The word is murder : a novel

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Title:

The word is murder : a novel

Author:

Horowitz, Anthony, 1955- author.

Series:

Daniel Hawthorne ;

Series Number:

Summary:

London. Diana Cowper, wealthy mother of a famous actor, goes to a funeral parlor to plan her own service. Six hours later she is found dead, strangled with a curtain cord in her own home. Disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric investigator, is assigned to the case. Hawthorne decides he needs a ghost writer to document his life; a Watson to his Holmes. He chooses Anthony Horowitz. Drawn in against his will, Horowitz soon finds himself a the center of a story he cannot control.

General Note:

"Originally published in Great Britain in 2017 by Penguin Random House UK"--Title page verso.

Edition:

First HarperLuxe [Large print] edition.

Physical Description:

460 pages (large print) ; 23 cm

Genre:

Detective and mystery fiction.

Thrillers (Fiction)

Large type books.

Subject Term:

Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Private investigators -- Fiction.

Publisher:

HarperLuxe, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers,

Publication Date:

2018

ISBN:

9780062845863

Publication Information:

New York, NY : HarperLuxe, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2018]

Call Number:

LP HOROWIT

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003325316	Large Print Fiction	HOROWIT	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

"One of the most entertaining mysteries of the year. It's 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, Horowitz--a seasoned hand when it comes to crime stories--suspects the detective may be on to something, and is irresistibly drawn into the mystery.

But as the case unfolds, Horowitz realizes that he's at the center of a story he can't control, and his brilliant partner may be hiding dark and mysterious secrets of his own.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

This spectacular series launch from bestseller Horowitz (Magpie Murders), a scrupulously fair whodunit, features a fictionalized version of himself. The author's doppelgänger-who, like his creator, has written a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, The House of Silk, and a Tintin movie script for Steven Spielberg-is approached by Daniel Hawthorne, a former detective inspector who once consulted on one of his TV series. Hawthorne wants Horowitz to turn his "real-life" cases into books, and eventually gets him to agree. Their first joint investigative venture concerns the strangulation of Diana Cowper in her London home, mere hours after she visited a funeral parlor and made detailed arrangements for her own funeral. (In one amusing metafictional scene, Hawthorne criticizes Horowitz for inaccuracies in chapter one, an omniscient third-person account of the funeral home visit.) An interrupted text Diana sent to her son shortly before her death leads the duo to look into a long-ago hit-and-run tragedy that claimed one twin child's life and seriously injured the other. 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. Agent: Jonathan Lloyd, Curtis Brown (U.K.). (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

In Horowitz's second stand-alone adult novel (after Magpie Murders), the author plays a starring role, putting a real-world twist on a first-person narrative. Daniel -Hawthorne, an unlikable private detective, has been called in by the London police to help solve the murder of Diana Cowper. The mother of an up-and-coming actor, Cowper was killed on the day she arranged her own funeral. Horowitz is invited by Hawthorne to write a book about the crime and, not incidentally, split money from the book with Hawthorne. Horowitz is reluctantly intrigued with both the case and Hawthorne, a curmudgeon who reveals nothing about his personal life. A series of missteps by Horowitz annoys Hawthorne as he meticulously untangles the threads of the mystery, offending people as he goes. VERDICT A classic whodunit with a metatwist, this mystery opens the door to the world of publishing, theater, and television. Fans of Dorothy Sayers and the BBC's Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War (both written by Horowitz) will enjoy this novel. [See Prepub Alert, 12/11/17.]-Terry Lucas, Shelter Island P.L., NY © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.