Rating: 4.3/5

Anthony Horowitz is one of my "go to" authors. He invariably produces highly entertaining, skilfully plotted stories. "Close to Death" is the fifth book in the Hawthorne & Horowitz series and while there is some benefit to to the reader in being familiar with earlier books in the series, it is by no means a necessity.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, here is a quick background précis: Anthony Horowitz has applied a neat little twist on the genre and appears in his own novels as the sleuthing sidekick to ex-police detective Daniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne now works privately as a consultant to the investigating police force on certain problematic crimes. Anthony Horowitz has been employed by Hawthorne to write up his cases, much as Dr Watson was tasked with chronicling the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The duo do, at times, exhibit characteristics similar to those found in other literary detective teams such as Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings, but it is the comparison with a latter day Holmes & Watson that is generally most fitting.

On this occasion there is less direct interaction between Hawthorne & Horowitz. Horowitz (the fictional version in the story, rather than the real-life writer) finds himself under pressure from his publisher to deliver the next book in the series. As he rightly observes, given that he is essentially basing his Hawthorne books on true crimes, he cannot simply conjure up a murder for Hawthorne to investigate. This leads him to quiz Hawthorne about an historical murder case instead.

Once again, there is a keen sense of a "Golden Age" whodunnit about this mystery. A predominantly closed community in an upmarket location, the cast of characters and even the inclusion of the map of the setting at the beginning of the book are very much in keeping with the works of Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, et al. The author again weaves aspects of his real life into the fictional narrative, which works extremely well. There is a different feel about this book compared with the others in the series. As a result of using an old case of Hawthorne's, Anthony Horowitz is able to feature a different investigator as Hawthorne's sidekick. This is a clever way of remaining true to the fundamentals of the series, whilst legitimately introducing a fresh angle of approach, rather than simply trotting out more of the same tried (tired) and tested formula.

With "Close to Death" Anthony Horowitz has constructed a wonderfully engaging and clever murder mystery in the "locked room" style - even though there is a wonderful section where the author gives his own insights into the "locked room" subgenre and questions whether it can ever be truly convincing in modern day fiction. As you can expect from this author, there is ample misdirection and not a little humour. The clues are all there - you just need to piece them together.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I had somehow missed that Horowitz had brought out an entire new adult mystery series so I didn’t realise at first that this was number 5 in the series! But it honestly didn’t impact on my enjoyment of the book at all and while there were obviously references to past books in the series this can easily be read as a standalone.

This is a really solid mystery novel and I really enjoyed the twist Horowitz adds through his self inserts and the whole narrative of him being a writer covering the mystery - I just think this adds a lot of interest to the novel which I really appreciated as this is quite a saturated genre. This duo-writing approach was really well done and I loved how this working with the pacing of the read.

The mystery itself follows a fairly predictable pattern if you’ve read a lot of mystery novels and I did see the ending and the twists coming - but I’m not mad about that (as I do usually know the ending of most mysteries way before the end).

I want to call this a cosy crime novel but I’m not sure if I can since it’s technically a murder mystery? It definitely gives cosy read vibes though!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC

The Utter Joy of Sparkling Horowitz and his somewhat confused fictional alter ego

I held off reading this as long as I could, delaying the gratification I knew I would find, till I could wait no more. Then I really, really tried to slow down my reading, like making sure I was really savouring a sweet, delicious morsel to the last. The propulsive impetus to turn pages faster and faster warred massively with not wanting to reach the end of the glorious journey. What FUN, what dastardly, wicked cleverness there is with a Hawthorne and Horowitz book. How I love failing to solve the mysteries, deceived by red herrings, grasping the obvious and wrong solution even more than our slightly confused writer does!

For those who have never read one of these Hawthorne/Horowitz outings before, Anthony Horowitz, a marvellously witty and flexible writer of both children’s and adult fiction, also a screenwriter, inserts himself as a character in his own books, a slightly backseat and clumsy sidekick to a maverick ex-policeman, now maverick private investigator, Daniel Hawthorne. Horowitz himself as Watson to Hawthorne’s Holmes. Horowitz the author of these books inserts enough of his real life into the fiction to bedazzle the reader into believing more of the fictional Horowitz may be true, and to create shivers of delight that they aren’t. The reader is played as skilfully by Horowitz the writer as Horowitz is played by Hawthorne.

