Loved this new take on how the murder mystery story is told. Id love to have seen some transcripts of conversations but really enjoyed the plotting and the very meta way this was written. Always a pleasure to ready Horowitz.

** “Everyone had the capacity to commit murder, even the most cold-blooded killers had a grain of goodness buried somewhere inside them, if you just looked hard enough.” **

Anthony Horowitz continues his Hawthorne and Horowitz series with “Close to Death,” an intriguing mystery where the author inserts himself as a character.

Horowitz once again works with former Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne to develop another detective novel — this one about a case Hawthorne had worked on about five years prior.

Told in the usual alternating pattern — one section with Horowitz and Hawthorne discussing the case, one section of portions of the book Horowitz writes — the author works through the case of Riverview Close, an enclosed neighborhood where several deaths occur.

Will Hawthorne, and therefore eventually Horowitz, be able to figure out the true cause of the various deaths? And will a book therefore ever be able to be developed about the case?

As always, Horowitz does a great job of creating delightfully zany and enigmatic characters with a plot filled with twists and turns, leaving the reader guessing until the very end. His almost lock-roomed-mystery story also has a refreshingly novel component with allowing himself to be a main character.

Fans of authors like Agatha Christie and other classic whodunnits will love this book.

Five stars out of five.

Harper provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.

I love Anthony Horowitz's novels, especially those in his Hawthorne and Horowitz series. While this fifth entry is clever and mind-twisting, it's not quite up to the standards of the others. The focus of the story is situated in Riverside Close, a small subdivision (in American parlance) filled with characters who are both stereotypical and memorable. First, a particularly loathsome newcomer is murdered with a bolt from a crossbow and then the likely suspect is found dead by suicide in a locked garage (with touches of a classic locked-room mystery). Hawthorne is hired by the police to investigate, which he does with his new sidekick Dudley; both of them are former police officers. And Horowitz, as usual, tells the story, inserting himself much less frequently than in the previous books. By the time of the writing, the case is five years old and Hawthorne is controlling Horowitz's work by doling out information piece by piece. Yet, Horowitz pieces those pieces together and provides a solution that not many readers will see coming. The book will appeal to many readers, especially those who have read the previous books in the series. And while Horowitz's role in the story is not as robust in the previous books, diminishing the fun of the series a bit, Close to Death is still a wonderful read.

Thank you @netgalley for this #arc about a neighborhood feud that ends in murder. It’s out today in the US!

I’ve been pretty fortunate with my neighbors over the years, but this neighborhood would have driven me bonkers - both the rude new neighbors and the existing ones (I’m looking at you little old ladies who let your dog roam free and poop wherever!).

While I’ve LOVED this series, I’m starting to feel a bit iffy about it. Mostly I’m frustrated with the lack of backstory for Hawthorne. Each book just raises more questions. I get that the questions are supposed to keep me coming back, but this was book five. Give me something!

It’s starting to feel like one of those series where the author was not prepared for it to be a success and hadn’t really thought beyond the first, maybe second, book. Do you know what I mean?

I realize I’m criticizing Anthony Horowitz here, and am fully prepared for book six to leave me feeling like a dummy with how perfectly woven together everything is, but for now that’s how I feel.

Synopsis:
Riverside Close is a picture-perfect community. The six exclusive and attractive houses are tucked far away from the noise and grime of city life, allowing the residents to enjoy beautiful gardens, pleasant birdsong, and tranquility from behind the security of a locked gate.

It is the perfect idyll, until the Kentworthy family arrives, with their four giant, gas-guzzling cars, gaggle of shrieking children, and plans for a garish swimming pool in the backyard. Obvious outsiders, the Kentworthys do not belong in Riverside Close, and quickly offend every last one of the neighbors.

When Giles Kentworthy is found dead on his own doorstep, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest, Detective Hawthorne is the only investigator they can call to solve the case.

This book is something a little different for this series, and while I did enjoy it, at about the 10% mark I was fairly confused and double checking that I was reading the book I thought I was reading. There is less direct contact between Hawthorne and Horowitz in this story, and I missed having more of their banter. That said, it's an intriguing, clever mystery, and this continues to be a series I dare not miss out on.

The literary sidekick has been a staple of detective fiction since Dr. John Watson began penning his memoirs that detailed the exploits of his roommate, Sherlock Holmes. However, few authors have taken the concept to the extent that the prolific Anthony Horowitz has. In the so-called “Hawthorne & Horowitz” series, the sidekick is not John Watson, a former army surgeon. Instead, it’s Anthony Horowitz, the best-selling author of the “Alex Rider” series and numerous other works featuring James Bond and even Sherlock Holmes. Although the concept of the best-selling author tailing along with a brilliant but eccentric detective is quite meta, Horowitz hasn’t been content just to replicate his successful formula. Instead, he inserts additional twists and variations. His latest Hawthorne novel, “Close to Death,” is his most audacious in the series and a brilliant triumph as a whodunit, a howdunit, and as meta a detective story as you’ll find.

