Another fun easy read starring caustic detective Hawthorne and the author himself as his slightly resentful sidekick. Slightly lacked the edge of the previous two, but nonetheless hugely enjoyable

I loved this book. A real twist on standard murder mystery novels, with Antony Horowitz being one of the main protagonists. Great character development and the Alderney setting added extra interest. I had no idea where this was going until the very end. A great holiday read

This is a very clever book by a very clever writer. I have read all three in the series and will definitely go for a fourth if/when it comes along. Plenty of other reviewers have waxed lyrical about the plot, the characters and the Alderney setting. I need not add more. But if you enjoy a really good classic whodunnit, this is for you.

Book 3 in the Hawthorne/Horowitz series.
In this one they are going to a book festival on the island of Alderney, where there has never been a murder. You know there is going to be one now though as Hawthorne is there and what better way for him to use his skills than to help track down the culprit.
Horowitz is teamed up with Hawthorne as they are out promoting the forthcoming book and they are not expecting a murder but inevitably it happens. Hawthorne knows the killer must be on the island with them and so the suspect pool is limited and he sets to work interviewing people and trying to find the killer with Horowitz in his wake recording it, just in case there could be a book in it.
There are an eclectic group of people in the book from a blind medium and a celebrity chef to the islanders and the lady organising the festival.
As ever a humorous and clever murder mystery with a good few twists as they attempt to find the killer. You follow along as the two of them go about looking at the clues and people. Numerous people looked to be in the frame for it but they can't all have done it and will Hawthorne get to the bottom of it?
It is another good read in the series and well worth reading. There are twists a plenty and a good one at the end when the killer is unveiled. Highly recommended.

This is very cleverly done, not as strong at the Magpie Murders but very engrossing and well done. He's a clever, intricate writer, and the books are very hard to put down.

This is the third book in the series and just as entertaining as the previous two. This series has a really unusual concept. Anthony Horowitz is writing about himself as an author and he is following, studying and writing about ex Scotland Yard Detective Daniel Hawthorne.

In this novel, the pair meet at the publishers and are invited to take part in a new literary festival on the island of Alderney. Horowitz is surprised that Hawthorne agrees to go and is irritated that he seems to have been more open, about himself, with the publishers, than he has ever been with Horowitz himself. Reflections on the relationship between the two characters is one of the things I like most in this series of books. It feels very real as if Horowitz is describing a real person. And then all his doubts and worries seem equally valid.

The pair go off to Alderney and appear at the festival and then there is a murder. Hawthorne is asked to help out with the investigation and of course this is the basis of book three. There are lots of references to the previous books in this one. I felt the book overall was a bit of a slower pace than the previous two - this in part may be down to the change of setting and a slower pace in Alderney is, perhaps appropriate. It was a very enjoyable read and I highly recommend starting with book one and reading all three, it is such a unique series.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t read the other two books in Horowitz’s Detective Hawthorne series, but I found A Line To Kill a very entertaining page-turner, which I raced through. I will definitely look out for the previous two books and any other upcoming books in this series - it’s been perfectly set up for a fourth instalment!

I found the idea of Horowitz featuring himself as an author character in the book such a novel idea, which I absolutely loved. I also loved the different layers of the books - how the publishing industry works, the Literature Festival in Alderney, Alderney’s WWII occupation by German troops and of course the murder and investigation.

The book is a real page-turner and paced well and the suspense is heightened when it becomes clear that all the authors participating in the Literature Festival and the islanders themselves are all harbouring secrets and the island goes into a lockdown whilst the investigation takes place.

A LINE TO KILL by Anthony Horowitz was an entertaining, light-hearted read and I was hooked from page one.

The story is set on the Isle of Alderney, Channel Islands. where the Alderney Book Festival is being held.
Anthony (the author) receives an invitation from his publisher to be accompanied by Daniel Hawthorne, an ex Detective Inspector, who is working as an investigator. A murder is committed during the festival and Anthony & Hawthorne are asked to investigate.

Hawthorn is my favourite character in the the book. There are memorable characters to like and dislike throughout the story with red herrings around every corner! I enjoyed the quirkiness and witty dialogue this story offered and the ending is superb! Never saw it coming.

I give a 5 star rating. I enjoyed every page of the book!

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AN ADVANCED COPY OF THIS BOOK FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

I'm a huge fan of Horowitz's work and this one definitely hit all the spots. This story is cleverly written with layers of mystery and suspense. This also provides some fascinating insights into publishing industry. Love his writing style, subtle jokes and the plot. Another brilliant work by Horowitz and definitely recommend.

‘Mystery’ books are not normally my cup of tea – but oh, what a joy this was! I was really surprised that I enjoyed it so much and will definitely source the other books in the series. I was a bit confused at the beginning, and thought the first few pages were just a bit of blurb from the author. Then it dawned on me that he was actually ‘in’ the book. Such a clever start. A really well-written story that was easy to read, entertaining, and fun rather than thrilling. I loved all the characters, especially Deputy Chief Torode, who came across as a bit of a dope and was more concerned about his empty stomach than who’d committed the murder(s). I laughed out loud when he was talking about the housekeeper who arrived to clean the house just after a body had been found. “I asked if she might be able to rustle up some lunch,” Torode said, “Those steak and kidney pies were very good. But they were small.” His assistant, Special Constable Whitlock, was a bit of a comic too and it seemed like she wanted to be anywhere else on earth than helping on this case. Torode asked her to make him a cup of tea and she went rummaging through the cupboards. “It was hardly a testament to her investigative skills that so far she had been able to find a tea bag.” Isn’t it funny how some little things just tickle you?
I loved the dynamic between the author and Hawthorne – just magic to read! There were lots of red herrings and twists and turns and, of course, the culprit was exposed at the end due to Hawthorne’s brilliant investigative skills. I’m quite surprised that I am giving this book 5 stars, but I can’t think of anything about it that I didn’t like … so I am!
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for allowing me to read the ARC in return for an honest review.

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz
I think that I have read all of Anthony Horowitz’ work and I find the ingenuity of his writing fascinating. Having read the previous two Daniel Hawthorne novels and I could not say the investigator is endearing but he is interesting. In this novel he travels with the author to a book festival on the island of Alderney. (My daughter lives in Guernsey so the location was a big draw. ) I really enjoy the way in which Hawthorne picks up all the clues whilst the author depicts himself as bumbling along in the investigator’s wake.
This novel is intriguing and also great fun. It is immensely readable and I sped through the novel in order to establish who had carried out the murder. I love the way Anthony Horowitz has written himself into the novel and also the fact that the people at the book festival are so much more interested in Hawthorne than in him.
I will be recommending this novel to my various book groups and will wait eagerly for the next outing for Hawthorne and Horowitz. I would like to thank Anthony Horowitz, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz
I give this book 4 stars

Alderney the perfect location for a brand-new literary festival. Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne has been invited to talk about his new book. The writer, Anthony Horowitz, travels with him.
The visiting authors - including a blind medium, a French performance poet and a celebrity chef - seem to be harbouring any number of unpleasant secrets.
When the festival's wealthy sponsor is found brutally killed, Alderney goes into lockdown and Hawthorne knows that he doesn't have to look too far for suspects.
There's no escape. The killer is still on the island. And there's about to be a second death...

This is another classic murder mystery from an author who puts himself into the book. I absolutely love this clever concept and the writing style.What more could you ask for……a bunch of suspects,scattered clues,a few red herrings thrown in and the right amount of twists to make this a highly enjoyable and entertaining must read book!
With thanks to Anthony Horowitz,Netgalley and Random House UK Cornerstone for my chance to read and review this book.

A well thought out, enjoyable who done it. It reads like a real life story.
At the start I thought I was reading a note from the author but it’s actually the story.
I didn’t work out who did it.

This was very entertaining. I haven’t read the first two in the series but that didn’t matter. Anthony Horowitz has written himself into the story! He has been hired to write three books about a famous detective called Hawthorne and it is with him that he attends a literary festival on Alderney. Horowitz is self-deprecating throughout and plays the Hastings / Watson role very well. It makes the story seem more real even though it is clearly not. A murder is committed and, naturally, there are many people with a motive, most of whom are lying about something. This is great fun and I hope the very end means there is more mileage in the relationship between Hawthorne and Horowitz. Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC.

This is an enjoyable, classic detective story, and I should have been aware of this from the very beginning as it would have made the reading even more fun. The text gives all the clues needed to solve the mystery properly; red herrings are abundant, and I am happy to report that I fell on their path (the writer-narrator-compiler of A Line to Kill, an homonymous Anthony Horowitz) also took a wrong turn... which of course adds to the enjoyment.

