Book Review: The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

The Word is Murder

Author: Anthony Horowitz

Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher

Date of Publication: June 5, 2018

Pages: 400

     This novel represents a truly unique take on the thriller/mystery genre.  The premise is intriguing: An older lady calmly walks into a London undertaker and plans her own funeral.  Later that night she is strangled in her home.  The victim's son is a very famous theater and movie star who currently lives in Los Angeles.  The celebrity factor of this murder puts added pressure on the London police who have no clue as to who might have been the murderer.  The police hire Daniel Hawthorne, a master detective but difficult and flawed human being.  Hawthorne was fired by Scotland Yard years before for reasons that don't become clear until mid-way in the story.  The dishonored detective is used frequently as a consultant, especially on hard to solve and high profile cases.  Needing income, Hawthorne wants a writer to follow him along on this case to document things and eventually write a book about the case.  In a very interesting plot device, Hawthorne hires Anthony Horowitz!  The author puts himself in the fictional story as a first person narrator.  It sounds like a weird contrivance, but it works and it works splendidly!

     The author becomes Watson to Hawthorne's Holmes, at times becoming a detective himself as he tries to learn more about his reclusive subject and solve the case at the same time.  The two main characters don't particularly like each other which adds tension and some humor to the story line.  Hawthorne and Horowitz, working together cover great portions of London tracking down clues and suspects.  The two become competitive at one point and go in different directions to attempt to one-up each other.  Years prior to the current murder, the victim was a driver in a hit and run accident which resulted in the death of a toddler.  This sets the stage for a revenge motive which the detective and writer explore at great lengths.  There are other suspects and motives which are cleverly woven into this complex but entertaining plot line.  The story comes to a surprising and frightening conclusion, complete with a dramatic rescue.

     Modern London is also a star in this novel.  Horowitz has a keen eye for detail and enables the reader to feel as if he has been to that marvelous city.  Having just returned from a vacation in London and Liverpool, I was entertained by the descriptions of the many neighborhoods and districts of London traversed by the two main characters. 

     This is the first of a planned Daniel Hawthorne series and I look forward to future installments.  The Word is Murder is fantastic start to what I hope becomes a long series.