A Line to Kill - (A Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery) by Anthony Horowitz

About the Book

"When Ex-Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, author Anthony Horowitz, are invited to an exclusive literary festival on Alderney, an idyllic island off the south coast of England, they don't expect to find themselves in the middle of murder investigation--or to be trapped with a cold-blooded killer in a remote place with a murky, haunted past. Arriving on Alderney, Hawthorne and Horowitz soon meet the festival's other guests--an eccentric gathering that includes a bestselling children's author, a French poet, a TV chef turned cookbook author, a blind psychic, and a war historian--along with a group of ornery locals embroiled in an escalating feud over a disruptive power line. When a local grandee is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Hawthorne and Horowitz become embroiled in the case. The island is locked down, no one is allowed on or off, and it soon becomes horribly clear that a murderer lurks in their midst. But who?"--

Book Synopsis

The New York Times bestselling author of the brilliantly inventive The Word Is Murder and The Sentence Is Death returns with his third literary whodunit featuring intrepid detectives Hawthorne and Horowitz.

"Horowitz is a master of misdirection, and his brilliant self-portrayal, wittily self-deprecating, carries the reader through a jolly satire on the publishing world." --Booklist

When Ex-Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, author Anthony Horowitz, are invited to an exclusive literary festival on Alderney, an idyllic island off the south coast of England, they don't expect to find themselves in the middle of murder investigation--or to be trapped with a cold-blooded killer in a remote place with a murky, haunted past.

Arriving on Alderney, Hawthorne and Horowitz soon meet the festival's other guests--an eccentric gathering that includes a bestselling children's author, a French poet, a TV chef turned cookbook author, a blind psychic, and a war historian--along with a group of ornery locals embroiled in an escalating feud over a disruptive power line.

When a local grandee is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Hawthorne and Horowitz become embroiled in the case. The island is locked down, no one is allowed on or off, and it soon becomes horribly clear that a murderer lurks in their midst. But who?

Both a brilliant satire on the world of books and writers and an immensely enjoyable locked-room mystery, A Line to Kill is a triumph--a riddle of a story full of brilliant misdirection, beautifully set-out clues, and diabolically clever denouements.

Review Quotes

"An effortless blend of humor and fair play...the often prickly relationship between the Watson-like Horowitz and the Holmes-like Hawthorne complements the intricate detective work worthy of a classic golden age whodunit." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Horowitz is a master of misdirection, and his brilliant self-portrayal, wittily self-deprecating, carries the reader through a jolly satire on the publishing world." -- Booklist

"The most conventional of Horowitz's mysteries to date still reads like a golden-age whodunit on steroids." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Fiendishly entertaining . . . . As a mystery, this book is immensely satisfying. But as a meta-story -- an extravagant, knowing satire of authors, agents, publishers and literary hangers-on; a knowing sendup of the author himself; and a homage to the Golden Age of mystery -- it is pure delight." -- New York Times Book Review

"Horowitz pokes fun at the literary community in this witty whodunit, set at a literary festival whose attendees include one Anthony Horowitz. When a festivalgoer is fatally stabbed in the neck with a letter opener, the sleuthing -- and delightful banter -- begin." -- Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post

"Anthony Horowitz's "A Line to Kill" is prime Horowitz -- that is, a mystery wrapped in a riddle." -- Boston Globe

". . . Worthy of Agatha Christie. . .There's enough intrigue left regarding the mysterious Hawthorne to keep readers tantalized until the inevitable next entry in this addictive series." -- Wall Street Journal