The fictional version of Anthony Horowitz is working on his fifth book detailing a murder case solved by PI Hawthorne, but this time, he's writing about a closed case from earlier in Hawthorne's career. This particular case was the murder of hedge fund manager Giles Kenworthy, a horrible neighbor in the small gated community of Riverside Close. After annoying his neighbors for several months, Kenworthy was found dead just inside his home, and while the murder weapon points to a specific neighbor (there's only one that owns a crossbow, after all), the neighbors are all keeping their lips sealed and Hawthorne was convinced there was more to this mystery than it seemed.

I haven't read the first four Hawthorne books, but Horowitz once again uses his book-within-a-book trope in this one, somewhat less successfully, in my opinion, given that the case is a long-closed one instead of ongoing as the fictional Horowitz writes it. I don't know that the "modern day" bits about faux-Horowitz's writing and investigating process really add anything to what's an excellent mystery on its own. My suggestion: give this one a read, but feel free to skim anything that isn't the murder and Hawthorne's investigation.

This was my favorite of the series and I liked that Horowitz switched it up with writing about an older closed case, it kept it fresh and not formulaic. We learn more about Hawthorne's past - I will read as many of these titles as Horowitz writes!

Another excellent Horowitz mystery. They are always clever and well-written
Several mysteries overall, good pacing, satisfying (if far-fetched) solution

I wasn't sure I wanted to read another Hawthorne book, but I read it anyway and it reminded me why I like these stories. They pull you in and when the big reveal happens it seems like you should have known what happened all along. Another satisfying read.

CLOSE TO DEATH by Anthony Horowitz is book 5 in the series featuring Detective Daniel Hawthorne with Horowitz himself as a rather bumbling sidekick character. The first few chapters, though, introduce readers to the inhabitants of Riverview Close, a small, gated community off of Petersham Road in Richmond-upon-Thames. There’s a doctor, Tom Beresford and his jewelry-designing wife, Gemma; the dentist, Roderick Browne and invalid Felicity; two older women, May Winslow and Phyllis Moore; a retired barrister, Andrew Pennington; and a chess champion and his second wife, Adam and Teri Strauss. They have amicably shared the neighborhood for years until new residents, Giles Kenworthy and Lynda, and their two sons, disrupt the peace with loud music, inconsiderate parking, skateboarding, and a proposal for a swimming pool! The ensuing sudden death of a neighbor is a case which Hawthorne investigated years ago and Horowitz is determined to turn it into a book despite warnings that it did not turn out well or as expected. Au contraire, this tale is one of the best in the series with the environs and the characters brought vividly to life. There are plenty of twists and turns including a locked room mystery of sorts. CLOSE TO DEATH received starred reviews from both Booklist ("Kudos to anyone who can figure this one out!") and Kirkus ("[contains a] string of surprises the real-life author has planted like so many explosive devices"). As Horowitz opines, "anyway, you know perfectly well that there's more to a novel - even a crime novel - than violent death. It's all about character and atmosphere and language." Excellent!

Close to Death is a take on an AgathaChristie style mystery with the additional spin of this author”s cleverness. It is the latest in the series that features Detective Hawthorne and, yes, the character Anthony Horowitz.

This time the structure of the book is a bit different. Hawthorne, who gives Horowitz case material for his novels, is revealing a past puzzler. Some of the novel is a take on those events and other parts involve the perspectives of the two protagonists.

A close is a kind of dead end street. In this upscale one, a number of neighbors detest the newest family. The annoying, inconsiderate and very wealthy Kenworthy is murdered. The suspects include a GP, a retired barrister, two elderly former nuns, a chess grandmaster, a dentist and those around them. Whodunnit? Why? The pages turn as readers wait to fond out.

Last year I heard the author speak. He was very entertaining, just as he is in his writing. i think that he was enjoying himself here. The book offers a good read.

Note that, although this is part of a series, it can be read on its own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper for this title. All opinions are my own.

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 was a great fifth entry in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series, it had everything that I wanted and enjoyed the overall concept. The characters were what I wanted from the other books and from other books I read from Anthony Horowitz. I was engaged with the overall feel of the plot and glad I got to read this.

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.