Anthony Horowitz

She planned her own funeral. But did she arrange her own murder?

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 at 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 novel

The Word Is Murder (Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery #1)

Sajiya Chaudhary

I haven't read a book yet where the author himself appears as a character. Apart from the interesting characters, I loved how Horowitz dived deep into the producer, director, actors' world. Also now and then mentions of the known tv shows, books that he himself likes, made the reading experience more like a conversation. Pretty different from a regular murder mystery

Sonia Grgas

g.m.

garnet

Good murder mystery, like able nararrator.

Charlie Winchester 

Compelling and complex but ultimately slow and a little bit too self congratulatory for my taste.

Kate B-L

James Winduss

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! I’ve only read one of the authors other works (Magpie Murders) and I have to say this was far better in my opinion. The way the author wove himself into the tale was like nothing I’ve read before. The whodunnit was interesting, but I don’t believe I would have enjoyed the book as much if it weren’t for the way it was structured/written. A solid 4 stars and I’m looking forward to reading the next one at some stage.

This book was definitely an interesting and unique concept, introducing the author as a main character within the plot. It meant for me the main appeal of this book was in the narrative structure rather than the mystery itself, which felt secondary as I adjusted to this interesting method of storytelling. A really good story, but I felt it was missing a little something, perhaps needed a bit more drive behind it. But I enjoyed this unusual structure and felt very hooked!

Beth Bartholomew

SHE PLANNED HER OWN FUNERAL. BUT DID SHE ARRANGE HER OWN MURDER? New York Times bestselling author of Magpie Murders and Moriarty, Anthony Horowitz has yet again brilliantly reinvented the classic crime novel, this time writing a fictional version of himself as the Watson to a modern-day Holmes. 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.

A Novel

The Word Is Murder

Janna Niemi

A great book.
I love the unique perspective and how Horowitz has written himself into the book. It’s refreshing to read book from that perspective. 
The plot is great and I loved the mystery. I love how the title of the book is so in with the story. I really enjoyed that this book was not the typical murder mystery and there are some fresh points. 
I love the characters but especially the narrator. I love their voice, and the feeling they bring into the book. 
All in all, this is a marvelous murder mystery and I loved every word of it. 

*ARC received from publisher via Netgalley

Christin Sharp

Very, very enjoyable! I bought this book in July & started it, but it was hard to get into. THEN I started listening to the audio book & once I was invested enough I was able to continue reading the book. It wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read, but as I said before it was a very enjoyable book. My only complaints are that it was a little difficult to get into & that it low-key leaves you on a cliffhanger but not actually? Don’t like that. Other than that, it’s pretty great!

The bestselling mystery from the author of Magpie Murders - you've never read a crime novel quite like this

Sonja H

Anthony Horowitz habe ich über sein Buch „The House of Silk“, das er im Auftrag des „Arthur Conan Doyle Estate“ geschrieben hatte. Mir hatte diese „neue“ Sherlock-Holmes-Story ausgesprochen gut gefallen und mich neugierig auf diesen Autor gemacht.

Leider funktionierte „The Word is Murder“ für mich überhaupt nicht.

A) Ich wusste sofort, wer der Mörder war, es fehlten mir nur die Hintergründe
B) die Hauptfiguren sind unsäglich nervig

Hier hat sich Horowitz in guter, alter Sidekickmanier selbst ins Buch geschrieben, sozusagen als „Watson“ seines Protagonisten Hawthorne. Ich habe keine Ahnung, wie er auf die Idee kam, dass das der Geschichte einen gewissen Pfiff verpassen könne – es nervt ungemein, wenn er alle paar Seiten von seinen vorherigen Büchern erzählt und jammert, dass das neue Buch „seins“ ist und er sich nicht von Hawthorne in seine Kreativität hineinreden lassen werde. ich wollte ihm mehrfach zurufen „ist ja gut, wir haben das kapiert!“
Dennoch klebt er als Figur an seinem ach-so-klugen Detektiv, hängt an seinem Rockzipfel und hofft, selbst das Rätsel lösen zu können.

