The Word Is Murder
Author(s): Anthony Horowitz
“One of the most entertaining mysteries of the year. Its also one of the most stimulating, as it ponders such questions as: Which is of greater interest to the reader, the crime or the detective? And: Is the pencil truly mightier than the butcher knife? Wall Street Journal
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.
A woman crosses a London street. It is just after 11 a.m. 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, Horowitza seasoned hand when it comes to crime storiessuspects the detective may be on to something, and is irresistibly drawn into the mystery.
But as the case unfolds, Horowitz realizes that hes at the center of a story he cant control, and his brilliant partner may be hiding dark and mysterious secrets of his own.
Review(s):
Actually, the word is not murder, its ingenious. . . . A masterful meta-mystery.
Sharp-witted readers who think theyve solved the puzzle early on can rest assured that theyve opened only one of many dazzling Christmas packages Horowitz has left beautifully wrapped under the tree.
Deduction and wit are well-balanced, and fans of Peter Lovesey and other modern channelers of the spirit of the golden age of detection will clamor for more.
Horowitz is undeniably brilliant.
“The beguiling whodunit plot is dispatched with characteristic lan as Horowitz blurs the line between fiction and reality there is no denying the sheer ingenuity of the central notion.
The Word Is Murder is an intriguing labyrinth of whodunnits and a true page-turner throughout.
An ingenious funhouse mirror of a novel sets a vintage cozy mystery inside a modern frame.
Irresistible What cant this supremely versatile writer do?
Horowitz succeeds with The Word Is Murder by simultaneously adhering to and defying the rules of a traditional mystery.
The Word Is Murderis full of surprises and suspensehugely entertaining. It is a special treat for those who want to read crime mysteries.
LibraryReads Selection
ISBN:9780062845863
