In Cold Daylight

by Pauline Rowson

Fire fighter Jack Bartholomew dies whilst trying to put out a fire in a derelict building. Was it an accident or arson? Marine Artist Adam Greene doesn't know, only that he has lost his closest friend. He attends the funeral ready to mourn when another funeral intrudes upon his thoughts, and one he has tried very hard to forget for the last fifteen years. But before he has time to digest this, or discover the identity of the stranger stalking him, Jack's house is ransacked. Unaware of the risks he is running Adam soon finds himself caught up in a mysterious and dangerous web of deceit. By exposing a secret that has lain dormant for years Adam is forced to face his own dark secrets, and as the facts reveal themselves the prospects for his survival look bleak. But Adam knows there is no turning back; he has to get to the truth no matter what the cost, even if it means his life.

Nook

First published December 1, 2005

About the author

Pauline Rowson is the author of thirty- one crime novels - nineteen featuring DI Andy Horton in the Solent Murder Mystery series; five in Art Marvik mystery thrillers series, six in the 1950s set historical mysteries with Scotland Yard's Inspector Ryga, who is sent out to solve baffling coastal crimes and two standalone thrillers. All her crime novels are set against the backdrop of the ever changing sea.

Reviews

[Kim Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm

I really can't make my mind up about this. Adam is a man on a mission to, well I'm not really sure to be honest. Yes his friend Jack asks him to take care of his wife when he's gone but he also leaves him cryptic messages. And I'm not sure how investigating these clues actually takes care of anyone. Surely it puts them in danger! It was all a bit convoluted if I'm honest. Still, it was a reasonably good read, though the author has written better, much better.

[Ber Spiteri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but feels inconsistent and tends to skip from one part to another.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adam is a Marine artist and his friend, a firefighter, has recently died in a fire that may not have been an accident. A trail of ambiguous clues, suggestive coincidences and dead bodies leads Adam to suspect it was indeed murder and he is determined to find some answers.

Together with Marie biologist Jody he searches with increasing peril for the complicated plot behind his friends death.

This was a pleasant enough little mystery thriller, quite a fast read, with well developed characters that were interesting to read and a fast pace. Sometimes the pace was in fact a little too fast to believably swallow, but that is ok in a thriller. The downside to this is that because of the fast pace the reader is aware that practically everything that occurs in meaningful to the plot, and everyone one meets is involved, but that all right too.

It was not the revolutionary writing that some reviewers have raved about, it was good, solid writing but nothing exceptional. The publisher took the tactic of larger print, bigger spaces and massive margins to make the book seem larger than it was.

There was a thing that annoyed me about it considerably however, it is billed as a "Marine mystery", the authors strength is meant to be "redefining police drama ...by ...setting against the atmospheric backdrop of the ever changing sea" (Goodreads profile) and yet no marine environments were described beyond a throwaway paragraph here and there. The main characters is allegedly a 'Marine Painter' but he never does any painting. Jody is meant to be a 'Marine biologist' but the most marine thing about her is that she walks across a carpark carrying a bag of barnacles one time, we are not even told why.

Since I added this book for it's allegedly Marine theme, I was annoyed by these promises that were not delivered upon. I wont slam the book, it was a good book, but I won't rate it high because of false advertising. If this was a publishing house tactical error, my apologies to the author for the low rating. (less)

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

First read by this author, enjoyed and will read more.