For those unfamiliar with the Hawthorne & Horowitz series, Hawthorne is a former cop who is still called in by the authorities to consult on complex cases. At Hawthorne’s request, Horowitz tags along on those investigations and turns them into best-selling novels. In the finest Holmes/Watson tradition, Horowitz sees everything and understands nothing as Hawthorne pulls off his incredible feats of deduction. As “Close to Death” begins, the fictional Anthony Horowitz is under deadline pressure from his publisher to produce a new volume in the popular series. The problem is, Hawthorne’s caseload won’t cooperate. Instead of Holmesian puzzlers, the detective has been working on solving mundane crimes that don’t become best-selling mysteries. So, Horowitz suggests the detective recount an earlier case from before the two met. Hawthorne reluctantly complies after warning the author he probably won’t like the ending (the first of many clever bits of foreshadowing in the book).

The murder in “Close to Death” takes place in Riverview Close, a private subdivision with six homes, the remnants of a former large estate on the Thames. The victim is Giles Kenworthy, the close’s newest resident, who was the proverbial neighbor from Hell. His family’s boorish conduct angered all the other residents, which led to someone shooting him with a bolt from a crossbow. That death is followed a couple of days later by the apparent suicide of Roderick Browne, the crossbow’s owner, under circumstances that suggest no one could have murdered him. Of course, anyone who has ever read this type of mystery knows that apparent suicides rarely are, especially when committed in locations that seem sealed off from an outside murderer’s access.

Take away the present-day framing device, and “Close to Death” is an excellent example of the Golden Age mysteries exemplified by the works of Agatha Christie (who gets a shout-out in the book). The characters are colorful, not the stereotypes readers often find in these books. Roderick Browne is the self-described “dentist to the stars.” (He has a picture of him with Ewen McGregor prominently displayed in his house.) Browne’s immediate next-door neighbors are a pair of 80ish former nuns who run a combination cafe and mystery bookstore appropriately called the Tea Cosy. Another neighbor is a chess grandmaster who has occasionally tangled with Magnus Carlsen.
The author also plays scrupulously fair with readers in the finest classical mystery tradition. He reveals every necessary bit of business, sometimes more than once. The locked room mystery’s solution is worthy of John Dickson Carr. It’s the type of elaborate scheme that mystery writers love to write and their fans love to read, but which may not hold up well on close examination. As you might expect, Hawthorne eventually confronts the killer and explains his reasoning and the howdunit aspects of the case in intricate detail.

However, there’s much more to “Close to Death” than an entertaining classical mystery. Anthony Horowitz has clearly enjoyed inserting himself in this series and continues that tradition here. He gives an autographed copy of an “Alex Rider” book to an investigating detective whose son is a big fan. He also drops hints about what’s coming in the James Bond series, including providing the main villain’s name. In the Acknowledgments at the end of “Close to Death,” Horowitz thanks some of the minor characters in the novel for helping him with the manuscript. In his last Hawthorne book, “The Twist of a Knife,” he’s even arrested for murder and hopes Hawthorne can clear him.

Although “The Twist of a Knife” might seem about as meta a mystery as possible, Horowitz has topped himself here. Once Hawthorne agrees to provide the author with details of the five-year-old case, he gives Horowitz extensive case notes and recordings made at the time. However, Hawthorne releases this information piecemeal so that Horowitz can only write a few chapters at a time as Hawthorne critiques them. He’s especially hard on Horowitz, who provides imagined (and incorrect) details about the characters’ physical appearance and other matters. So, Horowitz begins his own present-day investigation into the crime, interviewing the remaining residents of Riverview Chase and learning the fates of others. To paraphrase a character in the recent film, “Madame Web”: “Hawthorne novels are a whole new level of meta these days.”

In the end, readers get answers, both to the mysterious deaths at Riverview Close and Hawthorne’s equally mysterious past. That’s been a subtext of the Hawthorne novels from the beginning, as Horowitz tries to learn what makes his eccentric partner tick. Readers who have followed the series from the start will learn more about Hawthorne’s character here than in the other four novels combined, although many questions remain. Anthony Horowitz has said he envisioned telling Hawthorne’s story over ten volumes. However, there’s an air of possible finality here that might make “Close to Death” the final chapter in the saga. If so, it’s a great conclusion to a great concept from a highly talented mystery writer.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

I have long been a fan of this series and was so excited to get an early copy of this latest edition. I loved it. The mystery, the back and forth timelines, a hint into Hawthorne's background. A must for fans of Anthony Horowitz, British mysteries or Masterpiece Theater!

