The Sentence Is Death

The Game is Afoot again for Hawthorne & Horowitz
Review of the Harper Collins paperback edition (2019) of the original 2018 hardcover.

I've added Anthony Horowitz to my limited list of ever reliable mystery writers. The Daniel Hawthorne series where cranky private detective/ex-policeman Hawthorne is partnered with a fictional version of Anthony Horowitz himself in the Dr. Watson partner/chronicler role are especial favourites, and this 2nd one does not disappoint.

Aside from the meta-fictional fun of Horowitz constantly referring to the scriptwriting and/or production issues of his Foyle's War television series, there is the old-school bonus of either Hawthorne or Horowitz pointing out when clues have occurred in the story although in most show more cases the reader (and the fictional Horowitz) are oblivious to them or unaware of their significance. This 2nd in the series also provides an opportunity for a glimpse at Hawthorne's seemingly unlikely Book Club hobby along with evidence of his Hawthorne Irregulars support network. For further fun, a clue from the first Sherlock Holmes novel A Study in Scarlet (1887) leads towards a clue and solution in The Sentence is Death as well. show less

I'm going to have to read everything Anthony Horowitz writes one of these days. Absolutely loved this, nearly as much as the Word is Murder. I read 100 pages before I could blink, it's just so easy and comforting and warm and fascinating to get into this meta-murder mystery. Reading how Horowitz stumbles through everything while Hawthorne calmly (and rudely) corrects him and solves the case is something I imagine I won't get tired of anytime soon. It's a formula, to be sure, but a winning one. For me, at least.

Richard Pryce, a high profile divorce lawyer has been bludgeoned to death in his own home. The weapon used is an extremely expensive bottle of wine which is odd since Pryce doesn't drink alcohol. Even stranger the numbers, 182, have been painted on the wall near the body. Detective Daniel Hawthorne has been asked by the police to investigate and he interrupts a shooting of a difficult scene in Foyle's War to invite (as in 'won't take no for an answer)' Anthony Horowitz, who is a writer on the series, to tag along so he can write another book about Hawthorne's exploits. Horowitz reluctantly agrees to follow Hawthorne not least because he has a three book contract to fulfill but it won't be easy for him. Soon suspects and clues pile up; show more links arise to another possible murder in the present and a tragic death in the past; Hawthorne refuses to tell him anything about himself or let him in on his thoughts on the case, and if all that isn't bad enough, a rather nasty police woman demands he keep her secretly apprised of Hawthorne's movements - or else... well, she leaves it up to his imagination what an unscrupulous cop could do to his life.

The Sentence is Death is the second book in author Anthony Horowitz' Detective Daniel Hawthorne series and, as in the first book, The Word is Murder, Horowitz gets to play a character in the novel. He is once again Watson, chronicler and bumbling assistant to Hawthorne's Sherlock. And like the first book, the story is great fun, not in small part, due to the way Horowitz pokes fun at himself throughout. The story may be set in the present and written as 'true crime' including Acknowledgements and a footnote at the end, but it feels like an homage to the Golden Age of detective fiction, more a puzzler than an action- packed thriller. But Horowitz knows how to create a real head-scratcher and it kept this reader guessing right up to the end.

Thanks to Edelweiss+ and Harper Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review show less

“The Sentence Is Death” (2019), the second Daniel Hawthorne mystery by Anthony Horowitz, proves the first one, “The Word Is Murder,” was no fluke.

As before, this novel reads like autobiography. Horowitz himself is a key character, the Watson to Hawthorne's Holmes. Hawthorne is an ex-cop, kicked off the force because he was suspected of pushing a child-porn suspect down a flight of stairs. Yet this very disagreeable man is just too smart, too good at solving unsolvable murders to ignore. So he gets hired to help with difficult cases. He then drafts a reluctant Horowitz, a noted writer of mysteries that include some featuring Sherlock Holmes, to write about his brilliant deductions.

This time the case involves a divorce attorney show more killed with a bottle of wine after the wife of a man he had defended in a divorce case had apparently threatened to hit him over the head with a bottle of wine. Of course, open-and-shut cases are not so open and shut in mystery novels, and before long there are several other possible suspects and a number of other possible motives.

