Pauline Rowson's Blog, page 13

Researching police procedure and crime scenes for crime novels

I'm often asked how I research my crime novels and in particular the police procedure and crime scene investigation
side of things. I'm not married to a police officer or a former police
officer so I didn't start off with any inside knowledge. I am married to
a retired fire fighter though so when it comes to fires, burnt bodies
and serious traffic and other incidents which fire fighters attend, I
have a wealth of information to draw on which can be incorporated into a
crime novel. Indeed I have done so.



So where do I get the police procedural information from and how can writers obtain this kind of information?











Read more about researching police procedure

A phone call sparks an investigation for DI Andy Horton

In the previous blogs I have talked about the locations that inspired me for DEAD PASSAGE, number 14 in the DI Andy Horton series. These are Rat Island in Portsmouth Harbour, The Spur Redoubt, the Solent Forts and Lumps Fort, the latter now Southsea Rose Gardens.





In addition to locations the idea for DEAD PASSAGE also came when I was crossing on the Wightlink Ferry the St Clair from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight.






Read more and read page one of DEAD PASSAGE

Pauline Rowson's year ahead 2019

Happy New Year. Here we are in 2019 and it looks set to be another interesting year. I'll leave World affairs to other pundits here I take a look ahead to what is planned on the crime writing front and with my crime novels and talks. A much safer bet I think!



Two new crime audio books to be released, a brand new 1950 set crime novel to be launched, publication in the USA, talks and lots happening on the writing front






Read more about what's in store for Pauline Rowson in 2019

Happy Christmas 2018

My thanks to everyone who has made 2018 special, my publisher, editor and tech guy; libraries across the world; those who have invited me to speak at various events throughout the year and the lovely people who attended my talks; the wonderful cast and crew of the Winterbourne Players who staged such a successful performance of my 1940 set murder mystery play, MURDER AT THE PELICAN CLUB and last but by no means least my thanks to all you fabulous readers who have bought or borrowed my books from libraries.

Wishing you all a safe, healthy and happy Christmas

 

 

DI Andy Horton at the scene of the crime in DEAD PASSAGE

DEAD PASSAGE number fourteen in the DI Andy Horton series of crime novels is set on Horton’s CID patch, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.





Continuing with the story behind the DI Andy Horton crime novel, DEAD PASSAGE, there is a fortification known as Lord Palmerston’s Follies, the Solent Forts, which is also featured in DEAD PASSAGE.






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It's December 12 and DI Andy Horton is called out to a gruesome catch

It's Christmas and Inspector Andy Horton has a gruesome murder case to solve.



Fatal Catch opens on 12 December with DI Horton being called out to examine a gruesome catch by two fishermen: a human hand. Is it that of missing violent criminal Alfie Wright – or is he the killer? And where is the rest of the corpse? Soon Horton finds himself immersed in a complex case where everyone has a reason to lie and no one is who they seem. His instincts tell him to trust no one and believe nothing; he’s not sure though whether this time he’ll succeed …






Read an extract

A look back at my crime novels published in 2018

Wow, what a busy year 2018 has been. I've pulled together a video
of all my crime novels published in their various formats during the
year.  Looking forward to what 2019 will bring... more about that in the
New Year. Meanwhile here is a video of all my crime novels published in
2018.



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Happy Christmas

The story behind the crime novel In Cold Daylight

The idea for my standalone crime novel IN COLD DAYLIGHT came not this time from a location, which is usually where I get my ideas from, but from an overheard conversation. This particular conversation took place at the fire station where my husband, a fire fighter worked. He was at the time on Red Watch at Southsea in Portsmouth (now he is retired). It was after the shift had ended.





The watch were discussing the unusually high number of their colleagues who had sadly contracted cancer. Many believed the cancer was caused through exposure to hazardous chemicals in the line of duty but couldn't say which particular incident or series of incidents had triggered it. The cancers were mainly those of the throat, esophagus and ears, all areas left unprotected at that time by their headgear. In fact, my husband used to say that the only way he knew just hot the fire was, and therefore how it was progressing, was if his ears started to feel as if they were burning!






Read more about the inspiration behind the crime novel In Cold Daylight

December and DI Andy Horton is on the trail of a killer in The Suffocating Sea

Three of my crime novels are set in December, FATAL CATCH number 12 in the DI Andy Horton crime series, THE SUFFOCATING SEA number 3 in the Inspector Andy Horton police procedural series and one of my standalone crime thriller novels IN COLD DAYLIGHT.



Here's a look at what's in store for Andy Horton in THE SUFFOCATING SEA.



December 17 a body on a burning boat in Horsea Marine, Portsmouth, England. DI Horton and Sergeant Cantelli are called out to investigate.







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The DI Andy Horton crime novels in order

Should I read the Inspector Andy Horton crime novels in order?



The answer is no. They can be read in any order because each is a standalone mystery. In each DI Andy Horton (and there are now 13 in the series) there is a
new investigation for the flawed and
rugged detective but there is also the drama of his unfolding 
personal life and his quest to discover the truth behind his mother's
disappearance (Jennifer Horton) thirty years ago.  It can never be
determined which
book in the series a reader might buy or borrow from a
library so I need to weave in Andy Horton's back story and his personal
quest enough so that the new reader can pick it up but not too much so
that it bores the reader who has read the Horton series from the
beginning.   Some readers have told me that they've discovered Andy
Horton in a later book in the series and then having done so have gone
back to the beginning and read them in sequence.  



There are now now thirteen in the DI Andy Horton crime series with Lethal Waves, the latest  published in the UK in 2017  



The Inspector Andy Horton crime novels are available as paperbacks, e books, on Amazon Kindle and Kobo, as unabridged audio books and in large print. 





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