The Word Is Murder: A Novel (Hawthorne & Horowitz #1) [B0196]

2019 PB in nice clean condition. SHE PLANNED HER OWN FUNERAL. BUT DID SHE ARRANGE HER OWN MURDER? New York Times bestselling author of Magpie Murders and Moriarty, Anthony Horowitz has yet again brilliantly reinvented the classic crime novel, this time writing a fictional version of himself as the Watson to a modern-day Holmes. One bright spring morning in London, Diana Cowper - the wealthy mother of a famous actor - enters a funeral parlor. She is there to plan her own service. Six hours later she is found dead, strangled with a curtain cord in her own home. Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric investigator who's as quick with an insult as he is to crack a case. Hawthorne needs a ghost writer to document his life; a Watson to his Holmes. He chooses Anthony Horowitz. Drawn in against his will, Horowitz soon finds himself a the center 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. At the same time, 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.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "I didn’t expect the author to put himself in the book as a character and I found it weird at first but soon got used to it and then loved it. The story itself was very well done and had me gripped near the end. Overall, great book and I plan to read the others in the series."; "Finally another mystery/crime book that I enjoy! The crime/mystery itself is very engaging. It grabbed me from the start with its unusual premise. And the pacing is just right because even though there aren't that many suspects, the story never feels like it dragged on."; "I loved this book! It kept me guessing the entire time. Every time Anthony (the author) and I thought we had it figured out, we were wrong!"; "Reread this after this years. Brilliant writing! The concept of writing yourself into a novel is rather interesting, and could have gone wrong, but it was so well done. Getting sucked into this series again, and I’m not mad about it :)"