The Sentence is Death

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.