This is the third in the series of (Daniel) Hawthorne, a real ex-Scotland Yard detective who gets Horowitz to write his real-life cases. I thought of his 19c literary (sur)namesake, Nathaniel Hawthorne, as our detective is interested in justice but has a clearly dark past which is discovered bit by bit in each novel instalment. Somehow his persona is being constructed in each novel. The narrator-scribe is discovering Hawthorne exactly as we do - he does not know his backstory so he does not give it to us, and we don't have any insight onto his thoughts... this is a first person narrator, not at all omniscient. Obviously one thinks of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, but the actual author conceit is quite fun and gives you some entry in the writing and publishing process, which I find interesting.

All in all, an entertaining, well put together puzzle centred here in Alderney, one of the Channel Islands, and a bunch of successful unsavoury characters... it is a closed-room mystery à la Christie too with contemporary elements: the literary festival, the internet connections, the environmental concerns... A holiday read which will introduce you to a very real literary little-known gem...

Many thanks to Random House Century via NetGalley for an advance copy of this eminently entertaining story

I have been looking forward to reading this book ever since I finished The Sentence is Death. This series has quickly become one of my favourites and I wait on tenterhooks for each new instalment to be released.

This story is very much a traditional locked-room mystery except the locked room is a small island. Anthony Horowitz inserts himself as a character in these stories, playing Watson to Hawthorne’s Holmes.

the story is fun and quirky, it pays homage to great detective novel writes of the past without ever losing its unique voice.

It's a page-turner that throws out a lot of red herrings until the killer is caught at which point you realise that you have been played because it was so obvious who the killer was once Hawthorne explains it all.

This is the third in a series, but, can absolutely be read as a stand alone.
It's an interesting plot line, author writes himself into the narrative of a murder mystery and involving a group of writers invited to the small island of Alderney to attend a book festival.
It's cleverly written, witty and engaging. For me though, it lacked something. It's an easy, Midsomer Murders type narrative and for those looking for a lighthearted murder mystery, this is for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview and I'd say this is an easy breezy 3* Good Read.

When Private investigator Daniel Hawthorne and writer Anthony Horowitz are asked to go to a writers conference on the island of Alderney Hawthorne and Anthony are prepared for a quiet time preparing for their next book and advertising their current book. They are not expecting murder, blackmail and corruption but find that they are requested to help the local Police with their investigation.
This is an easy book to read with lots to keep you guessing

Author Anthony Horowitz is invited to a literary festival in Alderney, along with retired Detective, Daniel Hawthorne, who he collaborated with on his latest book. There’s no crime to speak of in Alderney, at least not until the sponsor of the festival is murdered.
I was a bit confused at first, as I thought the author was just giving a bit of a preamble, then it clicked that that was actually the start of the book, so I ended up starting again, to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. Once I realised this, I got into the book quite easily, although I didn’t take to Hawthorne, or some of the other characters, like the chef and the poet. As you would expect from this author, it was well written and plotted. There are enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested, with a satisfying ending too.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A Line to Kill is the third book in this Anthony Horowitz series. This series stands out because Horowitz as himself is both the narrator and a participant in the narrative as he is shadowing Hawthorne who is a former detective now working as a consultant to the police. It was Hawthorne’s idea that Horowitz write about him and the implication is that Horowitz is doing so reluctantly. Over the course of events, Horowitz becomes assistant detective and has to tip toe round Hawthorne’s ego but underneath there is a reluctant admission of mutual respect

This story is set on the island of Alderney which is hosting its first literary festival. It's just before the publication of the first novel ‘The Word is Murder’ and it's an opportunity to introduce Hawthorne to the literary world.

There is a dispute about a proposed pipeline that has divided the island even before the authors arrive and the fun starts. The mystery is very much in Agatha Christie vein - murders in a small, closed community, with visitors and a bumbling police chief and his sidekick. No one is who they seem to be. Everyone has secrets that are revealed as Hawthorne investigates.

The ending seems to be inevitable and a bit of an anticlimax as Horowitz remarks and then it swerves in another direction that provides a new moral dimension to the murder and a satisfying ending to the book.

The book is well written and was a relaxing, engaging read. The multiple layers of author as narrator and character enhances the storytelling - as the murder hunt uncovers layers to characters and events, readers also get to see the layer of an author commenting on the story he will have to write. I enjoyed it immensely.

The ending hinted at the storyline for a 4th book. I hope that will happen. ‘The Word is Murder’, ‘The Sentence is Death’, ‘A Line to Kill’ and ‘A Paragraph of ……’ !?

I am very grateful to NetGalley and Random House UK Cornerstone for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.