Bingo: Versus. Character Anthony Horowitz versus Cara Grunshaw and Derek Mills, two detectives who arrest him for murder.
I will never get tired of Anthony Horowitz, I’m calling it now. The Twist of a Knife is another book in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series, with Hawthorne being a mysterious but astute detective and Horowitz the author himself. I’ve read two other books in the series and enjoyed them very much. It is no different with The Twist of a Knife.
The book starts with the premiere of Horowitz’s new play, Mindgame. The players include Jordan, the rather hot-headed lead; Tirian, an up and coming actor; and Sky, a pink haired enigma. Ahmet and his assistant Maureen are producing and Ewan is the director. Finally, there is Keith, the stage door manager.
The audience seems to like the play, and the cast celebrates at the first night party. Unusually, the powerful and often venomous critic Harriet shows up with her daughter in tow. She makes things uncomfortable and later the cast gathers at the theater for drinks after the party, where one of the actors gets a hold of a digital copy of Harriet’s review. It is scathing, particularly of Horowitz. The group unhappily breaks up for the night.
The next day Harriet’s body is discovered stabbed in her home. Worse, evidence seems to point to Horowitz as the killer. Horowitz is arrested by the two aforementioned detectives. They grill and release him while they wait for the forensics lab to test for DNA. Horowitz calls Hawthorne hoping he can help. Hawthorne has his neighbor Kevin hack the police system, causing a 48 hour delay in processing the evidence. It is a countdown to find the real killer! Before you know it, other deaths pop up and the past holds the key to the present.
Horowitz is such a fun and clever writer. He ably brings every character to life, no matter how brief their appearance. And there’s the ongoing thread of Horowitz’s fascination with Hawthorne’s past and present life. Each book in the series unwinds a little more of his story, and this book uncovers some interesting details.
The end was satisfying and I’m glad I still have more books to read in the series.
