Dead Man's Wharf

DI Andy Horton #4

by Pauline Rowson

The new Detective Inspector Horton mystery - Horton and Cantelli are called to a nursing home where a resident claims she’s been attacked by an intruder. Ready to dismiss it as senile ramblings, Horton then discovers that her room-mate has died, the dead woman’s belongings are missing and her son, convicted for armed robbery, has been found dead in his cell. Soon Horton is caught up in a complex investigation that has far-reaching international implications.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Audiobook

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2009

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

[Rena George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Portsmouth detective, DI Andy Horton, is suspicious of the threatening, anonymous phone calls TV presenter, Perry Jackson, claims to be receiving. Horton is sceptical that it's a publicity stunt Jackson and his co-presenter, Nick Farnsworth, have cooked up to promote a new series of their diving shows.
Horton is far more interested in the possibly suspicious death of Irene Edbury, an elderly resident in city care home and the sudden death of her jailbird son, Peter, in prison only days later.
The detective’s interest grows when he discovers Irene knew his mother, Jennifer Horton, who disappeared without trace when he was a child, leaving him still struggling to untangle the mystery of her disappearance.
When handsome womaniser, Farnsworth’s body turns up in waterside dredging yard, Horton is forced to re-think the anonymous calls.
More intrigue is stirred into the mix when attractive DC Harriet Lin is seconded to his team and Horton learns that she actually works for the Intelligence Directorate. But who has she been sent to spy on?
Someone high up must be interested in his investigation, and he intends to discover why.
I really enjoy the DI Andy Horton novels and love his relationship with his trusty and loyal sergeant, DS Barney Cantelli. His love for his little daughter, Emma, is endearing, and I feel his frustration at the determination of his estranged wife, Catherine to keep them apart.
Pauline Rowson’s plots are always complicated and multi layered, keeping the reader guessing until the last moment. A good read that I would recommend to all lovers of crime fiction.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very complicated story which kept me guessing until the end

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Royal Hotel Murders is book four in the DI Andy Horton series by Pauline Rowson. The pressure was mounting on Detective Inspector Andy Horton's due to three cases falling into his lap and his pass-catching up to him. The first case Detective Inspector Andy Horton received was threats to TV personality Perry Jackson who came to town to film a new TV series. The second case was attached to a resident of a local nursing home. The last case was a body of a man found with fingers missing. The readers of The Royal Hotel Murders will continue following Detective Inspector Andy Horton to discover what happens.

The Royal Hotel Murders is an excellent addition to the DI Andy Horton series by Pauline Rowson. I enjoy that Pauline Rowson portrays her characters as flawed, making the story a little more natural and making it easy to engage with the plot of this book. The Royal Hotel Murders is well-written and researched by Pauline Rowson. I like Pauline Rowson's description of the settings of The Royal Hotel Murders, which allowed me to imagine being part of the book's plot.

The readers of The Royal Hotel Murders will learn about political corruption and its consequences. Also, the readers of The Royal Hotel Murders will understand why someone would want to find answers to their parent's murder.

I recommend this book.

[Colin Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective Inspector Andy Horton and Sergeant Cantelli start to look into the death of a care home resident and the threatening telephone calls received by a television personality at the Royal Hotel, where he is staying in connection with his diving show series. Soon the deaths multiply, almost like Midsummer!, then a Detective Constable is assigned to his team who does not seem to be who he is told. Lots of police intrigue, threats and bullying from senior officers as Andy Horton still seems unable to obtain advancement as he has been promised. There are also the ongoing difficulties concerning his access to his daughter Emma.

I enjoy the character of Andy Horton and his oppo, Cantelli, who seem to be quite believable. The senior ooficers are about the same, it is just that you hope that their conduct will be fund out and action taken. Hey Ho! helps to make a good story. Well read and enough action to pass the time. 4 stars.

[Belis H · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Royal Hotel Murders © Pauline Rowson 2023

Luisterboek/ audiobook Storytel
Narrated by Colin Mace
Verschenen: 27 apr 2023
Uitgever: SAGA Egmont

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a holiday read. Just a few too many characters to keep tabs on and it got a bit confusing. I was quite happy when a couple were bumped off....

[Barbara Deeprose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really enjoying this series but I have dropped a star this time because I got a bit confused with so many characters. A TV crew are filming a new series about the wrecks in the Solent when they report they are getting threatening phone calls which DI Andy Horton thinks is just a publicity stunt, until one of the stars of the show is murdered. A young care home worker is found dead and his death is put down to drink driving, but everyone insists he didn't drink alcohol and in the same care home an elderly women dies and her son dies in prison. As Andy Horton digs deeper he finds it possible the deaths could be related and that somehow they could include the mysterious disappearance of his mother from years ago. Andy and his team have their work cut out to find the truth especially when it seems someone in the background is trying to stop him. This is another good book in the DI Andy Horton series which I enjoyed. Have started the next book already.

[Mike Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, the fourth book in the series, follows the familiar plot line; on the one hand that's good, but on the other it feels formulaic. The Jasper Fforde Thursday Next series takes place partly in an imagined book world, where literary characters live their own lives until someone opens their book and then they slot into character. If that were true of this series, then when a reader got to about 85% of the way through each book, Andy Horton would be rolling his eyes and thinking that it was time for him to get beaten up/abducted/otherwise physically inconvenienced! Mind you, he'd already be exhausted from the semi-rhetorical questions that he keeps asking.
This book is a decent police procedural, but nothing special. There are also a few grammatical errors creeping in, which isn't good. Also, there isn't actually a murder at the hotel...
On to Book 5...

