A former Customs and Police Officer, Andrew Hill’s first book in a crime series set in the New Forest, where he lived for 30 years, will be published in Spring 2022. An avid reader across the crime genre and regular at crime writing festivals, he now lives in West Sussex and works in property.
Nick Sullivan and his boss Tim Wellerby are cruising when they come across another vessel sitting dead in the water, so they go alongside to offer assistance, and so begins this intriguing nautical thriller.
The old boat’s crew comprises a disparate trio who seem to know little or nothing about sailing, but curiously have packed sophisticated top-of-the-range scuba equipment.
Leaving Tim aboard the stricken vessel, Nick goes back on-board his cruiser for some tools. As he emerges from the cockpit he watches in horror as one of the men cuts Tim’s throat and throws him into the sea. Nick makes a very swift decision, quickly leaping into the sea (with a lifebelt) to escape an otherwise certain death.
After being rescued by fishermen, Nick reports the murder to the Police but that’s when his troubles take an even more perplexing turn. It transpires that his boss (the late Tim Wellerbey) was having an affair with Nick’s pregnant wife.
It transpires that Tim was about to fire Nick from his high-flying city job. There’s no sign of the broken down vessel, or the three men. Nick’s motor cruiser has been found moored up in a marina and unsurprisingly the Police seem convinced that Nick is Tim’s killer (as he has a clear motive).
Nick’s best friend Ed (a Police sergeant based in Sussex), advises him to turn himself in; but Nick decides that trying to find the men and clear his name is his only realistic option. Ed’s sister Annelies offers to help Nick and we’re taken on a whirlwind tour of the English counties of Sussex, Hampshire, London and Kent as Nick and Annelies do their best to track down the three mysterious men; while all the time being pursued themselves by the forces of law and order.
Throw in the kidnapping of an M.P.s wife, weapons grade plutonium dirty bombs and sixty million Sterling in diamonds and you have a pacey, yet intimate tale with a protagonist relying on instincts and mettle, rather than an array of technology and gadgets.
Nick Sullivan is a welcome addition to the reluctant action hero pantheon.
