The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz Narrator: Rory Kinnear
Series: Hawthorne and Horowitz #2
Published by HarperAudio on May 28, 2019
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery
Length: 8 hrs 36 mins
Format: Audiobook
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Death, deception, and a detective with quite a lot to hide stalk the pages of Anthony Horowitz’s brilliant murder mystery, the second in the bestselling series starring Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne.
“You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late . . . “
These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine—a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise.
Odd, considering he didn’t drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?
Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony, who’s really getting rather good at this murder investigation business.
But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide. As our reluctant narrator becomes ever more embroiled in the case, he realizes that these secrets must be exposed—even at the risk of death . . .
Hawthorne has been called in by the police again to help solve a murder, and of course, he convinces Horowitz to join him. After all, Horowitz needs to write two more stories featuring Hawthorne. The Sentence Is Death is the second in the series and honestly, I liked the whole author as a character thing more enjoyable this time around. The first time around I found it almost clever for clever’s sake, but in this one it was amusing, seeing how people reacted to him, or not, knowing he was an author.
I don’t really have much to say about this one. It’s a good traditional mystery, kind of a take on Sherlock and Watson, with Hawthorne as Sherlock, putting together the clues. He’s not entirely likable, definitely not politically correct, and a bit abrasive. He keeps his theories to himself right up until the end. And Horowitz is our bumbling Watson, never getting the clues quite right, asking the wrong questions, almost getting himself killed (again).
Overall, it was enjoyable. Horowitz as a character makes it stand out and he portrays himself as pretty much an average guy, if an average guy wrote books, had police harassing him, and knew the inner workings of a television show. It’s good that Horowitz is so relatable, since I don’t think Hawthorne is really an interesting enough character to base a detective series on.
The book is written in the first person from Horowitz’ point of view. Listening to the audio felt like listening to him tell the story of what happened. Of course, now I think Anthony Horowitz sounds like Rory Kinear.
This counts as 3 pts in the COYER Treasure Hunt (a book with no living thing on the cover).
About Anthony Horowitz
Anthony John Horowitz, CBE (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specializing in mystery and suspense. Anthony has written over 50 books including the bestselling teen spy series Alex Rider, which is estimated to have sold 21 million copies worldwide and has been turned into a hugely successful TV series by Amazon Freevee.
Anthony is also an acclaimed writer for adults and was commissioned to write two new Sherlock Holmes novels The House of Silk and Moriarty. He was commissioned by the Ian Fleming Estate to write continuation novels for James Bond with Trigger Mortis and Forever and Day, published in 2015 and 2018 respectively. A third novel in the series With a Mind to Kill was published in May 2022.
Anthony’s award-winning novel Magpie Murders was published in October 2016 to critical acclaim and was serialised on BritBox at the beginning of 2022 with Lesley Manville in the lead role. It will be televised on the BBC in 2023. The sequel, Moonflower Murders, will begin filming in September 2023. His new series featuring Detective Hawthorne and a sidekick called Anthony Horowitz has four books so far: The Word is Murder, The Sentence is Death, A Line to Kill and the recently published The Twist of a Knife. Anthony has just started work on a fifth: Close to Death.
Horowitz has also written for television, contributing scripts to ITV’s Agatha Christie’s Poirot and adapting six early episodes of Midsomer Murders from the novels of Caroline Graham, including the first three episodes. He was the creator and writer of the ITV series Foyle’s War, Collision and Injustice, and the BBC series Crime Traveller and New Blood.
In 2019 Anthony became a Patron to Home-Start in Suffolk, a small local family support charity working with families across the Suffolk county, as they navigate through challenging circumstances such as mental health issues, bereavement, long term or terminal illness, isolation, domestic abuse, poverty and so much more.
I’m pretty sure I have Horowitz’s first novel. I need to dig into it.
I’ve mostly enjoyed them.
I’ve not read him. I’d now like to. Thanks for the review.
I think he’s worth reading. The first thing I read of his was House of Silk – I’m a sucker for most things Sherlock Holmes.