Death Surge (A DI Andy Horton Mystery)
DI Andy Horton is set to sail to France to take his mind off his chaotic personal life when his partner, Sergeant Barney Cantelli, phones with the news that Johnnie Oslow, Barney’s nephew, has disappeared. Scheduled to meet a sailing team to prepare for the famous Cowes race, Johnnie failed to show up. Although Horton’s much disliked boss, DCI Lorraine Bliss, downplays the disappearance, Horton’s instincts tell him Johnnie could be in danger. When a burned body is found near an old sea fort, Andy and Barney are guiltily relieved it’s not Johnnie but horrified to find the body is that of an old friend of Johnnie’s. When two more of Johnnie’s friends are murdered and two detectives from Europol show up, Andy realizes the case is more than a simple disappearance. A crisply written, cleverly plotted procedural with a nice twist, Rowson’s latest also continues the intriguing saga of Andy’s search for the mother who disappeared in mysterious circumstances when he was a child. --Emily Melton