Tag Archives: Dr. Watson

Friday Book Whimsy: A Line to Kill

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I know I am repetitive when I talk about the books written by author Anthony Horowitz, but I can’t help it. His books are simply clever. There’s no other word for it. Lots of authors are good writers and tell a good story. It’s true that Horowitz does the same. But his clever plots cannot be replicated.

A Line to Kill is the third in the series featuring former police detective inspector Daniel Hawthorne, who has the insight and cleverness of Sherlock Holmes. And like Holmes, Hawthorne has a sidekick who not only records the events around their investigation (ala Dr. Watson) but helps him solve the crime. That person is Anthony Horowitz, who writes about himself. And like Dr. Watson, Horowitz mostly gets it wrong when it comes to helping Hawthorne solve the crime.

In A Line to Kill, Hawthorne and Horowitz are invited to attend a book festival on an isolated island off of England. They, along with several other authors — including a children’s book writer, a poet, and and a chef-turned-cookbook-writer — are commissioned to present their stories and answer questions. To complicate matters, the local people of the town are caught up in an argument over a proposed power line that will disrupt the peacefulness of the island but create jobs.

Before long, the murder of one of the locals immersed in this battle is found murdered. Furthermore, it has to be someone on the island who killed the man because there hasn’t been a ferry coming or going since they arrived.

This story line, of course, is Horowitz’s take on the locked door murder mystery. It becomes increasingly clear that one of the authors had to be the murderer, but what are the motive? To complicate matters, the man who was responsible for Hawthorne leaving his job on the police department makes an appearance.

Horowitz’s writing captures his reader with its twists and turns and surprises. The author’s self-deprecating manner of presenting himself makes readers smile and like the man even more.

I hope this series never ends.

Friday Book Whimsy: The Sentence is Death

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Author Anthony Horowitz is one of my favorite writers. He is the creator of and writer for two of my favorite Brit mystery programs: Foyle’s War and Midsommer Murder. He has also joined the legion of folks who have written Sherlock Holmes mysteries, but done a much better job of most. With his  2018 novel The Word is Murder, he came up with one of the most clever story ideas I’ve ever come across as a reader. He continues this clever idea in The Sentence is Murder.

What is the idea? With a wink at Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Horowitz writes himself –not a takeoff on himself, but actually his very own person — as a character in the book. In fact, he is Dr. Watson to London private investigator Daniel Hawthorne’s Sherlock Holmes.

London attorney Richard Pryce is found dead in his home, having been hit over the head with a bottle of expensive wine. It seems clear from the get-go that one of his clients — a famous, if odd writer is the murderer. After all, she threatened to kill him with a bottle of wine in front of a restaurant full of people. Still, just like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, nothing is as it seems.

though Horowitz (the character) is getting much better at figuring out the nuances of the mystery, he still is pretty klutzy when compared to the much-more astute Hawthorne.

The mystery is good, but the real fun is reading about Horowitz’s insecurities and problems around writing and producing real-life shows like Foyle’s War as part of the story line. And it was fun to get to learn a bit more about the heretofore secret life of the brilliant detective Hawthorne.

I loved this book, and can’t wait for the next.

Here is a link to the book.

Friday Book Whimsy: The Word is Murder

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Author Anthony Horowitz has created and written some of my favorite mystery television programs — Foyle’s War being my most favorite of all. As a writer of fiction, he is known primarily for his young adult books, with Alex Rider being perhaps the most well-known. But I fell in love with him originally for a book I reviewed a while back called Magpie Murders, a cleverly-written mystery story within a mystery story. Intrigued by that book, I quickly read a couple of Sherlock Holmes stories that he had written. Many have attempted to duplicate Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but most haven’t succeeded. Horowitz did.

I was very excited, therefore, to see that he had a new novel being released. The premise of The Word is Murder was again so, so clever. And the result, I’m happy to say, met my expectations.

In The Word is Murder, Horowitz literally writes himself into the book as one of the characters. A disgraced police detective, let go from the London police force, is hired as a consultant for the case of a mysterious murder of the mother of a famous actor. In Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson style, the detective — known only as Hawthorne — hires Horowitz to work with him on a case, and chronicle it by writing a diary.

The actor’s mother visits a funeral home one day, making arrangements for her own funeral. This isn’t particularly unusual. However, what IS unusual is that she is murdered that very afternoon. Hawthorne and Horowitz work together to solve the mystery.

The character of Hawthorne is modeled directly after Sherlock Holmes. He is brilliant and cocky and brash. Horowitz writes himself as a likable Watson.

The ending was a surprise, and quite gratifying.

I will warn you that, while I absolutely LOVED this book — finding it so incredibly clever — I can see where a reader might be turned off by the way Horowitz portrays himself. There is lots of name-dropping, lunches with Stephen Spielberg, and so forth. It didn’t deter me. I recommend this book with great gusto!

Here is a link to the book.