The setting and story behind The Boathouse Murders

THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS is number eleven in the Detective Inspector Andy Horton Solent Murder Mystery series of eighteen.  It sees the enigmatic Harley Davidson riding, sailing Portsmouth based detective embark on an investigation that could jeopardise his career.

He's assigned the case of a missing person: Jasper Kenton, a private investigator. Kenton was on the trail of a man whose wife thought he was having an affair.  Then Kenton’s naked body is discovered on a stretch of private beach on the Isle of Wight, wrapped in sailcloth.  The autopsy reveals Kenton was shot with a crossbow at close range.

THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS examines the corrosive nature of secrets and how keeping them can lead to danger and even death.

How far would you go to protect a secret? Would you risk your job for it, your friends your family? Would you kill for it? In THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS there are many secrets not only Horton's own, but Jasper Kenton, the private investigator and that of ophthalmic consultant, Brett Veerman and his lonely wife, Thelma, which trap them in a cold and hostile marriage.

Read more about the story behind this DI Andy Horton Solent Murder Mystery.

The Setting

THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS is partly set on the Isle of Wight.  The abbey featured in it is in fact Quarr Abbey near Fishbourne where the Isle of Wight car ferry docks.  I was keen to use the real name of the abbey in the book but unfortunately at that time the Benedictine Monks who live there were not happy for me to do so.  I therefore changed it to Northwood Abbey.

Read about the setting for THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS.