the point of it all

It’s been years since detective Hawthorne contacted writer Anthony Horowitz and asked him to write a book about him. Hawthorne was a consultant called in by the police when they were facing a case they couldn’t solve. He’d also been a consultant for police dramas, which is how he knew Horowitz. Horowitz, a television writer and bestselling author, balked when Hawthorne first approached him. He already had a lot on his plate, and he wasn’t all that interested in following this man around and writing about his solving a crime.

But when he learned more about the mystery, Horowitz found he couldn’t turn away. A woman went into a funeral home to plan her own funeral. Hours later, she was dead in her own home. The story of that case became the first book Horowitz wrote about Hawthorne and his cases, The Word Is Murder.

Now it’s several years and books later, and The Word Is Murder is being made into a movie. An independent producer is using the cast, director, and writer who had together made a successful movie previously. As they start to film, Horowitz is invited to come to the set and watch the drama unfold. When he gets there, he finds that Hawthorne is already there, close to the moviemakers, and he feels a little left behind.

It doesn’t take long for Horowitz to get caught up, meet all the principles, and get pulled into the next book. Because one of the lead actors is stabbed in his trailer, and Hawthorne is on the case as soon as it starts. Since they’re not in London, Hawthorne gets along well with the local police, and he’s able to get information easily, so it doesn’t take long before the suspects start to pile up.

There’s the other principle actor, who had his career destroyed after they worked together before. There is the agent who was about to get fired. The producer having money problems. The production assistant who he got fired. The screenwriter who turned out to be an ex. The director with the crush. Or the mystery dinner date from the night before, a quick photo that revealed far more than anyone understood.

But as Hawthorne and Horowitz chase down one killer, Horowitz finds himself close to Hawthorne’s mysterious background for the first time. He starts to poke around to try to find out why the man is so stand-offish. But as Horowitz gets closer to his personal Sherlock Holmes, and Hawthorne gets closer to a killer, they find that danger is closer than they realized.

A Deadly Episode is book 6 in this mystery series that just gets more and more delicious to read. It’s like Horowitz can’t stop himself from adding a mystery story inside the mystery story, layering characters and motives and secrets and lies as only a master storyteller can.

I have devoured these books since the first, and somehow they just keep getting better. I thought the crime and solution in this one was beautifully crafted, and I love that we get some real background on Hawthorne, who has been slippery about his past and most personal information through this series. And as always, Horowitz writes himself as the stooge, the one who stumbles into trouble far more often than he stumbles into the solutions, so ironic since he is the one plotting out each scene.

I’m just going to say it. A Deadly Episode is my favorite book in this series so far. Do you have to have read all the others in the series to enjoy this one? No, of course not. No writer of Horowitz’s caliber would let a new reader flounder in the story. But if you’re anything like me, you will find these stories addictive and need to read the all. Or, as I am seriously thinking, read them all again.

Egalleys for A Deadly Episode were provided by Harper through Edelweiss, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.