Anthony Horowitz has written over 50 books and 22 scripts for Foyle’s War. I’m a fan of Horowitz’s Young Adult spy novel series featuring teenager Alex Rider. I’ve had The Word is Murder on my shelves since 2017 and I finally got around to reading it.
Early in the book, Horowitz (who makes himself the narrator) mentions he just wrote a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, The House of Silk. This is a hint that the lead character in The Word is Murder–a crusty, cantankerous ex-police detective named Daniel Hawthorne–is really Sherlock Holmes in disguise. Hawthorne rubs everyone the wrong way, but he has Holmes-level observation skills and a canny sense of detection.
The Word is Murder starts out with a wealthy woman–Diana Cowper–who plans her own funeral in London and is found strangled in her home just six hours later. Acting as Watson to Hawthorne’s Holmes, Horowitz follows Hawthorne around the crime scenes with the intention to write up the murder as a True Crime book while Hawthorne pursues clues as a Police Consultant.
The Word is Murder is perfect Summer Reading. The plot is clever with plenty of twists. Horowitz and Hawthorne clash throughout the novel, but it takes both of them to solve this crime. I can’t wait to read the other mysteries in this series! GRADE: A
Hawthorne and Horowitz Mysteries:
1 The Word is Murder (2017)
2 The Sentence is Death (2018)
3 A Line to Kill (2021)
4 The Twist of a Knife (2022)
5 Close to Death (2024)
6 A Deadly Episode (2026)
I see they autocorrected Foyle’s War to Foley’s. That series remains my favorite of his work so far, a brilliant show we’ve watched start to finish twice (so far). This sounds more interesting than Alex Rider, which just didn’t grab me, particularly the TV series.
Jeff, WORDPRESS changes my words every day! Gggggah! Rick Robinson was a big fan of Foyle’s War.
I’m sad to say I’ve never read him, but my reading is almost non existent these days.
We’re going to see the new killer tomatoes movie tonight. They filmed the first one here in San Diego. Not sure where the new one was filmed.
Maggie, I try to read a book a day.
I haven’t read any of his mysteries. His James Bond novels, authorized by the rights holders, were readable but as pastiches, not as good as Kingsley Amis’ one-and-done or John Gardner’s better installments.
Fred, I haven’t read any of Horowitz’s James Bond pastiches, but I have read a lot of his mysteries. All recommended!
I enjoyed Foyle’s War long ago, but I wasn’t aware of who wrote it!
Bob, Horowitz has written scripts for a number of British TV series as well as dozens of mysteries. I don’t know when he sleeps…
I was told about Anthony Horowitz by a perfect stranger one day at a cafe. I say “perfect” because she introduced me to the perfect books for my state of mind. I found the Horowitz books to be delightfully readable but involving some mental activity to anticipate or maybe even solve the plot. I began with the Susan Ryeland series, then the Hawthorne and Horowitz books, then the Sherlock Holmes books. He needs to write more.
Ann, with over 50 books and dozens of TV scripts, I don’t know when Horowitz sleeps! I’ll be reading the rest of the Hawthorne series. That perfect stranger did you a Big Favor by introducing you to Horowitz!