The Word Is Murder
The bestselling mystery from the author of Magpie Murders
-
-
4.1 • 295 Ratings
-
-
- £3.99
Publisher Description
She planned her own funeral. But did she arrange her own murder? Buried secrets, murder and a trail of bloody clues lie at the heart of Anthony Horowitz's page-turning detective series.
'Easily the greatest of our crime writers' Sunday Times
‘An absolutely wonderful writer’ Richard Osman
_________________
A woman is strangled six hours after organising her own funeral.
Did she know she was going to die? Did she recognise her killer?
Enter Daniel Hawthorne, a detective with a genius for solving crimes and an ability to hold secrets very close.
With him is his writing partner, Anthony Horowitz. Together they will set out to solve his most puzzling of mysteries.
What neither of them know is that they are about to embark on a dark and dangerous journey whether the twists and turns are as unexpected as they are bloody.
_________________
'Raises the game-playing to Olympic level' Guardian Books of the Year
'A real page-turner. I loved it!' Aled Jones
'Horowitz blurs the line between fact and fiction' Financial Times
'Splendidly entertaining, absorbing and difficult to put down. Hawthorne is an intriguing character' Daily Express
'Sharp-witted readers who think they've solved the puzzle early on can rest assured that they've opened only one of many dazzling Christmas packages Horowitz has left beautifully wrapped under the tree' Kirkus Reviews
'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' Publishers Weekly
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Lovers of crime novels who’d like to try something different should have a look at this playful and subversive story-within-a-story, in which bestselling mystery writer Anthony Horowitz brazenly inserts himself into the narrative. When Horowitz's fictional self is approached by an ex-detective to write a book about a murder he’s investigating, the boundaries between reality and imagination begin to blur. This clever story has a twisty plot that shines a light on the convoluted joys of detective writing. Unreliable narrators, red herrings and dashes of humour make this whodunit a sparkling, fun read.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This spectacular series launch from bestseller Horowitz (Magpie Murders), a scrupulously fair whodunit, features a fictionalized version of himself. The author's doppelg nger 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.
Customer Reviews
Enjoying reading again.
For someone who was once a veracious reader but over time just stopped. I realised I wanted to get back to reading for many reasons. Promoted by another person’s review, I bought this book. From the alternative writing perspective, the various twists/turns and easy read I feel like I have fallen in love with reading again. On to book two.
Fun..ish but average
Reasonably enjoyable, but I’m not sure if I was fully pleased with the real life fiction mix
Five stars
Excellent