Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this offering from Pauline Rowson. As other reviewers have written this is set in and around the Portsmouth area and although a standalone novel it provides and excellent introduction into a compelling series of adventures, making me want to go and start at the beginning now.

I would highly recommend to family and friends. I love author’s that can describe a scene and you are immediately there, you close your eyes and you picture the scene. This author does that for me.

The South Binness Murders by Pauline Rowson is based in my Home town Portsmouth. This book was so good I read it in one sitting and enjoyed reading about where I grew up and played which was a joy to read about.

When an abandoned motor cruiser is found stranded on South Binness Island in Langstone harbour in Portsmouth.

There’s a large pool of blood on the deck and heavy crimson spatter up the side of the storage lockers. But no sign of a body on board.

Detective Inspector Andy Horton is on the case. He discovers the boat owner’s identity as Neil Spender, a Portsmouth bin man. But he’s nowhere to be found.

It’s not long before Horton’s pulled into another investigation involving an unusual robbery at a local art gallery. Three paintings have been switched for forgeries.

A gallery owner is adamant the originals have been stolen. But there’s no evidence of a break-in.

Will Detective Inspector Andy Horton catch this killer before they kill again and will he find the person who broke into a local art gallery and stole three painting?

I highly recommend all of Pauline's books they have all been an excellent read.

I have a little confession to make- yes yet another one. Although I have several of Pauline’s books in my ever increasing ‘to be read’ mountain, I haven’t actually read one………………until now that is. When I was invited to take part in the blog tour for ‘The South Binness Murders’, I knew that I wouldn’t get a better opportunity to acquaint myself with Pauline’s work and at the same time make a dent in that’ to be read’ mountain. Having just finished reading ‘The South Binness Murders’ and enjoyed it as much as I did, I am rather annoyed at myself for leaving it this long to discover how good Pauline’s books. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The South Binness Murders’ but more about that in a bit.

By the time I got to the end of the first few pages, I knew that I was in for a treat and that I would become addicted to the story. I was right on both counts. I couldn’t get enough of the story and of the characters. I developed my own theories as to what was going to happen and which direction the story was going to take so of course I had to keep reading to see if I was on the right track of if I had wandered off int he opposite direction. The more of the book that I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn. I would become so wrapped up in the story and int he lives of the characters that I would lose all track of time and just how quickly I was getting through the story. All too quickly I reached the end of ‘The South Binness Murders’ and I had to say goodbye to Horton and his team. I found ‘The South Binness Murders’ to be a gripping and at times tense read, which certainly kept me guessing and which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

‘The South Binness Murders’ is well written. The author certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into what proves to be one hell of a read and then some. For me, the story hit the ground running and maintained a fairly steady pace throughout. Reading ‘The South Binness Murders’ felt a bit like being on a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way. I love the way in which the author makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The South Binness Murders’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading much more of Pauline’s work in the future. The score ont he Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Some Curious Cases…
The sixteenth in the Solent Murder Mystery series finds DI Andy Horton on the curious case of an abandoned boat and an odd art gallery robbery. Another enjoyable instalment with a well crafted cast of characters, a firm sense of place and an intriguing plot.

A missing man and a drifting bloodstained boat that might or might not have been the scene of a murder. Forgery and possible robbery involving valuable paintings. As CID’s DI Andy Horton and DS Barney Cantelli investigate, they discover many confusing and conflicting facts about the boat’s owner, a binman from Portsmouth, and no evidence of any break in at the art gallery, leading them to wonder if it was an inside job. But then a key suspect disappears. Both are baffling cases with very little in the way of clues as the detectives have to painstakingly follow up all their possible leads whilst having DCI Bliss, currently overseeing Major Crimes Team whilst Supt Uckfield is on sick leave, on their backs to get quick results.
The start is a little slow and initially I struggled to get into the story but soon found a good solid police procedural with great well drawn characters. Coming in at book sixteen in the series, with so much back history to the main players, I think I would have benefitted from reading the rest first, however it still worked fine as a stand-alone and presented an intriguing story with a clever plot and very likeable detectives.

It's the first I read in this long series and found it gripping and entertaining. the mystory is solid and the characters are fleshed.
I assumed I missed something as there's a lot of books before.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This was an engaging mystery that was filled with surprises. Detective Inspector Andy Horton of the Portsmouth police is on the hunt for the killer of a man who's missing from his blood soaked yacht in the harbor. What Horton finds is more stunning disappearances of people who were associated with the said missing man. Forged paintings turn out to be part of the equation, also. I highly recommend this book to other police procedural readers. I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley, and the opinion expressed is strictly my own.

Pooled blood on a motor cruiser, no one aboard … where did the owner, Neil, go? Is it foul play? A pretty pricey boat for a garbage collector.
Detective Inspector Andy gets a call from a friend about a mysterious art swap at a gallery.
Working the cases side by side – brings some unexpected results.
Great book! Will have to go back and read some of the others in the series.

A gripping police procedural. This is the 16th entry in the Solent Murder Mystery series and though I had not read previous books in the series, it wasn’t difficult to get a sense of the background of the main character, DI Andy Horton. There are two crimes under investigation in this book, and Andy needs to discover if they are related.

Although this was my first read of a Rowson mystery and even though it is obviously deep into a series, I had no problems following the plots or getting into the characters. If anything, I am encouraged to know that I can start from the beginning and every several books to catch up on. Horton is a complex character, with an obviously complicated past, but he manages to concentrate on the mystery as presented and follow it through.

