Fatal Catch

It is a couple of weeks before Christmas and DI Andy Horton has been called down to the quay where a couple of fishermen have caught a plastic container with a severed hand inside.

The following day, the hand is identified through fingerprints to having belonged to a petty criminal.  Meanwhile the team is also on the lookout for a criminal who had failed to turn up for his court appearance.  Are the two cases connected?  And why has one of the fishermen gone missing?

Back at the office, Horton is informed that the victim was an informer, and the National Crime Agency is taking over the case.  Horton and his team can't believe the victim was an informer.

The next morning Horton is informed that the body of one of the fishermen has been found on his boat.  He appears to have died of natural causes.  While following up on the activities of the victim, Horton finds out about a death, which had happened in the area.  It seemed like a tragic accident, but pathologist, Gaye Clayton, does a post-mortem, which shows that the man had been murdered.  Is there a connection to the original victim?

The National Crime Agency team figures that they have the crimes all sewn up, but Horton doesn't accept it, despite being told to back off.

Author Pauline Rowson's murder mystery is fast paced and a great read.  It is hard to put down, and I'm hoping for a sequel.