The setting for THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS

THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS, no. 11 in the series of 17, 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.

Quarr Abbey is a Catholic Benedictine abbey home to a small group of Benedictine monks who dedicate their lives to the glory of God.  The abbey is situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the north coast of the island. Visitors can attend worship in the Abbey Church, visit the gardens and the delightful tearoom, buy the homegrown produce and learn more about the Abbey in the visitor centre. There is a new exhibition of the work of local artists every week in the gallery. All of this gave me the inspiration for THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS, previousy published as Shroud of Evil and it is one of my favourite DI Andy Horton Solent Murder Mysteries.

DI Andy Horton is assigned the case of a missing person: Jasper Kenton, a private investigator.   Horton suspects the disappearance has a mundane explanation, that Kenton has gone off with a woman or absconded with his clients' fees but when Kenton’s car turns up, and a shocking discovery is made, things turn serious.

THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS is about secrets, lies, exploitation and murder.  Secrets can be kept for years, as they have been by those involved in the murder investigation in THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS but it is one person’s determination to expose a secret and exploit it for his own gain that rips apart the fabric of many lives.  Once a secret is exposed nothing is ever the same again.

Horton also finds himself embroiled in an investigation that has major personal ramifications as it touches on his own private investigation into the disappearance of his mother, Jennifer, when he was a child.  He has no choice but to withhold vital information. As he struggles to crack the case, he knows it is only a question of time before someone discovers he’s kept silent, and when that’s revealed, his part in hindering a major investigation could end his career.

Quarr Abbey is an amazing place and well worth a visit if you are ever on the Isle of Wight. There you might even see Brett Veerman's house, a character involved in the story, and you might bumb into Andy Horton.