Brand New DI Andy Horton Mystery on Pre-order

I'm delighted to announce that the latest in the DI Andy Horton Solent Murder Mystery series, number seventeen, THE HAYLING ISLAND MURDERS, is now available to pre-order on Amazon and will be published in paperback on the 23 November 2023 and on Kindle on 30 November 2023 by Joffe Books.

Over 200,000 books in the South Coast based series have been sold, featuring the rugged and flawed DI Andy Horton who  rides a Harley-Davidson and lives on his yacht in Southsea Marina, Portsmouth.

In this, Horton's latest investigation, he's once again joined by Sergent Cantelli and Detective Constable Walters of CID.

Horton arrives at Portsmouth CID to find a stinky, old metal box on his desk, discovered in the mud of Sinah Lake on Hayling Island.  Inside is a collection of rare and valuable gold and silver coins from the Carolean era and Queen Victoria’s reign.

But why are there handcuffs attached to the box? Or more importantly, who was originally attached to it? Horton is curious to find out.  Soon after, though he's called out to an isolated stretch of the Gosport shore where a body has been found in a burned-out car. The vehicle and body are so badly charred that it’s almost impossible to identify the victim. Detective Superintendent Uckfield and his Major Crime Team are brought in.

Added to that is the fact that Europol agent, Harriet Ames, daughter of the missing peer, Sir Richard Ames, has transferred to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary and he and Harriet are going to be seeing a lot more of each other.  Horton's not sure he's comfortable with that after lying to her about her father's disappearance and the part her family have played in the disappearance of his mother, Jennifer, when he was a child.

But Horton can’t let Harriet distract him. Not now. Especially when another body has just been discovered . . .

I hope you enjoy reading it. 

About the cover image of THE HAYLING ISLAND MURDERS

The cover image is the old railway viaduct over Langstone Harbour of the Hayling Billy railway line that ran to and fro the island to the mainland station of Havant in the north.  In the 1950s and early 1960s  the railway carried hundreds of holiday makers visiting the sunshine island and the very popular holiday camps, some of which still thrive today.  Heavy expenditure on repairs to the viaduct became necessary, and the cost was unsupportable; the line closed on 4 November  1963.  The old railway line is now a very popular walk and cycle trail save the old viaduct which sadly was never restored.

A road bridge connects the island with the mainland.  Orginally this was a wooden road bridge served by a toll-house situated at the northern end. There was a weight-limit and after WW2 only single-decker buses were allowed across and if they were carrying too many passengers some had to get out and walk, regardless of the weather, to reduce axle-weight! Can you imagine that happening today! The old wooden bridge was demolished following construction of a concrete bridge in the late 1950s. (Maybe I could use this in a 1950s set Inspector Ryga mystery!)

The replacement concrete bridge opened in 1956, initially still as a toll bridge. The new bridge is owned by Hampshire County Council and was operated without tolls from April 1960.  I don't think it will be long before a new bridge is required to the island given the increasing volume of traffic over recent years.

The bridge spans Langstone Harbour to the west and Chichester Harbour to the east providing splendid views. Both harbours are home to many over winter migratory birds and there are some lovely coastal walks where I am always on the look out for a body - fictional I hasten to add.