**A Guardian ’Best Thriller of the Year!’**
The New York Times bestselling author of Magpie Murders and Moriarty brilliantly reinvents the classic crime novel once again with this clever and inventive mystery starring a fictional version of the author himself as the Watson to a modern-day Holmes, investigating a case involving buried secrets, murder, and a trail of bloody clues.
A woman crosses … and a trail of bloody clues.
A woman crosses a London street.
It is just after 11am on a bright spring morning, and she is going into a funeral parlor to plan her own service.
Six hours later the woman is dead, strangled with a crimson curtain cord in her own home.
Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric man as quick with an insult as he is to crack a case. And Hawthorne has a partner, the celebrated novelist Anthony Horowitz, curious about the case and looking for new material.
As brusque, impatient, and annoying as Hawthorne can be, Horowitz—a seasoned hand when it comes to crime stories—suspects the detective may be on to something, and is irresistibly drawn into the mystery. But as the case unfolds, Horowitz realizes he’s at the center of a story he can’t control . . . and that his brilliant partner may be hiding dark and mysterious secrets of his own.
A masterful and tricky mystery which plays games at many levels, The Word Is Murder is Anthony Horowitz at his very best.
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I listened to the audio book. It was great! Great plot, interesting characters. Did not see the ending coming at all. Very entertaining.
Great story line, even though he tells us that the first chapter gives away who did it, I still didn’t guess until the end! I love being held in suspense!.
The characters seemed real, except the mother was a bit under developed. I thought the reveal was great and wish the end had just a bit more.
I’ll be looking for more by Anthony Horowitz!
A new series with engrossing characters, including the writer himself, which is a fun twist. Readers get a little insight into the writing life, as Horowitz describes his life and his days. The alternate character, Hawthorne, is a hoot, unappealing, mysterious, yet smart as a whip and there when you need him. I enjoyed this mystery and the red herrings and the suspense right up until the end.
Fantastic! Couldn’t put it down
Such a cool mystery story.
My second book by this author and another clever twist, having the author insert himself into the story as a Watson to the main detectives Sherlock. Brilliant.
It was difficult to get past Horwitz establishing himself as the protagonist and then bragging on for chapters about his own career before finally launching into the actual mystery. My gosh the first few chapter were Foyle’s War this and that, all the other BBC scripts he’s written, his meeting with Spielberg, his successful YA series, etc. etc. I’ve admired the man’s accomplishments for years, but would hope he’d be secure enough in his own success to leave it out of his bloody mystery!
Fun who-done-it with lots of twists. You have to pay attention throughout.
Classic who done it
I love how Anthony Horowitz’s brain works. His books are incredibly original.
I picked this up for bookclub, not knowing what to expect but captured by the premise: a woman arranges her funeral and 6 hours later is murdered. This isn’t pacey, but it is rivetting and filled with great characters and a main character who narrates the tale is both petulant, intelligent and wryly witty. I also sprang the extra couple of dollars for the audio versio. Well worth it.
I love this guy’s books but this one…meh! Couldn’t finish it.
Could not put down! The twists and turns are great and the characters very realistic. A must read for all mystery fans!
I loved this book. Laughed over the relationship between Horowitz and Hawthorne. Fascinatied how Hawthorne solved the crime; such an interesting character.
Very entertaining, keeps you guessing.
The structure of this book is unusual–a sort of book within a book. Horowitz is a writer for PBS mysteries, which I love, so I thought I would give The Word Is Murder a shot. The main character is the author as series writer, but the “Word” is fictional based on a real news story. Confused yet? I hope not. This is really a very good book, and this is how it starts: A woman walks into a funeral parlor….and is dead six hours later, found strangled in her posh digs. With that opener, naturally, I couldn’t put it down. Horowitz then takes us through an interesting journey to find the killer. He follows an eccentric detective around on the premise he is going to write a book about the detective and his quest to find the killer. The characters weave in and out of this drama, and they keep the reader guessing–which one is it? There is rather a surprise at the end, and Horowitz gets out of it all with his wits about him. I read most of this standing in a swimming pool, the sun roasting my back, but I couldn’t put the book down. It would get wet, and I wouldn’t know who dunnit.
I loved the book within a book aspect of The Word is Murder. Kept me turning the pages throughout this book. After the mystery ended, there was still another ending. Excellent.
A wonderfully written mystery from a very different point of view.
Original handling and perspective of a murder mystery
Best mystery in years with fresh perspective!