The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

'EASILY THE GREATEST OF OUR CRIME WRITERS'Sunday Times 'My favourite literary hero at the moment is Anthony Horowitz' Shari Lapena 'Pure pleasure for readers ... A must-read delight.' WALL STREET JOURNAL 'Sheer genius ... A joy from start to finish' INDEPENDENT _________________________ Death, deception, and a detective with quite a lot to hide: the second novel in the bestselling series starring Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne. _________________________ 'You shouldn't be here. It's too late...' These were Richard Pryce's last words, overheard moments before the celeb divorce lawyer was bludgeoned to death with a £3,000 bottle of wine. Strange circumstances pile up. Pryce was teetotal, so why this bottle? Why those words? Why did the killer paint a number on his wall? 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. Anthony knows they must be exposed - even at the risk of death... _________________________ 'This is meta-fiction I can get behind.' Shari Lapena 'Anthony Horowitz gets away with murder in all sorts of ways and emerges triumphant' THE TIMES, Books of the Year 'This is crime fiction as dazzling entertainment, sustained by writing as skilfully light-footed as Fred Astaire' SUNDAY TIMES CRIME CLUB (STAR PICK) 'A crime story that keeps you up into the small hours... a page-turning mystery' METRO 'Sheer genius ... The narrative is hilarious and full of Holmesian clues and deliberate errors which will leave the eagle-eyed reader feeling just a bit smug. A joy from start to finish' INDEPENDENT 'Fans of traditional puzzle mysteries will be enthralled' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 'One of the most creative writers in the country today' JEREMY VINE 'Huge fun... It's hard to know why anyone who loves a good mystery wouldn't thoroughly enjoy the ride' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'Anyone who likes a good Midsomer-style murder mystery will love The Sentence is Death' CULTUREFLY 'Succeeds on all levels ... Horowitz has the Midas touch' BOOKLIST 'Brilliant and enigmatic' AARP 'No one currently working the field has anywhere near this much ingenuity to burn' KIRKUS

About the same as the first one in terms of mystery and weirdness

In all good conscience, I don't think I could give this book more than 3.5 stars if I really tried, so I'm leaving this as 3 stars. It was OK. I had a fun time. But there were so many loopholes and convenient bits to the story that it kinda took away from the overall mystery for me. I also felt like the premise of the mystery wasn't as strong as the first one, but some of the formula is still there (with Horowitz finding a way to somehow make himself the bungling sidekick through the entire investigation who accidentally spills the beans to the wrong people, and also somehow being a victim by the end and landing up in hospital).

When I finished the first book, it was with a bitter taste in my mouth about Daniel Hawthorne, the series's primary investigator, and primarily about his homophobia. I'm honestly not sure what was the whole point of adding this little character trait in. It kinda felt like a way for Horowitz to signal his “woke-ness” by telling off Hawthorne everytime he makes a derogatory remark about gay people (which is thankfully not that often through the series), but at the same time Horowitz writes himself as such a weak-handed side character that it just doesn't feel like it opposes the sentiment as strongly as he should. Plus, there is really absolutely no reason why Hawthorne's homophobia should be an element at all. It doesn't serve to forward the plot or the mystery or even to develop any character since we don't really know much more about Hawthorne even after 2 books. I don't think readers usually give abrasive characters more than a book's duration to redeem themselves, tbh.

The book feels almost a bit like a vanity project for Horowitz. Writing himself in as a character means we're forced to listen to his musings about his past projects, his inspirations, all the different TV shows and books he's ever written or been interested in, the people in his life, etc. I won't deny that the gimmick in itself is pretty interesting, where he blurs the line between fiction and reality all the way to even the Acknowledgements page right at the end, but at the same time I can't help wondering what's his objective here.

I'd probably still continue on the series because, as I said, it's serviceable and fun enough as a palate cleanser in between reads, but honestly not sure how this series is going to end up.

Ook dit vervolg werd bijzonder gesmaakt.

Het moordmysterie sprak mij iets minder aan, maar dit werd voor mij ruim gecompenseerd doordat we wat meer te zien kregen van het persoonlijke leven van zowel Detective Hawthorn als Horowitz. Die laatste als personage in zijn eigen boek blijf ik gewoon ook een schitterend idee vinden en ik bleef dingen opzoeken om te weten wat echt was en wat hij erbij had verzonnen. (Ik hoop trouwens dat iemand het idee van een Britse King-Arthur versie van Game of Thrones gaat schrijven, haha)

Het einde was subliem! Ik heb luidop gelachen met hoe het Horowitz zelf verging.