Author Anthony Horowitz is called upon by ex detective Hawthorne to write a true crime book about the case of a woman who was murdered hours after arranging her own funeral.
The Word is Murder is the first book in the Hawthorne and Horowitz murder mystery and detective series.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the premise of this book, that the author has written about himself as a fictional character. The book is written in the first person and Horowitz’s voice shines through, especially with the audio narration (even though he doesn’t do it himself).
In contrast with the warm and wit of Horowitz, Hawthorne is dreadful! He is homophobic, misogynistic and racist, with the social graces of a neanderthal. But his detecting skills are brilliant and truly a redeeming feature. Both main characters are vividly captured in the pages of this book and I was immersed in their lives.
The case that Hawthorne wants help with is the death of a woman who organised her own funeral just hours before being found strangled. Did she know she was about to be murdered? The plot is entertaining and kept me guessing as the detecting duo get to work on analysing the clues, motives and suspects.
The Word is Murder is so cleverly and authentically written and I can’t wait to read (or listen to) the rest of the series.
Book blurb
One bright spring morning in London, Diana Cowper – the wealthy mother of a famous actor – enters a funeral parlor. She is there to plan her own service.
Six hours later she is found dead, strangled with a curtain cord in her own home.
Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric investigator who’s as quick with an insult as he is to crack a case. Hawthorne needs a ghost writer to document his life; a Watson to his Holmes. He chooses Anthony Horowitz.
Drawn in against his will, Horowitz soon finds himself a the center of a story he cannot control. Hawthorne is brusque, temperamental and annoying but even so his latest case with its many twists and turns proves irresistible. The writer and the detective form an unusual partnership. At the same time, it soon becomes clear that Hawthorne is hiding some dark secrets of his own.
A masterful and tricky mystery that springs many surprises, The Word is Murder is Anthony Horowitz at his very best.
