A Line to Kill
a locked room mystery from the Sunday Times bestselling author
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3.8 • 53 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
By the global bestselling author, Anthony Horowitz, the third novel in his acclaimed Hawthorne and Horowitz series. The Russian mafia, a strange religious order and not one but two murders - stand by for a hugely enjoyable, twisty turny read.
'EASILY THE GREATEST OF OUR CRIME WRITERS' Sunday Times
'A homage to the Golden Age of mystery - it is pure delight' New York Times
'Witty, wry, clever, a fabulous detective story and perfect summer reading' Kate Mosse
'Funny, intriguing, thrilling and thought-provoking: a marvellous mystery' Adam Hamdy
'A golden-age whodunnit on steroids' Kirkus Reviews
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Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and the writer Anthony Horowitz have been invited to a literary festival on the island of Alderney to talk about their new book . . .
Very soon they discover that dark forces are at work.
Alderney is in turmoil over a planned power line that will cut through it, desecrating a war cemetery and turning neighbour against neighbour.
And the visiting authors seem to be harbouring any number of unpleasant secrets.
When the festival's wealthy sponsor is found brutally murdered, Alderney goes into lockdown and Hawthorne knows he doesn't have to look too far for suspects. There's no escape. The killer is still on the island.
And there's about to be a second death . . .
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Readers can't get enough of Hawthorne and Horowitz ...
***** 'I loved this smartly written whodunit, but it's the characters of Hawthorne and Horowitz that have completely won me over.'
***** 'A Line to Kill was a very clever, suspenseful and compelling murder mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed '
***** 'This is a worthy addition to this highly addictive series, and I can't wait to begin the next installment.'
***** 'Engaging, fun banter between Horowitz and Hawthorne, double deception, locked room mystery, multiple suspects that all have a motive, and someone with murder in their eyes.'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
Customer Reviews
Another high quality yarn
Author
British novelist, both adult and children’s. Playwright and screenwriter (Midsomer Murders, Poirot, Foyle’s War etc). This is the third instalment involving the author’s real life self as sidekick to an ex-police detective as a modern day version of Watson and Holmes.
Premise
Our boys travel to Alderney, one of the smaller Channel Islands, for a literary festival.
Plot
There’s never been a murder on Alderney before. By the end of the weekend, there’ve been two, plus a suicide. Suspects include various locals plus the rag tag group of authors (a celebrity chef, someone who communicates with the dead, a local historian, yada, yada). The suicide appears to tie things up nicely, except it doesn’t. Holmes, I mean Hawthorne, comes through in the end. We learn a little more about him, and the ending suggests the frequently mentioned three book deal will be extended.
Writing
Closed room (island) murder mystery with a metafictional twist. Beautifully written as usual. I couldn’t stop reading. (Listening, in fact).
Bottom line
More of the same is a good thing when the quality is high.
Line to Kill
Riveting from start to finish. The details were additive,
Middling but serviceable
I enjoy this series as an easy beach read. Even with lax expectations going in, the quality of this story doesn’t really hold up to the others.
The characters were at times difficult to distinguish, the ‘action’ (or even the personal interplay of the central duo) is very light on and I sadly picked the main culprit early on.
I was waiting for the intrigue or ‘aha’ moments to pickup, but never felt like this story got off the ground. I’ll return for the next book, but with expectations tempered.
Still, writing and publishing anything in a pandemic is impressive and the book was a welcome distraction.