Close to Death is the fifth book in the ‘Hawthorne and Horowitz’ series in which the author is featured as the assistant to Daniel Hawthorne, a former detective inspector.

Giles Kenworthy, a hedge fund manager, opens the front door of his home late one evening and is murdered. Detective Superintendent Tariq Khan calls in Daniel Hawthorne to investigate.

Kenworthy lived in a gated community of six houses close to the River Thames. The sturdy entrance gate had not been forced. When Hawthorne discovers how much Kenworthy’s neighbours hated him, he wonders if the killing could be an ‘inside job’. He decides to investigate the home owners before looking further afield.

All the ‘suspects’ appear to be respectable: a dentist married to an accountant; a doctor married to a designer; a chess master married to the sister of a wife he had divorced; a retired barrister still missing his wife who died of cancer; and two elderly widows who own a bookshop.

The author adds himself into the murder mystery and does some sleuthing, managing to get interviews by casually mentioning that he writes books for children. They know his name and are more than willing to chat to this minor celebrity. This strategy works as Horowitz is able to tell us information Hawthorne doesn’t want us to know.

Close to Death is clever, tantalising and humorous. I have one negative comment: repetition. The first 64 pages set the scene, introducing us to Riverview Close, the gated community. This introduction is superfluous. When Hawthorne interviews Kenworthy’s neighbours, they give us this information.

Reviewed by Clive Hodges

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anthony is one of the most prolific and successful writers working in the UK – and is unique for working across so many media. Anthony is a born polymath; juggling writing books, TV series, films, plays and journalism. Anthony has written over 50 books including the bestselling teen spy series Alex Rider, which is estimated to have sold 21 million copies worldwide and has been turned into a hugely successful TV series by Amazon Freevee. A third series has just been filmed and the fourteenth Alex Rider novel, Nightshade: Revenge will be published in 2023.

Anthony is also an acclaimed writer for adults and was commissioned to write two new Sherlock Holmes novels The House of Silk and Moriarty. He was commissioned by the Ian Fleming Estate to write continuation novels for James Bond with Trigger Mortis and Forever and Day, published in 2015 and 2018 respectively. A third novel in the series With a Mind to Kill was published in May 2022.

Anthony is responsible for creating and writing some of the UK’s most beloved and successful television series, producing the first seven episodes (and the title) of Midsomer Murders. He is the writer and creator of award-winning drama series Foyle’s War, which was the Winner of the Lew Grade Audience award for BAFTA. DCS Foyle was voted the nation’s favourite detective in 2011. Anthony has also written other original complex dramas for ITV, particularly thrillers. Collision, a major five part “state of the nation” piece was transmitted on ITV1 in November 2009 to seven million viewers a night. He followed this with the equally successful legal thriller Injustice, also for ITV 1 – transmitted in June 2011. Foyle’s War returned in March 2013 as a Cold War thriller and was greeted with such critical acclaim and demands for more that he wrote one final series, bringing the show to an end in January 2015. Anthony’s series, New Blood, premiered on the BBC in 2016.

In 2019 Anthony became a Patron to Home-Start in Suffolk, a small local family support charity working with families across the Suffolk county, as they navigate through challenging circumstances such as mental health issues, bereavement, long term or terminal illness, isolation, domestic abuse, poverty and so much more. The valuable work the organisation does right in the heart of the community – bringing together trained volunteers into families lives to support them both practically and emotionally, helping them to grow in confidence and empowering them with the skills to raise their children to flourish – is why Anthony chose to support this dedicated and hardworking charity.

Visit Anthony Horowitz’s website