A Line to Kill (Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery #3)

by Anthony Horowitz

Overview

The New York Times bestselling author of the brilliantly inventive The Word Is Murder and The Sentence Is Death returns with his third literary whodunit featuring intrepid detectives Hawthorne and Horowitz.

"Horowitz is a master of misdirection, and his brilliant self-portrayal, wittily self-deprecating, carries the reader through a jolly satire on the publishing world." —Booklist

When Ex-Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, author Anthony Horowitz, are invited to an exclusive literary festival on Alderney, an idyllic island off the south coast of England, they don’t expect to find themselves in the middle of murder investigation—or to be trapped with a cold-blooded killer in a remote place with a murky, haunted past.

Arriving on Alderney, Hawthorne and Horowitz soon meet the festival’s other guests—an eccentric gathering that includes a bestselling children’s author, a French poet, a TV chef turned cookbook author, a blind psychic, and a war historian—along with a group of ornery locals embroiled in an escalating feud over a disruptive power line. 

When a local grandee is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Hawthorne and Horowitz become embroiled in the case. The island is locked down, no one is allowed on or off, and it soon becomes horribly clear that a murderer lurks in their midst. But who?

Both a brilliant satire on the world of books and writers and an immensely enjoyable locked-room mystery, A Line to Kill is a triumph—a riddle of a story full of brilliant misdirection, beautifully set-out clues, and diabolically clever denouements.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062938169
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/19/2021
Series:	Hawthorne and Horowitz Series , #3
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	53,094
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

ANTHONY HOROWITZ is the author of the US bestselling Magpie Murders and The Word is Murder, and one of the most prolific and successful writers in the English language; he may have committed more (fictional) murders than any other living author. His novel Trigger Mortis features original material from Ian Fleming. His most recent Sherlock Holmes novel, Moriarty, is a reader favorite; and his bestselling Alex Rider series for young adults has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide. As a TV screenwriter, he created both Midsomer Murders and the BAFTA-winning Foyle’s War on PBS. Horowitz regularly contributes to a wide variety of national newspapers and magazines, and in January 2014 was awarded an OBE.

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/02/2021

Bestseller Horowitz’s superior third mystery features former detective inspector Daniel Hawthorne and a fictionalized Horowitz (after 2019’s The Sentence Is Death)in an effortless blend of humor and fair play. At a literary festival on the English island of Alderney, the pair plan to promote the series of books Horowitz has been writing about Hawthorne’s homicide investigations. On Alderney, they become acquainted with the five other festival guests: “an unhealthy chef, a blind psychic, a war historian, a children’s author, a French performance poet.” One night, they all attend a party hosted by wealthy Charles le Mesurier, who gained his fortune from internet gambling and is the prime advocate for a controversial proposal to route a new electric power line linking the U.K. and France through the island. When a partygoer is found stabbed to death the next morning in an outbuilding near le Mesurier’s main house, Hawthorne helps the sparse local police force investigate. The often prickly relationship between the Watson-like Horowitz and the Holmes-like Hawthorne complements the intricate detective work worthy of a classic golden age whodunit. The author’s fans will hope this series has a long run. Agent: Jonathan Lloyd, Curtis Brown (U.K.). (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"An effortless blend of humor and fair play...the often prickly relationship between the Watson-like Horowitz and the Holmes-like Hawthorne complements the intricate detective work worthy of a classic golden age whodunit." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Horowitz is a master of misdirection, and his brilliant self-portrayal, wittily self-deprecating, carries the reader through a jolly satire on the publishing world." — Booklist

"The most conventional of Horowitz’s mysteries to date still reads like a golden-age whodunit on steroids." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

"Horowitz is a master of misdirection, and his brilliant self-portrayal, wittily self-deprecating, carries the reader through a jolly satire on the publishing world."

Booklist

"Horowitz is a master of misdirection, and his brilliant self-portrayal, wittily self-deprecating, carries the reader through a jolly satire on the publishing world."

Booklist

10/01/2021

In the third "Hawthorne and Horowitz" mystery (after The Sentence Is Death), a fictional version of author Anthony Horowitz serves as the narrator and the "Watson" to P.I. Daniel Hawthorne. Anthony is surprised when his publisher wants to send them to a literary festival on Alderney, one of the Channel Islands, and stunned when Hawthorne appears eager to attend. The sponsor of the festival, Charles le Mesurier, made his money in online gambling and is a political force on the tiny island. In fact, Mesurier has been pushing for a new electric line between Normandy, Alderney, and the British mainland, which is causing division in the community. On the final night of the festival, Anthony observes a drunk Mesurier as an obnoxious host. When the man is murdered, Anthony doesn't know if the killer was a festival author, a guest, or an Alderney resident. Daniel, who never lets Anthony know what he's thinking, reveals unscrupulous behavior among the authors, but he's not fast enough to find the killer before there's another murder. VERDICT Horowitz's latest reveals vulnerability in the condescending Daniel. Fans of the series or and Agatha Christie will relish character-driven mystery set on an isolated island.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Library Journal

2021-06-29
Except for the atrocities of World War II, there hasn’t been a murder on the Channel Island of Alderney from time immemorial. The staging of the Alderney Lit Fest brings that streak to a decided end.

The powers that be at Penguin Random House want to send retired DI Daniel Hawthorne and Anthony Horowitz, the writer who fictionalizes the mysteries Hawthorne’s solved, to Alderney. Anthony, always grousing at being treated like a second-class collaborator, is willing to go, and so, surprisingly, is the reclusive Hawthorne. The other luminaries invited to the tiny island include blind psychic Elizabeth Lovell, TV chef Marc Bellamy, war historian George Elkin, children’s franchiser Anne Cleary, and French performance poet Maïssa Lamar. No sooner have the festivities begun than Charles le Mesurier, whose online gambling company is sponsoring them, is taped to a chair, with only his right hand left free, and stabbed to death. The limited resources and competence of the local police make the case a natural for Hawthorne, who obligingly circulates among his counterparts long enough to rattle every one of the many skeletons in their closets. But he faces a serious setback when a second murder spurs Deputy Chief Officer Jonathan Torode of Guernsey Crime Services to identify a culprit Hawthorne agrees is highly plausible. How will the great detective cope with being beaten to the punch? Fans of the author’s formidable brain teasers, certain that the devil is in the details, will be a lot more confident than he is.

The most conventional of Horowitz’s mysteries to date still reads like a golden-age whodunit on steroids.

Kirkus Reviews