She planned her own funeral- but did she arrange her murder? Buried secrets, murder, and a trail of bloody clues lie at the heart of Anthony Horowitz’s new detective series.
A wealthy woman strangled six hours after she’s arranged her own funeral. A very private detective uncovering secrets but hiding his own. A reluctant author is drawn into a story he can’t control. What do they have in common?
Harper Collins U.S. was nice enough to send me a copy of a couple of Horowitz titles, and I can confidently say that after reading one of them I was thoroughly impressed with his work.
Something I have rarely encountered in a book is the author incorporating themselves into the story. Horowitz is Horowitz- an author looking to write a book about a murder, while also becoming a modern-day Dr. Watson in an investigation. Now, for those who know me, I am a sucker for any story that resembles Sherlock- making this book a perfect read for me.
The idea of Horowitz incorporating himself into the book fascinated me. It was like inception, and I couldn't help but think that everything happened as he was actually writing the book. It explained how he came up with the idea of the actual first page of the novel- it was pretty much reading a book about writing a book but it's all fiction. It was really unique and kept me wanting more.
The murder plot was also really thought out- a woman planning her own funeral before she's murdered is very strange but so interesting. There were so many twists and every time I suspected someone, something else happened to make me suspect someone else. The relationship between Tony and the Detective Inspector Hawthrowne also added a lot of depth to the plot. Hawthorne approached Horowitz and asked that a story be written about him. Tony agrees- but the two do bump heads a lot throughout the duration of the novel. Hawthorne is very set on solving the cases- and while Horowitz tags along to get information for the book, he ends up becoming somewhat of a crime-solving sidekick for Hawthorne. They both seem like very determined individuals, but often forget their places in certain situations. The tension between the two really does add to the plot though- in a good way.
I kind of got the feeling that I was reading through a game of Clue- the classic "Whodunit" mystery game. I love Clue, so this was a really cool aspect of the reading experience. I definitely found myself having to guess and really look at clues to decide who I wanted to suspect of the crimes. It was interactive and very fun.
This was a great read, and I cannot wait to go on to book two. Thank you once again to Harper Collins for sending me this title. And, thank you my fellow readers for tuning in.
See you all soon, and happy reading.