Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz

July 21, 2025

Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz

After breaking up with her partner Andreas, editor Susan Ryeland returns to London to take up her career as a freelance editor. She is hired by a small publisher, and to her dismay, she is asked to edit the newest Atticus Pund mystery, a continuation of the late author's mystery series by a younger somewhat unstable writer. Susan hates the series but she needs the job, so she agrees to work with the author, hoping she isn't going to be putting her life in danger. Again.

The third and possibly the last book in this series. This one was long, over 500 pages, and some of the descriptions could have been eliminated or shortened. I clocked Elaine a lot sooner than Susan did. Or maybe I'm just suspicious by nature. It will help if you've read the two previous books before taking up this one, since there are references to characters and the solution to the mystery in the first book.

Crouch End, London, where a lot of the action in the novel takes place

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz

April 22, 2024

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz

Anthony receives a call from his agent, asking him to write another mystery about Daniel Hawthorne, to be ready for release in in time for the Christmas sales. The only problem is, Hawthorne doesn't have a current case that he is working on. Anthony's agent suggests to them that Anthony should write a book about one of Hawthorne's old cases that happened five years earlier. Even though Hawthorne agrees and chooses the case, he seem reluctant to have Anthony write the book, doling out his notes a bit at a time.

The fifth book in the Horowitz and Hawthorne series, with the usual complex plot. This was one of the less successful titles in the series. The plot is a locked-room type of mystery, with the victim and the killer both living in the same gated community. However, there are some holes in the methodology. Anthony complains that he is having a hard time writing the book since he doesn't know how it ends, which doesn't make sense since the case took place five years earlier. It was quite sensational and received loads of media coverage, so it seems he could have looked up the details online. He does an online search for and finds things like information about the obscure organization that employs Hawthorne as well as contact information on another of Hawthorne's cases with only the person's last name. I hope the next book is better.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Richmond, the setting of this mystery

The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz

November 30, 2023

The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz

Anthony Horowitz is having his first play produced in London's West End theatre district. It's a crime comedy (think Deathtrap) set in a psychiatric hospital. Although it has a good cast and did well outside of London, on opening night, the Times theatre critic pans the play. The next morning, she is stabbed to death at her home. The police arrest Anthony because his fingerprints were on the weapon, a souvenir dagger. After his detective friend Hawthorne bails him out of jail, they have 48 hours to figure out who killed the critic.

This is the fourth book in Horowitz's Hawthorne mystery series, in which the author himself is a character. This one has a definite Agatha Christie vibe: there are interviews with the suspects which reveal a surprising number of people who had a motive, seemingly irrelevant clues and information, and a final grand reveal at the end with all of the suspects gathered together. These are fun literary mysteries with Horowitz playing Watson to Hawthorne's Holmes. Recommended for readers who enjoy clever mysteries.

London's West End theatre district, where much of the action is set

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

December 6, 2022

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

Hawthorne and Horowitz return for another case, this time at a small literary festival on one of the Channel Islands. Horowitz is invited to be a guest speaker and Hawthorne decides to go along. But when one of the festival sponsors is found dead, Hawthorne is enlisted to assist the local police. As they investigate the conference attendees and the island residents, they discover a lot more than literary rivalries.

Horowitz appears as a character in his own mystery, playing Watson to Hawthorne's Holmes. Not a good as The Magpie Murders but still has some good twists. Like most mysteries, it's one of the less likely characters who done it. I find Hawthorne to be an unlikeable character, who has his own sense of justice (not sure if other readers feel the same way). I enjoyed listening to the audio version.

One of the Channel Islands

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

March 4, 2021

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Retired book editor Susan Ryeland is living on a Greek island with her boyfriend, helping him run a boutique hotel. She is not getting much job satisfaction out of her duties and is exhausted. When a wealthy couple comes to stay at the hotel, they tell her about a murder that occurred at the hotel where their daughter's wedding was held. The circumstances of the murder are eerily similar to the plot of a book by Alan Conway, the author of the Atticus Pund series and the subject of a previous mystery that Susan solved (in The Magpie Murders). They implore her to come back to England and investigate the crime.

It's a novel within a novel, a literary thriller. This is the second book in the Susan Ryeland series, and I loved the first book. Although the plot isn't as good as the first book, I was glad to read another Atticus Pund mystery - I hope there will be more.

The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

September 10, 2019

The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

Screenwriter Anthony Horowitz is once again approached by P. I. Daniel Hawthorne (both last seen in The Word is Murder) with a new case.  A wealthy and well-known divorce lawyer has been murdered by being hit over the head with an expensive bottle of bottle, and then stabbed with the bottle shards.  The number 182 is painted on the wall of the room where he was killed.  There are numerous suspects, all with secrets and good reasons to murder the lawyer, including the lawyer's husband, a couple of clients, and an old school friend.  Hawthorne wants writer Horowitz (who appears as a character in his own mystery) to once again be Watson to Hawthorne's Sherlock Holmes.

I loved Magpie Murders and was so disappointed that there weren’t really any Atticus Pund mysteries - Atticus Pund was a wonderful character.  While the Hawthorne mysteries are clever, they just aren't as good because P. I. Hawthorne is abrasive, racist, homophobic, and unlikeable.  Horowitz tries to make him sound mysterious but he’s not – he’s a secretive anti-social loner who treats other people with disdain.  There are a number of minor characters and side plots that really didn't add much to the mystery (the characters at the book club, Horowitz's agent, Lenny the informant, a couple of really brutal constables, etc.).  By the end of the book, even Horowitz is trying to break off his relationship with Hawthorne.

While this was an interesting mystery with a couple of good twists, I listened to the audio version and I disliked the reader – all of the characters except Hawthorne sound shrill and whiny.  I think I’ll stick to the print version for any future titles in the series.