One strand of this novel, as always in this series, is the continuing story of Detective Inspector Andy Horton's life, and his ongoing search for the truth about his mother Jennifer, who vanished when he was 10 years old. In each novel he collects more clues to what happened to her, but can't quite get there.

The other strand of the novel, as always, is the current case, a local event, a murder, a disappearance, a mystery. This time the nephew of Horton's sergeant, Barney Cantelli, has gone missing at the beginning of Cowes Week. It seems he may have disappeared en route from London to Cowes. Johnnie Oslow, an experienced sailor, has been missing for 3 days.

I haven't read all of this series but I have enjoyed those I have. Rowson does a good job with all aspects of the novels: the plots are engaging, the setting feels authentic, and character development is excellent ( )