Andy Horton

When the head teacher of a struggling school is found brutally murdered in Langstone Harbour, DI Andy Horton is appointed to lead the investigation.

Andy Horton is called to investigate a suspicious fire on board a boat, but as soon as he arrives at the marina he experiences a premonition so strong it's almost audible. As he views the charred remains of a dead man he knows instinctively that this investigation will be like no other. Soon Horton is forced to confront and not just the victim's past, but also the mystery surrounding his mother's disappearance over 30 years ago.

Horton and Cantelli are called to a nursing home where an elderly resident claims she’s been attacked by an intruder. Horton is ready to dismiss it as senile rambling until he 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, to his surprise, Horton finds he is caught up in a complex investigation that has far-reaching international implications.

Inspector Andy Horton’s holiday peace is shattered when, stepping out across an abandoned golf course, he finds himself facing a distraught young woman with a gun in her hand, leaning over a corpse in one of the discarded bunkers. When she professes to be the dead man’s sister, and psychic, Horton’s old adversary, DCI Birch, is convinced she is a mentally disturbed killer. But Horton is not so sure.

Friday the thirteenth begins badly for DI Andy Horton when he wakes to find his Harley has been vandalized and his boss, DCI Lorraine Bliss, has returned early from her secondment to HQ. Then, convicted murderer Luke Felton, released on licence, is repotred missing and a decomposed corpse is washed up in Portsmouth harbour. But before Horton can get a grip on either case, he’s called to a house where a woman he’d only met the day before has been brutally murdered. Is missing Luke Felton the prime suspect, or is it his body in the mud of the harbour?

When a body is found floating in the sea off Portsmouth harbour, Detective Inspector Horton initially judges it to be an accidental death. Soon though he discovers he’s got it very wrong. Accused of being incompetent by his boss, and with the head of the Major Crime Team coming down heavily on him, Horton wonders if he’s allowed his on-going investigation into the disappearance of his mother to cloud his judgement.

When ex-con Daryl Woodley is found dead on the marshes bordering Langstone Harbour, the Intelligence Directorate believe his murder is linked to big-time crook Marty Stapleton, currently serving time in prison. Detective Inspector Horton is not so sure, and is thrown into a complex and frustrating investigation when a body is found on a rotting boat being salvaged in Portsmouth Harbour.

When naval historian Dr Douglas Spalding is found dead in Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard, the Major Crime Team is adamant it is suicide. Detective Inspector Horton is not so sure. Then another body is found in similar circumstances, and Horton is convinced they're looking at murder. Angry and frustrated at the lack of investigation, Horton goes out on a limb to prove he's right.

A telephone call from a frantic Sergeant Cantelli to say that his nephew, Johnnie Oslow, is missing cuts short Detective Inspector Horton's sailing trip. Summoned back to the Isle of Wight, Horton learns that Johnnie has not shown up for racing during Cowes Week. The investigation is ranked low priority by Horton's boss, Detective Chief Inspector Lorraine Bliss. But events take a very different turn when the charred remains of a body are discovered in one of the disused tunnels at the Hilsea Lines in Portsmouth.

DI Horton of Portsmouth CID is assigned the case of a missing person: Jasper Kenton, a private investigator. Kenton’s partner seems reluctant to help them, and Horton concludes that she is probably relieved to be rid of him. He instructs Sergeant Cantelli and DC Walters to put out the usual alerts, believing Kenton has probably run off with another woman. But when Kenton’s car turns up, and a shocking discovery is made, things turn serious.