Auch Hawthorne mit seiner distanzierten, überheblichen Art ging mir ungeheuer auf den Keks. Natürlich wusste er alles schon viel früher, aber wir als Leser werden komplett im Dunkeln gelassen und sehen keine Zusammenhänge, so sehr wir uns auch bemühen. Doch Hawthorne steht weit über uns und belächelt uns milde…

Tut mir leid, aber das Buch hat mich von Anfang bis Ende einfach nur genervt. Ich wollte lediglich wissen, wie er die Fäden zusammenführt und habe es deswegen bis zum bitteren Schluss gelesen.

Eine Leseempfehlung kann ich nicht wirklich aussprechen.

Cindy Lieberman

Anthony Horowitz, the writer/creator of Foyle’s War and the author of more than 20 children’s books, is goaded at a literary festival into taking on something less fanciful. A short while later, a gruff former-detective and police consultant, Daniel Hawthorne, convinces Horowitz to write about how Hawthorne solves a murder. And there happens to be a nice new one:

“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.” (from the publisher)

The somewhat (how much?) fictionalized Mr Horowitz “writes what he knows,” including referencing his own work on the set of Foyle’s War, what it’s like to get notes from the studio execs (and Steven Spielberg), and meetings with his literary agent. Amongst all that, he’s following Hawthorne around to the crime scene, to interview suspects and witnesses, all the while told to stop interrupting. But Horowitz is not the type to tamp down his natural curiosity and need to prove his own intellect. After all, he recently published a Sherlock Holmes-esq novel, The House of Silk. So he also becomes invested in solving the murder. 

If you enjoy a little Hollywood behind-the-scenes and name-dropping, the interior monologues of writers, and detectives reading clues to unravel mysteries, this is a book for you!

Caitlyn Whitt

This book really had me scratching my head in the beginning. I could NOT figure out who’s voice I was reading and at one point thought I had picked up and autobiography- which is not my usual style. I eventually realized that it was written from the perspective of Anthony Horowitz (the author), but was not a true story, just to give you some background. 

The story was a little slow but the end was good! It’s not my usual style of book, but I love crime TV shows and I felt like I was reading an episode of one. It was fun to try to be the detective along with the characters.

Amy Maddess

I don’t think mystery is my thing. I read the whole thing because the audiobook had a great narrator.

Not sure if I liked it but I couldn't put it down because it was well written.

Brittany Harper

2.5 stars. This was fine, not great though. I mostly kept reading because I wanted to find out who did it. The main issue I had was the narrator's perspective, it was very hard to fully grasp how the story was being told. It is a fiction story (I'm pretty sure), told from the perspective of the author. And he uses real life examples of his work and his life, so I had such a hard time figuring out what was real. It really muddled the story/plot for me because I was so focused on the author.

Jordan Robinson

Katrina White

Anthony Horowitz is becoming an auto read/buy for me

Justine Rose

*3.25/3.5 
The self inserted author bit felt quite jarring throughout the novel, especially with all the name dropping and whatnot, but I did like the reasoning for it by the end. 
The story itself was nothing spectacular, and I was beginning to lose interest before the funeral happened. It brought me back in and I did enjoy the book, but I’m not sure I’ll continue with the series.

Nicolás Niño 

3.75 🌟 Very creative. Excited for the next one.

Valentina Cherednichenko

Another classic Whodunit from Anthony Horowitz. It's a very quick read with a simple to follow story line. Nothing special but it is a good read.

Ben Nathan

A really fun meta-mystery that makes me want to read more of his stuff. Just a fun read with a cool mystery that unravels in an interesting way.

Yuki Reads

Anthony Horowitz's murder mysteries are always completely original. I love how his books are usually two stories combined into one, and The Word Is Murder was so meta.

Alanna Hammond

This was the first book I’ve ever read by Anthony Horowitz and I really enjoyed it! Very well written and an interesting ending! Also it’s the first book I’ve finished in a long time because of a terrible reading slump 😁

The Word Is Murder (Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery #1) a novel

Reviews