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

Tide of Death , the first in the DI Andy Horton series of police procedural crime novels set against the backdrop of the sea in the Solent area of the UK is being offered at a special price on Kindle on Amazon UK at £3.44 (which includes VAT) and at $5.53 on Amazon.com Tide of Death   was chosen by Amazon as the 'Best of Crime Fiction 2006' 'A a strong plot and some nice characterisation and dialogue, which makes this a notch above the average fare out there. Rowson is clearly a crime writer to watch. Tide of Death is a chance to catch her early.' http://www.amazon.com/   It is Horton’s second day back in Portsmouth CID after being suspended for eight months following a damaging accusation of misconduct while working undercover on an operation to expose a pornography smuggling ring. Whilst out running in the early morning he trips over the naked battered body of a man on the beach. Beset by personal problems and aided by Sergeant Cantelli, Horton se...

Tide of Death , the first in the DI Andy Horton series of crime novels set in the Solent area of England has now been published in China. Tide of Death was first published in 2006 and hailed by Amazon in the UK as the Best of British Crime Fiction in that year.  In Tide of Death it is Horton’s second day back in Portsmouth CID after being suspended for eight months following a damaging accusation of misconduct while working undercover on an operation to expose a pornography smuggling ring. Whilst out running in the early morning he trips over the naked battered body of a man on the beach. PC Evans has been stabbed the night before, DCI Uckfield is up before a promotion board and Sergeant Cantelli is having trouble with his fifteen-year-old daughter. But Horton’s mind is on other things not least of which is trying to prove his innocence. Beset by personal problems and aided by Cantelli, Horton sets out to find a killer who will stop at nothing to cover his tra...

The detective in my crime novels, DI Andy Horton , lives on a small boat in Southsea marina after being chucked out of the marital home by his antagonistic wife, Catherine, following false allegations of rape while he was working undercover ( Tide of Death ). I didn't want my detective living in a flat or a grotty bedsit, or any run of the mill place because he's not a run of the mill kind of guy. He's fit, fearless and a loner. Having been abandoned by his mother at the age of ten he's been raised in children's homes and he's had to learn to fend for himself.  He has a deep desire to belong and yet his upbringing has made him self-contained and he rarely trusts. When I was looking at his background, and what had happened to his marriage, there was only one place that Horton would want to live, on the sea.  Sailing is his refuge from the city, crime and criminals. He's a man of contrasts whose life moves from the big apparatus of the police and the b...

Tide of Death , the first Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel is to be published in China soon and the cover was posted on Facebook by the translator of the novel. I can't wait to receive my author copies.  The cover design and title is the same as the UK version but I have no idea what the Chinese on the cover means. When I get a larger version of the cover I'll post it here. Tide of Death is the first in the Inspector Andy Horton series of murder mystery novels. Horton lives on his sailing boat, a Winkle Brig, after being ejected from the marital home and rides a Harley Davidson. It is DI Andy Horton’s second day back in Portsmouth CID after being suspended for eight months. Whilst out running in the early morning he trips over the naked battered body of a man on the beach. PC Evans has been stabbed the night before, the DCI is up before a promotion board and Sergeant Cantelli is having trouble with his fifteen-year-old daughter. But Horton’s ...

That is if they can bring themselves to step over the threshold in the first place. However being avid readers (it's prerequisite of becoming a writer) they are attracted to the physical bookstore like bees to clover. The temptation then is not simply to browse the shelves and choose something to read, but to check if the bookshop stocks your novels. If they aren't on the shelf then you are disappointed, although the hope that the shop has sold out sustains you. Equally though it worries you - why hasn't the bookshop re-ordered?  And if your book/s are sitting on the shelf the initial thrill of seeing them quickly gives way to why aren't they selling? It seems you can never be satisfied. On Saturday then, on entering a bookshop, I was pleased to see a woman wandering around with a copy of Tide of Death (the first in the Inspector Andy Horton series) in her hand. I would have said nothing but my husband, (always proud of my achievements) cried out, '...

Tide of Death is the first in the marine mystery series of crime fiction novels, featuring the flawed and rugged DI Andy Horton.

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...

The first Havant Literary Festival seems to be going very well and there was certainly a buzz in the town this morning and at the Havant Arts Centre when I turned up to give my talk. I wasn’t sure how many people to expect. It could be one man and his dog. However, as it turned out, there was a smallish but highly interested group of people. (More than are shown in this picture - honest). It was great to meet a few fans of my novels and also to introduce my work to new readers. Councillor Jackie Branson was present and bought a copy of Tide of Death which I told her to wave around at the Tory Party conference she is off to this weekend. I’d be happy to sign a copy for David Cameron or any other politician irrespective of their political colour – I’m not prejudiced. I spoke about how I write and took along my pencilled plotting and spider grams to show the audience how I develop characters. These characters each have an index tag and are all neatly tied with a treasury tag. They stay...

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've added a couple of new things on the blog today on the right hand side bar. Deadly Waters is out in audio format as a download and as a CD and in cassette form. You can click on the photograph of the cover on the right hand side of this blog, which will take you to http://www.audible.co.uk/ where you can listen to an excerpt of it being read by Gordon Griffin. I've also just returned from a meeting with my audio book publisher who is going to bring out Tide of Death, In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill in audio book later this year, which is great news. I'll keep you posted on this. And for those who prefer to read books in the electronic format then my novels and business books are available as e books. If you visit http://www.ebooks.com/ you can search under my name, or click on the link to the right to find my books.

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...

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...

Guilty as charged. I’ve finally joined the criminal class. No, I haven’t robbed a bank or joined the throngs of drunken teenagers pissing it up outside Tesco Express, I’ve become accepted as a member of the Crime Writers’ Association. http://www.thecwa.co.uk/ And my qualifications for being admitted to these hallowed realms? Well, apart from my fourth crime novel Deadly Waters , being published in September, I’d say that my background was a contributory factor: running my own marketing company taught me how to concoct amazing stories around completely boring products, delivering workshops on understanding personality types to psychotic management helped me to see how devious people are, facing a real-life axe man threatening to smash me and the jobcentre I was working in at the time to tiny pieces showed me how to do fear, and being married to a fire-fighter who can do gory better than any forensic scientist have helped me to create my fearless detective, Harley Davidson riding and sa...

Saturday 24 February - Books etc Staines today. Very surprised. Nice place, good shopping centre, easy to find and park. Could see the Books etc shop sign very clearly from the car and when I glimpsed Waitrose nearby guessed I was in for a fairly middle class audience, which proved correct. I'm getting the hang of these book signings now. Of course, I haven't been at it very long, only my third novel and second year of being published, and NO BIG PUBLISHING HOUSE or marketing budget behind me, so I don't expect to see a queue forming at the door, or people rushing up to me eager to talk about my books. I have to work hard to get my signings and sell books. Still, there was a photographer waiting to greet me, which made me FEEL famous at least. When he told me he was from a picture press agency I felt even more famous. The manager, Mike, was really nice. Extremely friendly, enthusiastic, bright and cheery, and he actually seemed to love his job, which makes a nice change, th...