For those, like me, who have absolutely and joyously surrender to the Games A-Foot of all of this, Close To Death is slightly different to the previous outings, in that the now famous Hawthorne is not actively engaged on a case which Horowitz is engaged to write. Instead, forced by the mechanics of book deals, Horowitz is pressed to explore a case in Hawthorne’s back catalogue. We have the joyous tropes of a version of the country house murder AND the locked room murder. And another trope from Golden Age Fiction where all the characters have motive and opportunity. Not to mention some of them have pasts which might come up to bite them The setting is an exclusive small gated community in Richmond, where the neighbour from hell moves in, changing harmony to mayhem.

Without spoilers, it seems that Horowitz may finally have cracked a mystery……..or has he? Delicious to the very last

After four successful cases (well, two stabbings aside), all has gone quiet from Daniel Hawthorne. When Anthony needs another novel, he decides to look back at one of Hawthorne's old cases - after all, it's a case he solved so it should make a perfect novel! An unruly neighbour was killed in a quiet Richmond close five years ago, and any one of the nine neighbours could have killed him, but which one did? What follows Anthony's quest to find out more about Hawthorne's life before they met could lead him towards more danger than he's faced before.

This is another fantastic novel in the series - casting himself as the Dr Watson to Hawthorne's Holmes was a masterstroke once more! 5*.

I’m a massive fan of the Hawthorne & Horowitz series and was thrilled to get an ARC of Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz.

I love the premise of these books, Antony Horowitz puts himself front and centre in the books writing a fictional version of himself working with a former Met Police Detective Daniel Hawthorne as he investigates complex cases.

This is the fifth instalment of the series and takes a different path from the previous books. In this book Horowitz is writing about a past case that Hawthorne worked on. I loved this change of pace and really liked that it mixes things ups.

I particularly like the way in which the two men work together in a publishing marriage of convenience. Horowitz is keen to learn more about Hawthorne, but Hawthorne is quite indifferent to Horowitz. They are such an unlikely double-act.

In this book, Horowitz writes chapters, checking in with Hawthorne periodically for more notes, as well as doing his own research in Richmond. And, as ever, he’s trying to learn more about the elusive Hawthorne.

I was completely engaged and loved the way Horowitz introduced all the residents of Riverview Close in Richmond. It becomes very clear that all the residents have a motive to murder Giles Kenworthy, who recently moved to the close and unsettled the tranquility of the close. This time it’s up to Horowitz has to solve the murder.

After this fifth book, Horowitz still has books to write in his publishing contract with Hawthorne. So, I can’t wait to read the next instalment in the Hawthorne & Horowitz series!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Random House UK, for making this book available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

How do you solve a problem like Giles Kenworthy? If you’re one of his neighbours living in Riverview Close, by potentially shooting him with a crossbow. That’s what happens to the noisy neighbour, whose gas guzzling cars, loud parties and plans for a new swimming pool finally tips someone over the edge. But in Riverview Close, everyone is under suspicion… and there’s a lot more going on that civilised conversation and neighbourhood watch. Step forward former detective Daniel Hawthorne – his fifth outing with Horowitz as narrator – who recounts one of his previous cases with the dry humour and biting wit that we’ve come to expect from him. From the start, it’s a puzzle that only continues to worse – if everyone has the same motive for murder, who is responsible? It gives me such joy to read Anthony’s books and this series is one I always look out for.

Once again, this book knocks it out of the park
What I love about this series is that it really reads as it is meant to, you are following Anthony the writer, and Hawthorne the detective!

As always, well written with great characters and story!

Anthony Horowitz made me want to read this book, it had a mixture of humour as well as mystery which made it easy to read.

I was very pleased to see this new book in the Anthony Horowitz’s Hawthorne series and eagerly took the opportunity to read it. This one is slightly different from others in the series that I have read in that it concerns a crime that was committed - and solved - in the past. The narrator reports on past events, rather than “helps” with the sleuthing as he does in previous books.

The format owes a lot to the classic “locked room” genre of murder mysteries, although this plot is set within an upmarket gated community, rather in a mansion or train, for example. As expected, the residents are a mixed bunch, some getting on better with their neighbours than others. After quite a descriptive start in which the narrator does not feature, the story moves along quickly and the book is difficult to put down. However, rather like Hawthorne, I didn’t find the ending the ending very satisfactory.

I've read Anthony Horowitz books before, but this is the first I've read in this series, which features the author himself (real) as a character within the story, writing about, and assisting on cases with, private detective Daniel Hawthorne (real within the story, though not I assume in real life). So he mentions his wife, agent, etc by name, who are all real, and tells events as though they really happened, though they didn't. To complicate matters further he's telling us what Hawthorne told him, which may not be reliable. Meta, and right up my street. I love this sort of thing.