A character new to me and, perhaps, I would have got more from reading previous books in the series. However, it is ok as a standalone especially as I'm afraid that he is yet another 'separated from wife and daughter, living alone (on a boat for a change, loner' and all the rest which is getting rather predictable; I'm not engaged enough to want to know the details. Nonetheless he has two cases - an abandoned boat with a lot of blood and an apparent art theft replacing genuine art with good fakes. Neither is as it seems naturally. It's twisty, there are a lot of characters that merge in my mine making it difficult to keep their stories separate. Might be my frame of mind of course. This is actually helped by something I normally dislike - repetitions of the detective's thought processes as he moves through the cases. Rather plodding along and I really didn't get excited about either case although the boat with blood appealed more probably because of the good descriptions of Langstone Harbour and surrounding area. 3.5* rounded up to four because the writing was good, the story just didn't really grab me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of The South Binness Murders, the sixteenth novel to feature DI Andy Horton of Hampshire Police.

An abandoned boat is found drifting off South Binness Island and it is the blood spatter that gets Horton and his team involved. They establish that the boat belonged to binman Neil Spender and he’s missing. At the same time they get called to an art gallery where two original and valuable paintings have been replaced by fakes. With no obvious signs of a break in Horton now has two puzzles on his hands.

I enjoyed The South Binness Murders, which is a fairly straightforward police procedural with a rather convoluted solution. It offers enough questions to hold the reader’s attention and keep turning the pages.

The novel is told entirely from Horton’s point of view, so the reader knows what he knows, not that it helped me overly much in trying to guess the outcome. I had no idea of who had done what or why, but it certainly kept me occupied, trying to guess. The novel moves along at a steady pace with enough reveals and developments to keep it interesting until a rather unusual denouement on a boat of course, because that’s Horton’s thing. This explanation of events is not rocket science but I had a hard time, even by then, sorting through who did what. The why stretched my credulity.

I haven’t read many novels in this series, but I like the way this one is written with its emphasis on plot rather than characters, although I also liked the little bit of characterisation there is as the commentary on others and the dialogue made me laugh.

The South Binness Murders is a good read that I can recommend.

One of a series by Pauline Rowson featuring Detective Inspector Andy Horton investigating a yacht belonging to Neil Spender who is found to be missing. Blood is discovered on board. Another investigation at the same time concerns art fraud and keeps Andy and his team busy.

The 16th book in this entertaining series featuring DI Horton and based around Portsmouth. The plot involves a disappearance and possible death of a local refuse collector and that of a mysterious art fraud.
As the story develops it becomes obvious that the two crimes are linked.
An enjoyable read with likeable characters. I have previously read a few of the earlier books featuring D I Horton so it was interesting to revisit the series.
In the first half of the book, the plot had lots of potential and kept me guessing. As the book progressed I felt that it lost some momentum. The resolution came suddenly (everything just clicks into place!) and was rather disappointing.
Overall, a fairly quick entertaining read with good characters.

Good book! This book had suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery, and a bit of a who done it and some great police work! I did enjoy reading this book! It was a great mystery! I will definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. This is part of a series of books and I haven't read any of the others but that doesn't spoil the enjoyment of the book. I will be reading more by this author in the future.

Set in gorgeously atmospheric Isle of Wight, The South Binness Murders is a gripping and smart crime novel, sixteenth in the Solent Murder Mystery series. Two mysteries are simultaneously occurring; the first a boat is found where it shouldn't be containing what it shouldn't...lots and lots of blood but no body. The second is the discovery of art switching and forgery. Author Pauline Rowson beautifully links them and writes her characters, some likeable, others not, all with a lot of personality.

DI Andy Horton of the Marine Police Unit appears unsinkable on the outside but inwardly he has troubles staying afloat with his family's surprising past, his ex-wife making dubious choices and not seeing his beloved little girl enough. Not to mention the stress of his job. Along with various forensics experts, DC Walters and DS Cantelli he investigates both incidents. Where is the missing body which lost too much blood? And where is the original artwork?

Art expert and gallery owner Felice Ellwood has a lot at stake. Not only is art at her gallery switched (forged?) but the art was painted by someone dear to her. The art is invaluable to the right people Anther and Linden are distraught. As Horton does what he does best, there are other issues simmering in the main characters as well in the background. The book details many fascinating forensics tidbits which I particularly liked.

Crime Mystery readers will find much to enjoy with The South Binness Murders as well as all others in the series. You needn't read the others first to appreciate this one but it definitely helps to know the characters and why they make the decisions they do.

My sincere thank you to Joffe Books and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this fascinating series, one which I will continue to happily read, knowing they will be good.

crime thriller, mystery, suspense, thriller, procedural, murder, murder investigation, suspense, law enforcement, divorced, art theft, missing persons, series, English Channel, unputdownable, art forgeries, *****

DI Andy Horton catches a complex complicated set of investigations for Robbery/Homicide and kept me reading compulsively to the end.
Great characters in a fantastic twisty plot
The backstory of Horton and his fellows is an enduring thread that keeps me hoping that there will be "just one more", please.
I requested and received a free EARC from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley. Thank you!

Upon returning from a secret assignment, DI Andy Horton of the Marine Police Unit is called to a stranded motor cruiser with no one on board but with plenty of blood. Then as he and his sergeants, Cantelli and Elkins start investigating, a new case comes up. Felice Ellwood, a gallery owner, has called Horton to look into stolen art work of her fathers that had been switched with forgeries, at another gallery. These two apparently different cases are starting to have some crossovers and the more Horton and his team investigate, the crimes become more intertwined.
An interesting crime thriller in this continuing series with familiar characters and an intriguing plot line.
Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for this e-galley of "The South Binness Murders".