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I've started planning the next DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel , number eight in the series, which is set against the backdrop of the sea on the South Coast of England. How much planning is required when structuring a crime novel? The answer to that question varies with the author.  Some crime writers spend a very long time at the planning stage, up to a year, maybe more, others have only a rough outline before beginning the creative writing, and some will have an in depth synopsis written. When I begin a new crime novel or thriller I don't have a clue who did it or why? I start with an idea, and a body and then Andy Horton, accompanied by Sergeant Cantelli and often in conflict with his boss DCI Lorraine Bliss and the head of the Major Crime Team, Detective Superintendent Uckfield , set out to discover who killed her/him and why.  The first draft creates the characters, their motivations and personalities. It explores the relationships and determine...

As many of you know I have agonized over the title of the DI Andy Horton novel I've just finished writing, number seven in the series, just as I agonized over all titles except for Dead Man's Wharf , and Tide of Death , which came instantly to me. So now I have a title for the next DI Andy Horton.  It might change by the time of publication, of course. My editior might not like it. If it does change I'll let you know but here it is for now. A Killing Coast – a DI Andy Horton crime novel ( number 7 in the series) When a body is found floating in the sea off Portsmouth harbour, DI Horton has no evidence to suggest it’s murder even though there are some peculiar factors surrounding the death. A visit to the dead man’s flat reassures Horton; they’re looking at an accidental death. Soon though, to Horton’s dismay, he discovers he’s got it very wrong. Accused of being incompetent by his boss, DCI Lorraine Bliss, and with the head of the Major Crime Team, Superintendent U...

Last night I finished the final edits on the DI Andy Horton crime novel , number seven in the series, and pressed the send button. Yes, it's whizzed its way to my editor and will pop into his e mail this morning.  Looking back at my notes I see that it took me ten months to write.  I started it on 12 June 2010. I would like to have written it in nine months and my aim with the next DI Andy Horton (no.8) is to have it finished by Christmas, which gives me eight months.  I'm starting it today- in fact I've already started pulling together the outline. I like to set myself deadlines because I have always worked to deadlines and they're great for focusing the mind. Hopefully DI Andy Horton number seven won't require too much re-working, if any, apart from checking copy edits and proofs - fingers crossed, but I'm glad now to have another eye cast over it because after living with it for ten months it's very difficult to be objective and spot the gaps.  ...

The new Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, Footsteps on the Sho re , is due to be published on 27 January 2011 and is now available to pre-order. It is set around the Solent area on the South Coast of England like the others in the series, with this particular one being set in Portsmouth, around Portchester Castle and the Hayling Island Coastal Nature Reserve.  I've been promising to post details about this latest crime fiction police procedural featuring my hunky DI, Andy Horton for ages so here it is. Friday the thirteenth begins badly for DI Andy Horton when he wakes to find his Harley has been vandalized and his boss, DCI Lorraine Bliss, has returned early from her secondment to HQ. Then, convicted murderer, Luke Felton, released on licence, is reported missing and a decomposed corpse is washed up in Portsmouth harbour. But before Horton can get a grip on either case, he’s called to a house where a woman he’d only met the day before has been brutally...