Excellent.Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy of this novel. I highly enjoyed it and will be recommending it to others.

As usual, a complexly layered story within a story from Anthony Horowitz. I hadn’t read any within this series yet, but that didn’t matter too much. I was able to pick up on who the characters were. I enjoyed the gimmick of the fictionalized Anthony Horowitz writing the book itself.

I'm a huge fan of the "Hawthorne and Horowitz" series and was very excited to receive an ARC for book #5.

This next title really lives up to the series' high standards. From start to finish, I was engrossed and deeply invested in the lives of all the families residing in Riverside Close amidst the murder investigation. The introduction of Hawthorne's former assistant, John Dudley, also adds a compelling layer of mystery to the plot.

Set in a quaint neighborhood where what appears to be a straightforward murder case quickly escalates into a complex mystery, this book definitely delivers suspense and surprises. I especially love how Horowitz expertly portrays himself within the narrative, weaving a tale that keeps readers guessing until the very end. I highly recommend this book (and the whole series) to fans of murder mysteries and whodunits!

Thanks to NetGalley, Anthony Horowitz, and Harper Publishing for providing an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

I only wish he would write them faster! Every time I read the next Anthony Horowitz I think, surely I can get this one. After all, Hawthorne always points it out so obviously. But even so, I don’t try that hard because I just love the back and forth between the characters and half the fun is know how ‘Tony’ will do! I love this series and I hate finishing them so quickly because it takes time to write a book, but as a reader you simply can’t put it down!

4.5 stars rounded up for a solidly enjoyable read. It was great to be back with Horowitz and Hathaway. Although, Hathaway was a decidedly smaller character in this book which has a different set up than the previous four mysteries - a case Hathaway previously worked on rather than a live case he’s consulting on. If it were a TV show, you would assume that the actor that played Hathaway had another show to film so they temporarily made him a minor character through flashbacks. But that’s not really how books work, so it was just an interesting choice. However, it still had all the feel of a cozy British mystery that keeps your brain working through the twists and turns right until the very end. I wish we had made more progress in learning about Hathaway’s life, but apparently we have 7 more books to draw that story line out through. But I do hope they keep the same audiobook narrator for all of them, because he really does an excellent job. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thanks to Harper and Anthony Horowitz for this digital ARC. This fifth Hawthore/Horowitz entry was the best of the series. Solving the mystery of Riverside Close was quite a ride. Keep em coming!

The fifth title in the Daniel Hawthorne series gives readers another glimpse of Horowitz's style of writing a novel within a novel. The premise is the death of a new neighbor on the close, a small community of six homes, and Hawthorne's role as an investigator for the local police. Horowitz decides to write the novel after the murder and suicide case has been solved--or, of course, solved incorrectly. It is recommended that readers new to the series begin at the beginning with The Word is Murder (2017).

Close to Death is another installment in the Hawthorne series, and it just continually gets better. In one of my favorite series available, Hawthorne/Horowitz is a fascinating meta-mystery featuring the author as one of the main characters. However in Close to Death, Horowitz takes more of a backseat as we look at a case in Hawthorne's past. In an interesting, captivating read, Anthony Horowitz delivers another amazing novel.

Close to Death is another solid mystery in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series. I would recommend to readers of Elly Griffiths and Benjamin Stevenson.

I've been enjoying this series very much. This one kept me guessing until the end. I will admit that I found the resolution a bit convoluted though. It was a bit more intricate than it needed to be. Still an enjoyable read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another great romp from Anthony Horowitz, starring him as one of the main characters. This series is so clever, so fun. I always look forward to a new Hawthorne story.

Another fast-paced Hawthorne novel full of twists. This time the meta aspects of the series take a new turn, adding time to the mix, Fans of the series will be happy with this entry, and eagerly awaiting the next when it’s complete.

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.