The Word Is Murder: A Novel

If you love Foyle's War and Midsomers Murders; if you enjoyed Magpie Murders on Masterpiece, then you will love this mystery written by the author of those programs. The most interesting thing about this book is that Anthony Horowitz is himself a character in the book! But there is much besides the murders to keep the reader interested--a look into the development of such filmed offerings, the writer's process and the production of the piece. There are also glimpses of the publishing of a book and again the writer's process in its composition.Yet, for all that information, this book, The Word is Murder--not its original title--Detective Horowitz wished it to be called something else--is not a full-fledged product of Horowitz's mind, Oh, no, Daniel Hawthorne, fired from Scotland Yard but used by them as an investigator, has approached Horowitz to write a murder mystery that Hawthorne is currently investigating. He wants Horowitz to tag along throughout and then once the mystery is solved to organize the events leading up to the solution into a book starring Hawthorne. The deal is that Horowitz has no creative license but must adhere strictly to events and places and people precisely as they are. When the book is published the two will share the profits 50/50.The murder mystery is intriguing--though I figured out the murderer about 3/4 of the way through. Could not for the life of me understand the motive, however. The interaction between the author and investigator is hilarious in many ways though in no way is this a comedy. As a matter of fact, it was sometimes difficult, even at the end, to determine if this is a Murder Mystery or a Detective Story. And at times, whether this is a true crime book or a fictional tale.Horowitz is just incredible and the next book is on my shelf to read next.

Horowitz is a fine writer, and the story was cleverly constructed and plotted. As with all good mysteries, there were some brilliant plot twists and reveals at the end. While the concept of having the actual author as a character in the fictional story was intriguing and intriguing unique, I often had difficulty separating fact from fiction and felt that the emphasis on the writing of the book at times distracted from the story. As the reader, I shared the author’s frustration of having a brilliant detective who we learned next to nothing about. Yet the detective wanted a book written about him, but at the same time was unwilling to divulge much about himself or his life. Still a fine and captivating read albeit frustrating at times.

The Word is Murder is a fun and suspenseful novel. I enjoyed everything about it! Anthony Horowitz is a fantastic writer! Highly recommended!!

The Word is Murder is about an established writer and an out-of-work detective joining forces to solve the murder of Diana Cowper. Detective Daniel Hawthorne is an ex-policeman working as a special consultant for Scotland Yard. He is a brilliant detective who notices the specific details. He’s a straight shooter calling it like he sees it. He is very observant and quite aware of his surroundings. Daniel has an extraordinary eye for details and uses this ability to analyze the individuals he interviews. Anthony is a well known children’s author who recently launched himself as an adult writer. Daniel commissioned Anthony to write his book. Anthony follows Daniel around taking notes while he interviews and investigates.I enjoyed the scenes when they were working together. Anthony would teach Daniel how to write the book to make it appealing to readers while Daniel would teach Anthony how to notice the details. When the story was focused on the variable of the case I was most invested. At times Mr. Horowitz would go off on a tangent regarding plays, directors, and producers all of which didn’t aid in the progress of the story.While I appreciate the concept of bridging a detective and a writer together to solve a crime, I’m not really invested in the process in which this concept was delivered. It read like a tutorial on how to write an adult detective story. It was difficult to follow this story as a investigation when it was being crowded by the concept of writing what was taking place. Instead of giving the reader investigative information pertinent to the crime the reader had to evaluate not only the work of the detective but the work of the writer as well. It was very overwhelming.Originally I thought it was an interesting concept that Anthony used himself as a character. For awhile it worked. Later I grew tired of the overanalyzing of writing the detectives story by dissecting his character plucking away at the way he communicated with others, the way he read the scene of the crime, or the way he viewed others giving his opinion freely. I didn’t like the crassness of pushy judgement on the character. I just wanted to explore the different variables used to solve the crime not pick apart the detectives persona. I’m not sure why Mr. Horowitz had to make such a big deal about Hawthorne’s character. It wasn’t relevant to the story where he lived. Trying to characterize him was unnecessary.Exploring every avenue meant an extensive list of suspects. While I usually struggle with character driven stories this one was quite easy to follow.Anthony has come a long way from writing the Alex Rider series. As an adult I enjoyed that series. But this one doesn’t hold the same flare and style of writing. I was hoping to get some of that Diamond Brothers writing style. Those books were fantastic.The story really came alive when the crime was solved and all the unexpected truths were announced.

I can't decide how I feel about this book. It has strong Sherlock Holmes vibes which I like, but it also bordered on annoying with the author of the actual book as the narrator of the fictional one. There is a lot of name-dropping and references to what the author has done which seemed irrelevant to the story, particularly since I'm unfamiliar with the author and don't know what's true in the story and what's not.In some ways, the first person, diary style narrative, gave an insight into the author's state of mind, but it also drew away from the mystery. Horowitz complains a lot about the lack of information that Hawthorne gives him, but Horowitz himself also hides. It's both an interesting piece of writing and an annoying feature.And in case it matters for another book, no, I do not have a connection to Hawthorne.

Worth the read

Voy a la mitad de la historia, el libro me gusta pero llegó maltratado de las orillas y con una hoja doblada :(

Un giallo molto particolare, il detective è accattivante nonostante non si sappia molto di lui, le piste portano il lettore in direzioni opposte alla soluzione finale, l'autore si espone al pubblico mostrando un suo lato molto infantile e divertente. Avevo letto prima "The sentence is Death" (che è il secondo caso di Hawthorne) ma sono due romanzi indipendenti e per chi non è inglese sono facilmente comprensibili.

I bought this book since it was suggested as a summer reading by a famous newspaper. I don't usually buy or like detective stories but it turned out to be a good story where you can also learn a lot about the creative process of writers. I trust this author and I'm going to pick up the novels he cited such as The Outsider by Camus.

This was one of the strangest, quirkiest, and yet intelligent reads of this year.Why?Thanks to Deadpool we all know about breaking the fourth wall and going 'meta'. This novel, which is as brilliant as they can be, does the same in terms of a crime thriller. It's a 'procedural' about writing a murder mystery, with the author "showing us the ropes" while moving step-by-step towards an inexorable, and yet rather surprising climax. The narrative, despite being laced with murders, grim undercurrent of violence, and a simmering tension between the protagonists, gets elevated by a wry British humour and straightforwardness.We all know that Horowitz creates beautiful characters. Combined with that you have lots of 'real stuff' infused into the narrative, and his own solid, practical, and very-very real presence in the story. This makes the reading experience a mind-boggling adventure, akin to some virtual reality game, where the viewer, or reader in this case, doesn't know what or whom to believe.And, befittingly, Horowitz does a 'Christie' again, but in a different manner than 'Magpie Murders'. How? To know that you have to read the novel, I must say.Overall, a brilliant novel. I would consider it as a must-read for lovers of crime thrillers, detective stories, and in general, good, lucid, literary writing in any form.Highly Recommended.