This is another solid addition to the Hawthorne & Horowitz series. Those familiar with the series will find this novel to be different in that the case is solved retrospectively based on a past case that Hawthorne worked on prior to joining forces with Horowitz. A well-told English mystery in the classic tradition of the locked room mystery. Readers who have not read other novels in the series will still be able to enjoy the story, but it will be best enjoyed after reading at least one or two of the earlier novels.

I didn't enjoy this Hawthorne and Horowitz book Close to Death, as well as the previous ones. Maybe because there wasn't as much interaction between the two characters. The story revolves around a murder in a gated community and does have some interesting characters who live there. Hawthorne is called in to consult with the police and solves the mystery of course but Horowitz doesn't get envolved until years later when he has to come up with a new book for his publisher and picks this cold case.

I can’t tell you how relieved I am to have really enjoyed this book. I am a devoted reader of everything Anthony Horowitz writes for adults. He’s one of my absolute favorites and a complete Auto buy author for me. So, I very quickly Downloaded this arc when it became available to me.

I really liked this installment in the series. He changes the format in an interesting way and at first I wasn’t sure it was going to work. But as I got into it I realized I really liked it. I liked the fact that he and Horowitz were not actually together very much in this book. It’s weird, but Anthony Horowitz doesn’t like the character he created in Daniel Hawthorne. so by keeping them apart, it allowed us to still get the brilliance of Daniel Hawthorne as a detective while also not having to deal with their irritability together.

This book was serpentine in a lot of ways. And I liked it a lot. The plot was very smartly constructed even though there were parts for I was sort of giving it side eye. I enjoyed the fact that I would think he was going into direction that I thought was kind of cheesy or overly detailed and then I could see that he had done that on purpose because then he would pull it back and make everything make a lot of sense.

Anthony Horowitz is just really clever and I enjoy his plot machinery. I also really like just the way that he writes the mystery. These aren’t super heavy on character development but you get enough both of character development and place development to really make things interesting. And the place in this novel was a character of its own. We have six houses clustered together in a small park like almost bucolic setting in the center of London. The way that all the characters lived together so closely and also their varying levels of relationship was very fun to watch.

So overall big sigh of relief. I get the impression this might be the last in this series and I think if it is it will have ended really well.

Anthony Horowitz delivers yet another clever story-within-a-story with Close to Death. Here the gated community of Riverside Close has all the amenities a resident would want, until the annoying Kentworthy family moves in. Their self-centered antics disturb their neighbors so much so that Giles Kentworthy is found dead. Horowitz puts a modern spin on the "locked room" mysteries of the Golden Age of Crime. Fans of Horowitz's mysteries will find this story intriguing and will be wondering until the very end who the murderer is.

The Hawthorne series is one of my favorites. I find Horowitz's writing to be funny, engaging and clever and this one is no exception.

I found the beginning of this story a bit slower to move and I had a hard time keeping track of all the neighbors at first. And it got more complicated before it started to unravel so I found the pacing to be a bit less engaging than the others in the series.

But I loved the meta nature like in the others and I loved jumping in and out of the story. I also loved to find out a bit more about Hawthorne's past which I assume will be more of a plot line in upcoming stories.

As always, the ending and how it all comes together is very clever and so fast that I had to read it twice! I can't wait for the next one!

with gratitude to netgalley and Harper for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy this part of the series, especially a different approach to the development of the plot.

Anthony Horowitz never dissapoints. I love the way he weaves a story and his writing style. Cant wait for the next one!

Close to Death is a slightly different Hawthorne & Horowitz format for the series with Horowitz revisiting an old case, basing his manuscript on notes and recordings instead of real-time investigation, but it is still enjoyable. I really liked the new characters and the nods to Agatha Christie as the mystery unfolds. Another excellent addition to this series.

The continuation of a remarkably fun series, Close to Death is another expertly crafted tale of murder, deception and investigative genius. Anthony Horowitz delivers another wonderfully mysterious whodunit in which he’s the Watson to Hawthorne’s Sherlock.

With no active case being investigated by Hawthorne, Anthony Horowitz is compelled to write his next book about a murder that happened several years ago in a small, exclusive gated community called Riverside Close. Containing six houses and friendly neighbors, it seems like an idyllic neighborhood. That is until the newest resident is found murdered. With every inhabitant a suspect, the police call in Hawthorne to assist in the investigation. Using notes, recordings and conducting a few new interviews, Horowitz reconstructs the events and tries to figure out who’s the killer and their motive. But with several individuals strongly recommending abandoning this story in favor of finding a different case to write about, Horowitz just might conclude this is a crime best left dead and buried in the past.