Horowitz keeps things hopping, maintaining the mystery until the end without overcomplicating things. Not every mystery writer can do this this well. Yet perhaps his greatest achievement is fitting this fictional story so seamlessly into his own life. show less

Anthony Horowitz is always a delight. I did not love this as much as the first in the series, but I still loved it. There was this whole meta plotline where Horowitz, who always wanted to be Sherlock Holmes, must grapple with the fact that he is Watson, the scribe to the genius of Hawthorne. That was brilliant. The love-hate between the dynamic duo (or at least from Horowitz's perspective) is more front and center in this book than in the last, and a side plot related to that and to a cop who feels in competition with Hawthorne did not fully work for me, and that accounts for a good bit of the star deduction.

This time Tony and Hawthorne have a prickly matter when it turns out that two men, with a long and complicated shared history, show more both die violently within hours of one another. As expected, there are a lot of suspects, and every one of them is interesting. I had just finished a book that annoyed me, and I am most of the way through a book that challenges me and which has creates a fair amount of anxiety, and this was a breath of fresh air. I am already eagerly anticipating getting to book 3 after a short break. show less

The second book in the Hawthorne and Horowitz Investigate series, The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz is an intricately plotted whodunit that kept me guessing till the very end.

The story revolves around the brutal murder of high-profile divorce lawyer Richard Pryce who was found bludgeoned to death in his home. The murder weapon found with his body was an expensive bottle of wine which was rather strange as the deceased was a teetotaler. The number "182" painted in green was discovered on a wall near his body. Once again, former Detective Inspector turned consultant to Scotland Yard, Daniel Hawthorne has been brought in to assist in the police investigation. He approaches author Anthony Horowitz, abruptly turning up at the show more location of Foyles War (a British drama series written by author Anthony Horowitz) to follow the case with him, proposing the case be subject matter for his next book (referring to the three book collaboration they had previously agreed upon). Horowitz is aware of his limitations as far as investigative work is concerned and his determination to prove his worth this time, even if it means pursuing his own line of investigation often withholding his suspicions from the more seasoned and competent Hawthorne results in more than a few interesting moments.

As the narrative progresses we follow the duo as they try to put the pieces of the puzzle together, delving deep into Pryce’s personal and professional lives looking for anyone who could have had a motive for wanting him dead and/or those who stood to benefit from his death. With multiple suspects, plenty of red herrings on the way, and the immensely unlikable DI Cara Grunshaw who does not hesitate to express her dislike and disregard for Hawthorne or Horowitz, solving this case won’t be easy. Written in the veins of classic murder mysteries, this is a medium-paced but immensely engaging read. I enjoyed the segments on Horowitz’s (the character) life as a writer, both on- and off-set. The author does a praiseworthy job of writing himself into the story as one of the main characters. The dynamic between the two characters makes for interesting reading and the author injects a healthy dose of humor into the same. Overall, this is a smartly crafted mystery that I would not hesitate to recommend to those who enjoy reading classic detective stories.

Though I had started this book pairing it with the audiobook, I soon switched to reading as I wasn't happy with how the narrator voiced the female characters. show less

Why did he ever consent to write three books about Daniel Hawthorne? He can’t remember and now, there is another murder and he has to play the detective’s assistant and document to case to turn into a crime novel. Reluctantly, the narrator comes to the crime scene, but he is soon fascinated by the case. Richard Pryce, a well-known and respected lawyer, is found murdered in his house, killed by a bottle of 1982 Chateau Lafite worth thousands. On the wall, three greenish digits have been painted: 182. The number of suspects is remarkable, from the victim’s partner to his former clients – many might have wanted to see him dead. But who actually committed the crime?

After “The Word Is Murder”, this is the second instalment of show more this very unique crime series starring the author as narrator and the very peculiar former police detective Daniel Hawthorne who has his very own way of proceeding. Not to forget: again there are some very obvious hints to the number one crime writer Arthur Conan Doyle. It is not just Horowitz and Hawthorne as a comic version of Watson and Holmes, also the case bears close resemblance to some well-known cases of the private London detective.

The case was without any doubt cleverly constructed and is based on a very human vice. Signs everywhere lead to the murderer, yet, they have to be detected and read in the right way. The narrator is getting better in analysing crime scenes, yet this does not prevent him from coming to coherent, but unfortunately false conclusions. The character of Hawthorne has lost nothing of his peculiarity which made me enjoy reading about him and hating him at the same time. He strongly seems to be somewhere on the autism spectrum with his massive lack of social competence. Most of all, however, I really relished Horowitz’s humour which accounts for most of the fun of the read.

A wonderful series with certainly a highly unique style of narration. show less