It would probably help to have read the previous books in the series, but I haven't, and it wasn't particularly a problem. I'm going to, though. I don't quite know what to make of Hawthorne. He seems pretty questionable.

Anyway, the story here is about neighbour wars - in the expensive Riverview Close, which doesn't actually have a river view - that end in murder. We get to know all the neighbours, and there's even a handy map of the close at the start. Yay! Meanwhile Anthony, the character (people keep calling him Tony, which seems to annoy him) is striving to find out more about the enigmatic Hawthorne and who he really works for, and it's all a bit sinister, frankly.

I really enjoyed this and I'm going to seek out the previous books forthwith.

I just reviewed Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz. #ClosetoDeath #NetGalley

Wow! New author for me and took a chance on requesting this book as I liked the description of it. I wasn’t disappointed!

Very well-written murder mystery based around a housing cup-de-sac in Richmond upon Thames.

It grips you from the first chapter and, just when you think it’s a story about neighbours getting along in a small village community until one bad apple moves in…… then the bad apple gets murdered and all hell breaks loose….. just as I like my mysteries!

I was considering giving this five stars but there was unnecessary race-baiting in here which was not appreciated nor required. - saying it was the R word if an English person puts a Union Jack up on their own property is NOT R”ism!

The residents of upmarket Riverview Close in Richmond are a close knit bunch. Six houses of varying sizes and styles, everyone gets along. That is until new neighbours move into the biggest house in the Close. Pompous, arrogant and inconsiderate, Giles Kenworthy, along with his wife and two boys, are the neighbours from hell. But what can the other residents do? Would murder be too extreme to consider?

Another in the Hawthorne series, and a welcome addition. Once again Horowitz has written a book that imitates real life, with him as head sidekick, but in a different way this time.

Once I had my head around the characters and the names of the properties, I was well on my way to enjoying the action. I must say thank you for the map, it was vital to keep everyone straight!

One point, Phyllis comes from Stourbridge and has a Birmingham accent? If she was a true Stourbridge wench she’d have a Black Country accent. Just saying aer kid! 🤣

Thank you NetGalley and Random House.

There is no doubting Anthony Horowitz's ability to produce the perfect criminal conundrum.

A cast of potential murderers all with hidden dark pasts; diversions and red herrings galore but even more bewildering ( in a clever and stylish way ) is the ability to bring the 'real' author into the pages of detective fiction weaving the belief that this is true crime.

Close to Death is the fifth in the Hawthorned and Horowitz series but this book takes a different stance whereby Anthony retells( and investigates) a crime already committed as supposedly solved.

The death of a resident in a 'gated/secure' residential community- a private close; life disturbed by the arrival of loud and obnoxious resident who doesn't want to follow the 'neighbourhood code ' of polite conduct and kindness- soon irritating and causing issues for all...and then throws in the grenade of wanting to build a swimming pool. Neighbourliness has never seemed so dysfunctional.. and Hawthorne is invited by the police to investigate- confusion, intrigue and further death follows.

This is a clever and superbly crafted read- it's easy to lose track as so much subterfuge takes place between the residents and as Anthony proceeds to pull all the pieces of the story together , even he is drawn into a darker web of Hawthorne's world.

Another brilliant addition to a great series- is it cosy crime? It is police procedural ? I think not... just a totally unique crime genre from Mr Horowitz. Highly recommended - but do read the books in order for best impact and enjoyment

Thanks to #Netgalley.co.uk and #RandomHouse #Cornerstone for a copy of Anthony Horowitz latest mystery in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series, 'Close to Death'.

The Blurb...
Richmond, London . Six attractive houses are tucked away in an exclusive and very upmarket gated Riverside Close. Surrounded by flowers and shrubbery, they're sealed off from the busy main road and the realities of urban life. At weekends, with the gate locked, the residents enjoy the sound of birdsong, the whirr of mowers, the occasional snatch of opera through an open window.

Everyone knows each other. Everyone gets on.

That is, until the Kenworthy's arrive. With their four big gas-guzzling cars, their noisy children, and their plans to build a swimming pool in their garden, they quickly offend every one of their neighbours.

When Giles Kenworthy is found dead on his porch, the bolt of a crossbow through his chest, Daniel Hawthorne is called in.

But how do you solve a murder when everyone has the same motive?

Well, you bring in the brilliant Horowitz to write the story. Working alongside Daniel Hawthorne, he is drip fed information in an attempt to work out the murder that happened five years previously.

The clues are all there, and if you are looking for them with a precise, clear and level head, you will spot them. However, if like me, you can't retain the information without a notebook to hand or by flipping back through the book, then you may miss some vital clues. I picked up on some but missed others.

