Anthony Horowitz must be one of our most prolific current authors, seemingly able to write novels, plays and television scripts in huge numbers, without ever compromising quality. This latest book is another in the highly entertaining series featuring jaded former policeman Daniel Hawthorne and the author himself, as the former’s (frequently reluctant) sidekick.

This time around, Horowitz tweaks the format slightly, and revisits an old case that Hawthorne had investigated several years ago, on that occasion assisted by a different sidekick. The plot centres on a gated community of properties in Richmond, in southwest London. One of the residents, with whom all the other residents had had occasion to row shortly beforehand, is murdered, shot through the neck by a crossbow bolt. While all the neighbours are initially considered to be suspects, one come to the fore as the owner of the crossbow that had been used. This suspicion seems to have been vindicated when he apparently commits suicide. The case is closed.

Several years later, Horowitz is persuaded to look at the case more closely, and explores it further, although this time it is Hawthorne who is reluctant to delve more deeply.

This is another well crafted and enjoyable novel, full of twists, and I didn’t spot the killer. ( )

The format seems to be coming under strain, and perhaps Horowitz is trying to move away from the Holmes and reluctant, resentful, Watson set-up of the earlier books. The introduction of an organisation behind Hawthorne alters the dynamic as well, diminishing his status and the power of his character. There are still mysteries to be solved about his background, but I no longer care. I did like the way the fiction of Hawthorne carries over into the Acknowledgements section.

For me the biggest mystery is the map. Richmond is east of Petersham, not west. The Fox & Duck is a real pub on Petersham Road, so perhaps the arrow pointing west to Richmond is just to emphasise Riverview Close is not a real place and stop people from going out trying to find it. Or maybe it's some sort of in joke.

Horowitz continues to play with with genre in fun and interesting ways. A well-plotted mystery with loads of characters (and a map!) but intrepid whodunit readers still have a shot at figuring it out. The rest of us are just happy to read along and enjoy the show. ( )

4.5⭐

The fifth installment of the acclaimed Hawthorne & Horowitz series follows Anthony Horowitz (the fictionalized version of the author) as he revisits one of Hawthorne’s older cases from five years ago – to be featured in his next book.

When one of the residents of Riverview Close, an affluent gated community comprising six houses, is murdered with a crossbow bolt, local law enforcement calls in former Detective Inspector Anthony Hawthorne to assist. The deceased, Giles Kenworthy, who only recently moved into the community with his family was despised by all of his neighbors and it was evident that none of them were particularly grief-stricken by the tragic turn of events. It was also clear to the lead investigator Detective Superintendent Tariq Khan, Hawthorne and his then-partner John Dudley that the residents knew more about the murder than they were letting on and finding the truth was going to be more complicated than any of them had anticipated because all of his neighbors had their own reasons for wanting Giles gone.

Unlike in the previous installments, Horowitz has to rely on case notes, recorded interviews and discussions with Hawthorne, whom Horowitz believes is withholding crucial information. Parallel to researching the closed case, Horowitz also indulges in his personal quest to find out more about Hawthorne, John Dudley and their associates. The narrative switches between past and present timelines – Hawthorne and Dudley’s investigation from five years ago and Horowitz’s pursuit of details from the case and his own investigation into Hawthorne.

With a cast of interesting characters, a fluid narrative and a solid mystery at its core Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz is a cleverly plotted whodunit that is reminiscent of classic locked-room murder mysteries. I thought that this installment was relatively more intense than the preceding books and though I did miss the element of humor that arises from Hawthorne and Horowitz’s usual dynamic, I thoroughly enjoyed following the mystery as it is gradually unraveled. The narrative does suffer from minor repetition, but this does not detract from the overall reading experience. The author skillfully weaves several sub-plots featuring the characters into the primary narrative without distracting the reader from the murder mystery. I was engrossed in the mystery from the get-go and loved the twists and red herrings along the way. Though the primary mystery does not feature Horowitz in his traditional role as Hawthorne’s (bumbling) sidekick, he does have a significant role to play in how several loose ends are tied up in the present day.

I paired my reading with the audio narration by Anthony Horowitz and Rory Kinnear, which made for a thoroughly entertaining immersion reading experience.

I feel that this book would be best enjoyed if you are familiar with the previous installments, especially to grasp the significance of the events in the present timeline and the references to past events.

I'll be eagerly awaiting the next book in this series! ( )

In the absence of a new case, Anthony Horowitz decides to take a look at one of Daniel Hawthorne’s earlier cases: the death, by crossbow no less, of an obnoxious man living in a formerly close-knit enclosed neighbourhood, or close. There are any number of suspects amongst the neighbours, as the victim had caused problems for them all, including destroying a valuable chess set owned by a chess grandmaster, the hideous death of a dog beloved by two little old ladies (ex-nuns!), the destruction of a garden bed kept in memory of a deceased wife, an ongoing dispute concerning parking which resulted in an unnecessary death, and more. Horowitz is warned that he won’t like the outcome, but once he’s started there’s no turning back….If you’re unfamiliar with the Hawthorne and Horowitz books, you must immediately turn to the first one (“The Word Is Murder”) and read that and the other three before returning to this, the fifth book in this very strange series. As you might gather from the brief synopsis above, this is super-meta in structure: the author is himself a character in the novel, and he often refers to real books that he has written in real life (including the four of this series, and the Alex Rider YA series, among others). Here, we are going back and forth between two time periods (2014 and 2019), but it is easy for the reader to keep them straight, and the story itself and its denouement is quite stunning. I really love these books, so of course this one is highly recommended, but as noted above, start at the beginning of the series please! ( )