Three April set crime novels

Three of my crime novels are set in April so I thought I would feature them in this blog and during the month.

Two are in the Solent Murder Mystery series featuring the renegade detective, DI Andy Horton, who rides a Harley, lives on board a small boat in Southsea Marina, and never wears tie or suit, unless it's to court.

Both the April set Solent Murder Mysteries are set on the Isle of Wight, THE CHALE BAY MURDERS (7) and THE LUCCOMBE BAY MURDERS (15). 

The other April novel features my former Royal Commando, Special Boat Services officer, Art Marvik. He's more of an action hero and can operate outside the law, even though he is attached to the UK's Police Marine Intelligence Unit.  Join him in a fast-paced investiagtion, LOST VOYAGE number three in the series of currently four.  I am writing number five.

I'm also writing number nineteen in the DI Andy Horton series, with number eighteen being published by Joffe Books in autumn 2024.

Here is more on those three April set mystery crime novels.

THE CHALE BAY MURDERS

An elderly man obsessively watches the coast from his Victorian house high on the hill above Ventnor on the Isle of Wight When he observes mysterious lights out at sea, he reports them to the police.  The local police think he’s a bit of a nuisance. And when Horton interviews him he’s inclined to agree. A judgement he may bitterly regret.

Meanwhile a call comes through from Horton’s partner, DS Cantelli. A woman’s decomposing body is pulled out of the sea, wearing a Victorian-style dress. The post-mortem gives them a massive shock.

And when another body is found, Horton thinks he’s got a serial killer on his hands. At this point the last thing he needs is his old girlfriend showing up.

(Please note this was previously published as A Killing Coast).

THE LUCCOMBE BAY MURDERS

A man is found dead inside a log cabin nestled in Luccombe Bay on the Isle of Wight. He has no ID on him and no one knows who he is. Except Detective Inspector Andy Horton . . .

The dead man’s fingerprints match those on a card DI Andy Horton Horton was handed months ago by a mysterious man.

Horton travels to the Isle of Wight to view the body. But he’s shocked to see it’s not the same man who handed him the card. How did this man’s prints get on the card? And who is he?

As Horton explores the area around the cabin, he causes a landslip and another corpse is revealed. Now he may have two murders on his hands.

As he follows the trail of the dead man, he uncovers some startling revelations into his own mother’s past and the truth behind her disappearance over thirty years ago.

(Please note this was previously pubished as A Deadly Wake).

LOST VOYAGE

Art Marvik receives a panicked phone call from Helen Shannon, the woman he met on his first investigation for the UK Police special investigations squad.  She overheard two men plotting a murder and now fears she’s being followed.

He thinks Helen’s suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after her sister’s murder. But he has a soft spot for her and he agrees to help.

He sets off on his motor yacht to meet her at Eastbourne Marina in East Sussex where she is working, and after listening to her tale is still uncertain if she actually overheard this conversation.  He soon changes his mind.

Helen’s boss’s body is discovered in her flat with his throat slashed.

Marvik is convinced that Helen is being framed for murder. But before he can prove her innocence, he’s detailed to investigate the disappearance of a salvage vessel, the Mary Jo, which went missing in the North Atlantic some years ago.

It rapidly becomes clear to Marvik that all those connected with the tragedy of the Mary Jo have something to hide.

Marvik’s got a lot on his plate. The stakes are high and the death toll is rising. Who will be next?


All are available on Amazon Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and paperback.