Pauline Rowson's Blog - Posts Tagged "sleuth"

A Deadly Wake: An Inspector Andy Horton Mystery by Pauline Rowson




Just wanted to leave a review as the author. Readers have long been desperate to know the truth behind the disappearance of Andy's mother when he was a child of ten and I'm not spoiling it by saying that here at last all is revealed. DI Andy Horton’s investigations into the disappearance of his mother, Jennifer, over thirty years ago, has been touched upon in many of the Horton novels, in which he has unearthed some startling revelations. In this, the fifteenth in the Horton series, there are more surprises to come. For those who have not read the other novels, to help the reader quickly catch up on the mystery of Jennifer’s disappearance, and to accompany Horton on his final journey in his quest to get to the truth, I have included a prologue. I have also included a cast of characters who are connected, in some way, with the Jennifer Horton mystery. I hope my readers enjoy the new Andy Horton.



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Shroud of Evil by Pauline Rowson




Hello, Just thought I'd let you know a little bit more about this re-issued Inspector Andy Horton mystery. This mystery novel explores the corrosiveness of secrets. It plunges the flawed and rugged detective, Andy Horton, into a complex murder investigation in which he is forced to withhold vital information because of his own secret and his fear of exposure, even though he knows that in doing so he is putting his professional career on the line.

What drives people to keep secrets? Is it out of shame, or from fear, or guilt? Is it for safety and security? For the protection of oneself or of others? Is it to preserve a way of life, or for sanity or vanity? 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 SHROUD OF EVIL there are many secrets. Why does private investigator Jasper Kenton keep so much of his private life secret from his business partner, Eunice Swallows? What are the secrets between ophthalmic consultant Brett Veerman and his lonely wife, Thelma, which trap them in a cold and hostile marriage? Why is someone forced to kill in order to keep those secrets? And why doesn’t Andy Horton tell his boss, the ice maiden, DCI Lorraine Bliss, about his secret – the fact that he’s trying to uncover the truth behind his mother’s disappearance over thirty years ago? Why does he withhold vital information from the head of the major crime team, Detective Superintendent Uckfield?

Along with secrets come lies, and where there are secrets and lies there will be exploitation. It is this exploitation that ultimately leads to murder in SHROUD OF EVILl.

Withholding a secret can hurt, so can revealing it. For Horton revealing his quest to uncover the truth of his mother’s disappearance means exposing his emotions, something he’s learned the hard way never to do because it would make him vulnerable and vulnerability is there to be exploited by others.

Secrets can be kept for years, as they have been by those involved in the murder investigation in SHROUD OF EVIL 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. And once a secret is exposed nothing is ever the same again.

"A compelling protagonist and mounting suspense make the book hard to put down." Publishers Weekly




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