Close to Death has a different and intriguing feel to the prior books in the series in which the author is the sidekick during an active murder investigation. This time, he’s researching and reconstructing a past crime investigated by Hawthorne. And while Horowitz isn’t constantly being told by the onery Hawthorne that he’s getting it all wrong and compromising the investigation, he’s still being told that his writing isn’t capturing events exactly as they occurred. So, there’s still some investigative stress between the two. But the conflict ratchets up to higher levels as Horowitz attempts to learn more about Hawthorne’s past. And that’s the part that really propels the character development and moves the series forward. It’s a great device for delving into Hawthorne’s past and providing a deeper look into what makes him tick. Though there’s still plenty left uncovered to keep him mysterious and enigmatic, which keeps the tension between the main characters in place.

Additionally, this feels like a potential turning point for the series with an uncertain ending that could go multiple directions. Adding to the suspense of the novel with ambiguity for the future. But as long as we get more Hawthorne and Horowitz, whatever comes next will be a treat.

Horowitz's publisher is breathing down his neck for the manuscript of the next Horowitz & Hawthorne book. With Hawthorne not currently involved in a case, Anthony proposes he be allowed to base the new book on a past case. Reluctantly, Hawthorne agrees, warning Horowitz that he won't be happy with the ending.
The murder took place in Rivrview Chase, a quiet, gated community of six houses located in Richmond Upon Thames. The eclectic group of residents are compatible and enjoy the peaceful setting. All that disappears when Giles Kenworthy and family move into the community. The Kenworthy's come with two noisy children , four loud cars and plans to cut down trees and build a swimming pool. Everyone has reason to dislike the new neighbors so
when Giles is found brutally murdered there's no shortage of suspects.
The police investigation closes despite Hawthorne's objections that the wrong person has been targeted as the killer.
Five years later, at Horowitz's insistence, Hawthorne turns over his case notes and recordings. The author becomes so intrigued by what he learns that he begins his own investigation that exposes dangerously, dark facts .
This fourth title in the series is a terrific read in which characters come alive on the page. The intricate, challenging plot will keep readers fascinated until the last page.

Horowitz revisits one of Hawthorne's old cases involving a murder in a small, close-knit community. The mystery was convoluted. I didn't enjoy this as much as the previous Hawthorne novels.

I really enjoyed this newest addition to this series, it just might be my favorite so far. It is a bit different than the other books, in that there is a story within the story, but the mystery was just as twisty and hard to figure out as the first four books were.

The structure of this book is very different from the other four, as there are really two stories going on simultaneously. The story starts off in the past, introducing us to the characters that live in Riverside Close, through their own voices in several chapters. It is only after these chapters that Anthony Horowitz brings us to the present and lets the reader know that this book is about a murder that happened before he met Hawthorne. There is not a whole lot of interaction between Hawthorne and Horowitz in this book, which I kind of liked. I often don’t like how Horowitz treats Anthony, so this was a bit of pleasant respite. The story continues to jump back and forth between the past and the present, which really works well for this story.

I liked seeing how Hawthorne tackled this case. He does go about it in his usual way, but even when the evidence points to one person, he is determined to prove that the police detectives are wrong. Hawthorne is just as prickly as he always is, and often turns his suspects into adversaries. I think at times this makes his job harder, but it seems to work for him.

All of the suspects that live in Riverside Close are rather nice and seem perfectly normal on the surface, but they all have secrets that they would prefer to keep hidden. They all had reasons not to like the victim, Giles Kentworthy, but none seem strong enough for murder. I liked how the plot for this part of the story had lots of twists and even though I thought I knew who did it, I was never quite sure until the end. Even then there were doubts as to what really happened.

The present part of the story was interesting as well. Anthony finds out some more about Hawthorne’s past and is beginning to understand him better. He is still curious about the man behind the detective, but I think that will always be a bit of a mystery. One of the things I like best about these stories is the way the author makes himself a character, sort of like a Watson, always a step behind his Sherlock.

If you enjoyed the other books in this series, you will certainly like this one. It is a bit different but that difference really works well for this story. If you haven’t yet started this series, then you should give it a chance. It is a cozy mystery that is well written and has interesting characters and plots that will make you work hard to solve the murders.

I love Anthony Horowitz and was excited to read the ARC for his latest Detective Hawthorne series. Close to Death kept me guessing to the end, and while I missed the usual interplay between Horowitz and Hawthorne, this book felt like the perfect conclusion to the series. This book is highly entertaining, with multiple suspects all hating the victim, and a resolution that seemed impossible but perfectly acceptable at the same time. I can't wait to see what "Tony" writes next!