The apparent suicide on the ferry to Guernsey of a Portsmouth woman and the murder of a tramp whose body is found under a rotting houseboat start off this book, another novel in the DI Andy Horton series.

Ms Rowson paints highly probable characters in her book and the plot flows well. Unfortunately, this is not a standalone and too many times we were treated to references to Horton’s mother and his childhood which, for me, had nothing to do with the story and added nothing to it.

In addition, there were long passages of continuous questions regarding the various cases in the novel, which I found a little tedious. Hence the tag line. One other point that slightly irked me was the use of ‘comprised of’ and comprising of’. Whilst this formation may not necessarily be grammatically incorrect, whenever I read it, it jars slightly.

However, the overall story is sound, and living in the south, it was pleasant reading about Portsmouth and its environs.

Sméagol

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

An interesting premise – but really not worth the effort.

I’ve read many previous reviews of books, wherein it has been said that “while this book is part of an existing series, this does not detract from the storyline, and it can be read on its own”

Sadly, this was not the case in this book. There was far too much referencing the main protagonists previous personal life, with multiple names, relationships, and locations, that I almost gave up on the book entirely.

And while I appreciate that the book has some connection to the sailing fraternity, why oh why is it necessary to state that everybody seem to have a waterproof/or sailing jacket, even the pathologist.?

3 Stars

It’s a busy evening in Portsmouth. A woman is found dead on a ferry, possibly a suicide. A very clean vagrant is found near a houseboat dead of a gunshot wound. Several antique guns are stolen from a home while the owners are away.

As Horton, Cantelli and the rest of the team investigate these three cases, they follow clues, interview possible suspects and family members. The way the story tied in together and the name of the murderer turned out to be a surprise.

Some of the typos in the book are pretty irritating: “That really stuck in your father’s claw…” Oh really? I would have thought that this far into the series, the book would have a better editor.

Due to the number of typos, I gave the writing in the book a “C.” It was okay, but not a book I would stay up at night to read.

I want to thank Netgalley and Severn House/Severn House Publishers for forwarding me a copy of this book to read.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Severn House Publishers for an advance copy of Lethal Waves, the thirteenth novel to feature DI Andy Horton of Portsmouth CID.

Andy has taken some leave to go to Guernsey in pursuit of more information about his mother's death years ago. He doesn't get much information and he is asked by his friend in the Guernsey police to look at the suspicious death of a Portsmouth woman, Evelyn Lyster, on the ferry. On his return to Portsmouth he is called out to another dead body, a well tended tramp has been shot but with no identification no one knows who he is.

I am new to this series and while it mostly works as a standalone I feel I would have benefited from more of the back story on Andy's mother as much of it meant nothing to me. The main plot, the modern day murders, is absorbing and intricately plotted. It has a linear narrative with each piece of information leading to another and revised hypotheses. It is clever in the way it slots together but I must admit that my eyes began to glaze and I started skim reading the endless speculation towards the end of the novel as it is fairly pointless and adds little to the plot.

I like Andy Horton as, apart from his apparent need to fit what he knows into a dodgy theory, he is smart, dedicated and fairly normal. He obviously thinks long and hard about his investigations and brings a practicality to them which seems to elude his colleagues. I also like the writing style which draws you in and holds your attention and is particularly good in its descriptions of the sea where I could feel the cold and wet.

Lethal Waves is a good read with a clever plot but it sags a bit in the middle with the pointless speculation.

DI Andy Horton and John Guilbert of the Guersney Police are investigating the death of a woman found in a cabin ferry from Portsmouth to Guernsey. The death is not suspicious so the two soon get back to work. When Horton gets back to Portsmouth he’s called to the murder scene of a vagrant, whose body was found lying underneath an old houseboat in a marina not far from where Hortons on boat is kept. Is there a connection between these two cases? Horton and Gilbert will have to use their powers of deduction to find out