Title: The Twist of a Knife
Series: Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery #4
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Publisher: Century
Synopsis:
‘Our deal is over.’ That’s what reluctant author Anthony Horowitz tells ex-detective Daniel Hawthorne in an awkward meeting. The truth is that Anthony has other things on his mind.
His new play, Mindgame, is about to open in London’s Vaudeville theatre. Not surprisingly Hawthorne declines a ticket.
On opening night, Sunday Times critic Harriet Throsby gives the play a savage review, focusing particularly on the writing.
The next morning she is found dead, stabbed in the heart with an ornamental dagger which, it turns out, belongs to Anthony and which has his finger prints all over it.
Anthony is arrested, charged with Throsby’s murder, thrown into prison and interrogated. Alone and increasingly desperate, he realises only one man can help him.
But will Hawthorne take his call?
My review:
I absolutely loved this latest installment in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series.
In The Twist of a Knife, we return to Horowitz at an exciting point – a play he’s written is being staged in the West End. When a critic is stabbed after the opening night, and all clues point to Horowitz, can Hawthorne help him get out of it?
This novel is hugely entertaining. We see more of the two characters’ relationship as things are skewed slightly – now it’s Hawthorne under suspicion and relying on Hawthorne to help clear his name – if Hawthorne decides to help him, of course. The interactions between them are very comical at times and I found reading this novel addictive, hard to put down – and, most of all, really fun!
The setting of the book is wonderful – I loved reading about the theatre and West End, and the fact that a lot of the novel is set in and around the Vaudeville theatre, and has lots of real-life elements (the author really did write a play called Mindgame, for example) just adds to the atmosphere.
The locked-room style of the mystery is one I always enjoy and kept me guessing, with Hawthorne at his very best as he uncovers what really happened that night. There’s a great cast of characters, each of which are equally interesting and enjoyable to read about.
I think this is my favourite of the series yet! Highly recommended!
My rating: 4/5
Many thanks to the publisher, Century, for providing a copy of this book on which I chose to write an honest review.
The Twist of the Knife is published on 18 August.
[…] “The locked-room style of the mystery is one I always enjoy and kept me guessing, with Hawthorne at his very best as he uncovers what really happened that night” – read my full review […]