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 4 has left off where Book 3 stopped

A celebrity actor who stars in a diving reality show is getting threatening phone calls. DI Horton is ordered to investigate. He firmly believes they are a publicity stunt. When he meets the celebrity, he is sure of it. The actor is a jerk.

Meanwhile, there is an elderly woman's suspicious death and an apparent assault at a nursing home. His Superior's y think they are nothing and he is discouraged in investigating. Something is not quite right and he continues to look into them. He is disturbed to find that the dead woman knew his mother.

It gets even mire complicated when he suspects the nursing home is under surveillance. Why?

As with all of these books, there are more suspicious deaths and a multitude of suspects.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book

Clever plot. I really enjoyed the intricacies if the story. The Author best rikkiantly.who've together the plot line. Horton is a clever and likeable protagonist. Other than can tempo there really isn't much about the rest of the team. But this was very cleverly written and that made it a worth while read for me.

[Kim Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh the machinations of man

Yes, I realise that statement is politically incorrect, but it still sums up this book. Pauline Rowson is really very, very good at putting together a very twisty plot. This one has more wayward turns than a drunken spiral! But you know that Andy Horton will get there in the end. Excellent book!

[Susan Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lately I have only been reading in the evening, so this one took a little longer, I did find it a little hard to keep all the characters straight, but maybe that was because of when I was reading it. I would probably read another book by Rowson, but have some others in the queue that will come first.

[Marilynn Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unclean police thriller

The story line is very good and keeps the reader wondering "who dunnit". But there are several instances of the unnecessary use of the f-bomb which find regrettable.

[Marie Shirley Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good

I can't tell you what I think without blowing the whole thing up.

It is more procedure than anything, it's certainly not "cosy". It is probably closer to the truth than anyone wants to believe.

[Lynn Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andy at his best

Another twisting and turning tale. Well thought out and interesting with some odious characters who deserve what they get but not death.
Andy should get his promotion on merit not as a bribe!

[Rose Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to the officers

He was almost over his head, but calm and honestly finally got him through
Some folks are just mean and will do anything to get ahead

Story line was one of the best

Thank you
You are a true author
Rose

[Tasula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and complicated mystery. Although I really don't think much of the main character, DI Andy Horton, neither his investigative techniques nor his messy private life. Some of the other characters were more likeable.

[Wilbur Hundley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book

The Royal Hotel Murders is an exciting murder mystery with lots of twists and turns. Andy and Barney do their usual great job of uncovering the clues to solve a series of murders. A great read.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm hooked now! I want to see the ouycome of Horton's personal search as well as his work results

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Syl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing

Very good. Intriguing, at times confusing, but a very good book. A lot of twists and turns, quite a few suspects and Horton’s thought processes are enlightening.

[vicki Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me a few pages to get into this book but pleased I did

[Prof C Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series continues in fine form. As others have said this one has a surfeit of characters.

Still a good read.

[Sheila Timms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story about Andy Horton and his team.

[Gill Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

Another gripping crime thriller by Pauline Rowson.
This well written book is equally as good as the previous three in this series

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

(2009) It would seem that DI Andy Horton and his team have several separate cases to deal with - celebrity death threatens, assault on an elderly home resident and a dead diver. Then he is asked to look again into the death of a home care nurse.
An entertaining modern mystery

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

DEAD MAN’S WHARF is the fourth book in Pauline Rowson’s Marine series with Detective Inspector Andy Horton and Sergeant Barney Cantelli. Horton and Cantelli are called to investigate threats made to one of the presenters on Wrecks Around Britain, a program which seems destined to never run out of material. Perry Jackson and Nicholas Farnsworth have a respectable number of viewers for their program although Horton has never watched it. Now Jackson is claiming that an anonymous caller is leaving messages telling him “to watch” his back and “you’ll pay for what you have done.” Both men claim to have no idea to what the caller if referring; Horton is convinced it is a publicity stunt.

They are then called to a nursing home which specializes in treating patients with dementia. One woman claims that she was attacked by an intruder. Horton initially writes the incident off as the product of a confused mind until he learns that the woman’s roommate has died. Irene Ebury’s property is missing from the storeroom and her son, Peter, serving a prison sentence for armed robbery, is found dead in his cell. That is too much coincidence to be accepted as anything but real and Horton has another reason to want to know what happened to Irene Ebury. She had been a friend of Horton’s mother, the mother who disappeared when he was a child and left him in the care of the state.

When Daniel Collins is found dead after he drives his car off the wharf and into Portsmouth Harbor, his parents refuse to accept that he was drunk. Daniel was not a drinker yet there was enough alcohol in his system to suggest that he was impaired on Christmas Eve. His parents know absolutely that Daniel was killed, forced off the road, for a reason they can’t imagine. Horton isn’t convinced but the parents are so sure their son is a victim of someone’s malice that Horton agrees to investigate.

To further complicate his life, Horton has been handed the work of a detective chief inspector without the promotion or the pay increase. He has, however, been given Detective Constable Harriet Lee to help with his new case load. Horton does not doubt for an instant that she is a spy for the upper levels of the department. Question is why does someone think he needs a watcher?

Despite all the various strands that Horton has to hold, the stories hold together well and Horton and Cantelli are interesting characters to meet. Although it is the fourth book in the series, it is the first that I have read. I intend to remedy that.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nursing home with employees conducting illegal activities; three men killed that were all involved in deep-sea diving and treasure hunting; Horton still having problems getting visitation rights with his daughter; Hortons long time partner on the police force goes missing. All of these occurrences are connected and resolved!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining read, and just enough character detail to keep you interested without overloading you with useless info. And once again, interesting to read something based in another country.