to mention making my office look like a waste paper tip, I am now a great deal happier with the plot of the next Andy Horton police procedural marine mystery crime novel , which will be number seven in the series. That doesn't mean to say that what I have mapped out will stay as it is, oh no, I could easily and most probably will change my mind by the end of the novel. Such is the life of a crime writer. As the characters become more alive so their motivations might suggest other actions. I might also delve into some research that will take me in another direction. It's all good fun, as they say. I want to try and get  as much of the first draft written as I can before having to work on copy edits and proofs of the sixth Andy Horton novel, Footsteps on the Shore , which my publisher tells me is due to be...

I've posted a new video here, on my You Tube channel and my official web site . It's an extract from my radio interview with Rob Richardson of Write-Invite, on Express FM, in which I read from my latest Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, Blood on the Sand . The fifth in the Andy Horton series. It's taken from the beginning of the novel, what they call a police procedural in the US, and I guess it is as Inspector Horton has a new crime to solve in the Solent area of England, this time mainly on the Isle of Wight. Blood on the Sand is currently available in hard cover on sale and in libraries.  It will be published in paperback at the end of September. I am delighted that it has received a great review from the States. Here's the blurb on Blood on the Sand. Inspector Andy Horton’s holiday peace is shattered when stepping out across an abandoned golf course on the Isle of Wight on a cold, grey January, he finds himself facing a distraught young woman...

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...

I spent nearly all day yesterday working on the next Inspector Horton novel, except for a break to have my hair cut. It was a good day's work but at the same time one of those frustrating writing days, not because the words didn't flow but because I am on revisions and I was tying up the last three chapters of the novel and trying to make sure that everything fell into place.  Once I've worked my way through the ending it will be back to the beginning again to ensure that the novel flows and all the clues are there, and they are if you look for them; it may be just a hint, a throw away line in a conversation, or something tucked in the middle of a list or in a dialogue, but clues and red herrings abound. I'll also be examining the characters, perhaps adding a little more colour to them, now that I know their motivations so well, and then ensuring that the novel has pace and the sequence of events is accurate taking into account the qui...

This morning I did some location research for the Inspector Horton crime novel I am currently writing, which will be number six in the marine mystery crime series. (Called marine mysteries because they are all set against the backdrop of the sea, around the Solent area on the south coast of England).  This  Horton novel is again based in Portsmouth and around the harbours of Portsmouth and Langstone, and this time also around the historic and splendid ruins of Portchester Castle. (Photograph courtesy of the English Heritage web site).   Portchester Castle is an impressive ruin of a Roman 'Saxon Shore' fort, originally built in the late 3rd century.   "It is the only Roman stronghold in northern Europe whose walls still mainly stand to their full 6 metre height, complete with most of their originally twenty towers," and well worth a visit if you are in the area. There are stunning views over Paulsgrove Lake into Portsmouth Harbour. And there's al...

Well, I've made it into the Daily Telegraph - does this mean fame and fortune beckons with a best seller? The article is not a book review though, but appears in the travel section, and is about a tour of the beautiful Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight, which my husband and I undertook with the Daily Telegraph features writer, Sophie Campbell, before Christmas.  Click here to read the article in full. And in case you miss it - here's the bit about my Inspector Horton novel due out 26 February 2010. "A crime novelist from Hayling Island, who had set her last book, Blood on the Sand , on the Isle of Wight, smilingly denied that her next might be set in a Benedictine monastery." But Quarr Abbey could be in Blood on the Sand!

I've just received the author copies of my new Inspector Horton crime novel, Blood on the Sand , and I must say it looks great. It is the fifth in the series and in hardcover due officially to be published in the UK on 26 February 2010. American readers have to wait a little longer, until April or May, I believe.  It is always a thrilling (and scary) moment when you receive the first printed copies of your novel.  Thrilling because it is at last a tangible thing after months (and years if you count the time it takes to get published in the first place) of hard work. Scary because it is there now in black and white for anyone to read, review, enjoy, hate, love, scorn, enthuse whatever.... And when I turn to that first page I'm always thinking, could I have changed that? Could I have written it better?  Too late. But the novel looks good and thanks to Severn House, my publishers.  Hope my readers enjoy it.

It's a white world on the South Coast of England today and in the Solent area where I live, which is so unusual because Portsmouth, Hayling Island, Southampton and the Isle of Wight so rarely gets snow. I took the opportunity this morning of donning my wet weather gear and walking across the fields near my house ( sorry, didn't get a photo of that). The snow was then about two inches deep which I know will send many readers from the north of England, Wales and Scotland, not to mention some parts of America, rolling about with laughter - call that snow?  I hear you say.  But since arriving home it has continued to snow and we're now up to about six inches which is incredible for the soft south.  And ever since watching The Day After Tomorrow I'm thinking could this be the end of the world? Will I have to burn all my books to keep warm?  Perish the thought. It also reminds me of a fantastic crime novel, one of my favourites, Blood upon the Snow by Hilda Lawre...

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.