The Word is Murder: A Novel (A Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery) - Softcover

Horowitz, Anthony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1443455504 ISBN 13: 9781443455503

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2019

Synopsis

A Guardian “Best Thriller of the Year”

Anthony Horowitz has delivered yet another twist on the classic crime novel with this contemporary take on Sherlock Holmes. The Word Is Murder is original and suspenseful and a masterful amalgam of homage and parody.

The New York Times–bestselling author of Magpie Murders and Moriarty brilliantly reinvents the classic crime novel once again with this clever mystery starring a fictional version of the author himself as Watson to a modern-day Holmes. Both are investigating a case involving buried secrets, murder and a trail of bloody clues.

On a bright spring morning, a woman goes into a funeral parlour to plan her own service. Six hours later she is dead, strangled with a crimson curtain cord in her own home.

Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne and his partner, the celebrated novelist Anthony Horowitz, curious about the case and looking for new material. But as the case unfolds, Horowitz realizes he’s at the centre of a story he can’t control . . . and that his brilliant partner may be hiding dark and mysterious secrets of his own.

 

About this title

From the Back Cover

A stunning, intricate new mystery by the author of The New York Times bestseller Magpie Murders

One bright spring morning in London, Diana Cowper—the wealthy mother of a famous actor—enters a funeral parlour. She is there to plan her own service.

Six hours later she is found dead in her own home, strangled with a curtain cord.

Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric investigator who is as quick with an insult as he is to crack a case. Hawthorne needs a ghostwriter to document his life—a Watson to his Holmes. He chooses Anthony Horowitz.

Drawn in against his will, Horowitz soon finds himself at the centre of a story he cannot control. Hawthorne is brusque, temperamental and annoying, but even so, his latest case, with its many twists and turns, proves irresistible. The writer and the detective form an unusual partnership. But it soon becomes clear that Hawthorne is hiding some dark secrets of his own.

A masterful and tricky mystery that springs many surprises, The Word Is Murder is Anthony Horowitz at his very best.

About the Author

ANTHONY HOROWITZ is the author of the US bestselling Magpie Murders and The Word is Murder, and one of the most prolific and successful writers in the English language; he may have committed more (fictional) murders than any other living author. His novel Trigger Mortis features original material from Ian Fleming. His most recent Sherlock Holmes novel, Moriarty, is a reader favorite; and his bestselling Alex Rider series for young adults has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide. As a TV screenwriter, he created both Midsomer Murders and the BAFTA-winning Foyle’s War on PBS. Horowitz regularly contributes to a wide variety of national newspapers and magazines, and in January 2014 was awarded an OBE.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1443455504
• ISBN 13: 9781443455503
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432