Reviews

The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

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testaroscia's review against another edition

5.0

Another nice twist to the genre. I might need to read Paul Auster's New York trilogy but there are few whodunnits that so actively blend the author into the tale. Very well executed, blending of fact and fiction.

dunnadam's review

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5.0

An excellent book. [b:Magpie Murders|32075854|Magpie Murders|Anthony Horowitz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1504599398s/32075854.jpg|3829748] was my favourite book last year and this one was just as good. I was annoyed that the North American release date was six months after the UK date.
It was hard to keep fact and fiction separate, it kept me guessing and awake nights turning pages. I'm loving Horowitz so far!

kba76's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Word is Murder is the kind of book that I can imagine many will hate. A take on the Sherlock Holmes stories, this has an ex-detective as the main focus in a murder investigation that makes little sense. Like Marmite, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Diana Cowper is a wealthy woman. She visits an undertakers to make arrangements for her funeral. Hours later she is strangled. Nobody is sure why, or whether she will have known about what was to pass.
Anthony Horowitz inserts himself into the book, acting as a writer tasked by Hawthorne with writing about his work. From the outset they rub each other up the wrong way.
Without giving details away, the investigation takes a darkly comic turn. There are plenty of skeletons in the closet and, throughout, we see Horowitz’s slightly detached take on events. I’m not wholly sure how serious this is, but I can certainly say I enjoyed it.