This is the second book to feature Anthony Horowitz himself as the narrator, drawn into a murder investigation by the mysterious ex-police detective Hawthorne. As in the previous book, The Word is Murder, the brilliance of the concept is that real lives and locations are blended with fictional situations (or at least, I assume they’re fictional).
I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first one. I think it’s probably because the novelty of the concept wasn’t fresh this time around and also I’m not usually a fan of this genre. I’m sure it’s just as well-written though and it did keep me guessing. There were some hilarious digs at the publishing industry. Hawthorne is proving to be a very interesting character and he attempts to conceal his own past from Horowitz, who is intrigued as of course he is writing a book about the case.
I would recommend reading The Word is Murder before this one, but it’s not essential. I can’t think of anything else to say about this book, as it’s the same kind of thing as before. I’m likely to read the next one, but probably wouldn’t go beyond that, if there are any more planned for the series.
First published in 2018.
Fab review! I enjoyed this one but haven’t read the first one yet! 😂
Thanks! 🙂 I think the first one is better, but only from my perspective of having read it first! I hope you like The Word is Murder anyway 😉
This sounds interesting. I like Anthony Horowitz writing since reading some of the Alex Rider books. But I don’t think I’ve read a fiction book where the author puts himself into the book, sounds interesting. 🙂
I think you’ll like it 🙂 He’s written several books for adults now but most of his work is still YA 🙂