The Word is Murder [review]

The Word Is Murder - Anthony Horowitz

Title: The Word is Murder
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Publisher: Century

[Synopsis]

A wealthy woman strangled six hours after she’s arranged her own funeral.

A very private detective uncovering secrets but hiding his own.

A reluctant author drawn into a story he can’t control.

What do they have in common?

Unexpected death, an unsolved mystery and a trail of bloody clues lie at the heart of Anthony Horowitz’s page-turning new thriller.

SPREAD THE WORD. THE WORD IS MURDER.

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[My Review]

I always look forward to a new release by Anthony Horowitz; I grew up reading his Alex Rider books and hugely enjoy his ‘adult’ novels (for want of a better term) including the entertaining Magpie Murders [read my review here]. The Word is Murder is, to me, an even better read! It’s a really interesting and unique novel as it’s narrated by Horowitz himself, describing a job he takes on where he’s writing about an ex-detective called Hawthorne as he tries to solve a murder – all of which takes an even stranger turn…

I really liked this different way of telling the story, and think it adds something a little different to this novel. There’s humorous parts which make me laugh to myself and, though the novel has some dark themes (of course, it is about murder!) it’s never too heavy, always retaining a slight sense of light-heartedness which Anthony Horowitz does so well in many of his books.

The characters are sometimes rather unlikable – such as Hawthorne himself, who is a bit of an enigma and doesn’t hold the best views and preconceptions about people – but they’re very fun to read about, and the plot reveals plenty of red herrings and twists which kept me guessing throughout. An ‘old-fashioned-but-still-modern’ detective novel. Loved it!

[Rating: 5/5]

Many thanks to Century and Netgalley for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.

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12 comments

  1. It is a great read, definitely reserve it if you can – and enjoy Magpie Murders, another great Detective read! I did not know about a new Alex Rider book so may have to get hold of it, take me back to my youth! ????

    • Definitely! Magpie Murders would be ideal (not sure I’d necessarily read the Alex Rider series now but as a child I loved them) – if you love a good solid old-fashioned Detective novel then either this or Magpie Murders is a great shout 🙂

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