What I loved about this mystery was the inclusion of the author as the novelist in the story - clever stuff! As with another Horowitz novel I read and reviewed, (Magpie Murders', where the detective in the novel assists the publishing author) I found this to be a brilliant addition to the enjoyment of the story.

With several twists, a couple of red herrings, and an absolutely fantastic ending, this book is a definite winner for me.

This is the first Anthony Horowitz book I’ve read so I have to admit I found the format a little confusing initially however that’s not to say I didn’t really enjoy it. The crime itself is very unusual and with such a mix of suspects it became very complex. I really liked how the DS investigating solved the crime versus Hawthorne’s own conclusions and the almost unsatisfactoriness of the ending. The complexity of this was fabulous and the relationships between all the neighbours was fascinating. Whilst it would have been good to properly get into Hawthorne’s brain as he was processing all the clues it was curiously riveting to see him lay it all out to his suspect for the benefit of the DS. I loved the different genres of crime including cosy and locked room which made this engrossing and far too easy to read in a day! 9/10

Despite hating the first in the series, I now absolutely love everything about this series it is most of all funny and engaging, hope there's more to follow.

A small gated community is being inconvenienced by newcomers. Giles and Lynda Kenworthy moved into Riverview Lodge seven months earlier and since then have annoyed and argued with all of the other residents. The residents arrange a meeting and drinks party to raise their issues but Gile and Lynda at the last minute decline to attend. Seven weeks later Giles is murdered and all the residents are suspects.

I particularly like the map of the close as it helps with establishing who’s who and the various relationships. All the characters are quickly introduced and everyone has a plausible motive for murder.

The story is told through two different perspectives. Firstly, the events leading to and immediately after the murder are narrated through the investigations of former police detective Daniel Hawthorne. There is then the narrative from five years later as author Anthony Horowitz is tasked with the challenge of creating a book from the historic case. To do this he has to work with Hawthorne, drawing on his experiences, narrative and files from the case.

This is a very clever construct with clues there for the finding with explanations in the latter part of the story and with some unexpected revelations. Overall a very clever story masterfully told making an engaging and enjoyable read.

The “Close” in the title is a play on Riverview Close, an upmarket group of houses where everyone gets along. Until Giles Kenworthy and his family move in, with their boisterous sons, drive-blocking cars and plans to destroy the view with their new swimming pool and changing area. All the neighbours wish Giles was dead, so when he is murdered, all his neighbours are suspects and they all have the same motive. Like the other Hawthorne novels, this is a riveting mystery, full of clever twists and scattered clues for sharp readers to pick up on (or not). It is a bit different from the others in the series as the case has happened and been solved by Hawthorne already, and his sidekick “Anthony Horowitz” only partly narrates the story as he pieces it together from Hawthorne’s notes and recordings. I did feel that this didn’t work as well as when “Horowitz” accompanies him on his investigation as it happens, failing to pick up clues and getting himself into some sticky situations along the way, which adds some light relief and humour to the books and gives them their distinctive flavour. We do at least find out a bit more about Hawthorne himself, who remains an enigmatic figure to Horowitz’s continuing frustration. Still a great read in itself, but I do hope the next Hawthorne novel goes back to its original style, which makes these books even more of a treat than this one.

This is the fifth novel in Horowitz’s ‘Hawthorne’ series in which the author himself is a ‘real’ character alongside his fictional detective. All have been fun to read, if a bit head-spinning at times.
In this novel there is even a locked room mystery within a locked scene, the gated Riverside Close where the murders begin. This presents another layer to the first murder as the suspects ‘have to’ live there as they are the only ones with a key to the electronic gates.

There is a cast of stock middle class characters, barrister, dentist, doctor, chess master, all men with the women being secondary characters and either ill, dead, retired, or under-described. One has a successful jewellery business but there are disparaging comments about her inspirations.

I guess setting it in this small, exclusive development is deliberately replicating the mysteries of the Golden Age of detective fiction. Certainly, Death on the Orient Express has a similar plot line, initially at least.

Despite being set in the recent past there are some aspects that seem old-fashioned. Why shouldn’t someone receive little post? No-one gets much post now and certainly not bills. I also found it a somewhat unsatisfactory ending. There are loose ends and a possible undiscovered body.

But another enjoyable read overall and I will keep reading this series as I feel Horowitz is not yet done with Hawthorne. I recommend this. I read a copy provided by NetGalley and the publishers.

A fun read. The dialogue sucks you in to the narrative of the murder with an edge of comedy too mixed in. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.