In this fifth instalment of the Hawthorne & Horowitz series, the previous style of the murder investigations is subverted a little bit when the writer – needing to submit a new manuscript but without a suitable case being on the horizon – turns to an old case of Hawthorne’s.

Still keen to try to work out “whodunit” himself, the fictionalised Horowitz is given documents and interviews piecemeal by Hawthorne, which slowly reveal the case of a thoroughly unpleasant man who was seemingly murdered by one of his disgruntled neighbours some years earlier.

I missed some of the usual interactions present between the two main characters, since they didn’t really spend much time together in this instalment, but like the way the author gave the series a fresh take to keep readers interested. As is typical of this series, the book was very humorous and well-written, with plenty of twists, red herrings, and a clever end solution. I would thoroughly recommend this entire series to any fans of crime novels.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

This book is vey well written.It is plotted in a similar way to an Agatha Christie, in that several characters have reason to commit murder but there is only one to blame.
The story is criss-crossed with several well established mature professionals none of whom springs to mind as the culprit.
The reader is given scenarios that might or not be clues, depending how alert you are whilst reading. As I do 90% of my reading at bed time I may not be the sharpest knife in the block by that time.
I did enjoy the clever plotting, it is a good book.

Behind the gates in Riverside Close, the houses are exclusive, the residents living in harmony within a peaceful quiet community. That is until one of the houses is sold, and the Kentworthy Family arrive, with unruly children, more cars than drivers, coming and going at times of the day and night and plans to chop down trees and install a swimming pool.

They don’t belong and despite more neighbourly methods of dealing with them, someone has other ideas. When the head of the Kenworthy family, Giles ends up dead with a cross bolt through him, in a locked secure community, it seems obvious who all the suspects are going to be.

Enter Daniel Hawthorne as the only person who can possibly solve this locked room mystery. For any previous readers of the Hawthorne novels, you will know that Horowitz himself is a character and whilst he was not a major one this time round, his perspective and questioning of Hawthorne is a interesting twist to the overall mystery.

An excellent read as always, and a classic whodunnit for those who enjoy such books.

An interesting twist on the murder mystery genre. I hadn't read the previous books on the series and would probably have benefited from doing so, but the book works as a stand alone. A very well written book, as you'd expect, which keeps you guessing until the end.

This series is now a must read for me and this instalment is no exception. Close to Death is the fifth in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series of apparently impossible to solve murder mysteries. Within a gated community in Richmond a new neighbour is disturbing the peaceful lives of the other residents and when a murder occurs they all become suspects. In need of material for a new novel Horowitz decides to write about this historical case that occurred before he meets Hawthorne but it doesn’t doesn’t stop him delving into Hawthornes past and possibly finding out things that he wished he hadn’t. This is a real page turner that keep you guessing until the end and which I would highly recommend. Best read as part of the series rather than as a standalone I hope that many readers pick up these books. I can’t wait for the next one. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

A quiet, gated community in Richmond Upon Thames should be just that... quiet and unassuming in a rich, picturesque, highly desirable area of London. Perhaps it is, most of the time, but this is Antony Horrowitz writing about this area, so of course this is turned on its head. There are twists and turns and and ending that you simply must reach.

Giles Kenworthy is the neighbour from hell, the sort you see being written about on social media from time to time each summer. No one likes him and when he is killed, everyone has a motive so everyone is under suspicion. 

Close To Death is very cleverly plotted in such a way that you truly are left guessing until the very end. I found this in The Magpie Murders too. It's reminiscent of Johnathon Creek in some, but not all ways as Horrowitz has very clearly got his own unique style.

I was glued to Close To Death from start to finish, even more than I expected with this curiously intriguing plot.

The author is so engaging that I can’t remember the last few days if my life other than I say and read this book! Such a good series and so well written it’s absolutely a top 10 book.

I was sent a copy of Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz to read and review by NetGalley. This is another novel in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series and reads very much in a similar vein but with the added element of this being one of Hawthorne’s past cases rather than Horowitz working alongside him. As with the previous books this is very readable and there are plenty of twists and turns with a cast of many characters to keep you guessing whodunnit. I certainly kept changing my mind and didn’t necessarily get the culprit right in the end! A good solid mystery – you know what you’re getting with this series!

I love a good murder mystery where you feel part of the story and Anthony does it again. He brings Riverside and all its residents to life. I had no idea how it was all going to draw to a close so hats off to him for keeping me guessing! Loved it.

Fun, romp through an almost Midsummer Murders style setting.

I definitely wasn't supposed to read this book first out of the series, but I had no issues enjoying the story so I would reccomend it as a place to start with the Hawthorne books. The set up is a bit Holmes and Watson, only Watson's lost the attention of his Holmes this time. So to save his book deal our dear author needs to write up a cold case in short order.

The cold case chosen is full of big characters, gorgeous settings and some downright interesting sleuthing. I loved this book and I want to go back and read all the books in the series now.

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz is the fifth book in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series. In this series, the writer has made a fictionalized version of himself pairing up with a former Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne (like Homes & Watson, Poirot & Hastings, Beckett & Castle). 
This is my first time reading a Horowitz book. And I have not read the previous books in the series. So, I was caught off-guard as the book started in the first-person narrative. A couple of pages later I got bored as the writer went on rambling about his new book, upcoming deadlines, and dropping famous TV serials he scripted. 
As it turns out, Horowitz has a knack for playing around with reality and shuffling it into his fiction. So the nearly pompous first-person character was just the fictional Horowitz. This was the first thing that got me hooked as I pushed myself to continue the first few chapters. Boredom transformed into interest as I read through Horowitz’s self-deprecating humor about the quirks of mystery writers, albeit through Hawthorne’s point of view.  The book starts with fictionalized Horowitz wanting to write a book on one of the murders that Hawthorne had worked on five years ago. 
The actual plot is itself a classic whodunit murder mystery. In a rich community called Riverview Close in Richmond, one of the members is murdered. As it turns out all the neighbors have equal motive and opportunity since they all hated the dead person. Until a second death occurs among them. There are the ropes of locked-room murder, country-house murder, and traces of noir in Hawthorne’s character (I found him a bit sexist). 
Peppered with lots of red herrings, blind spots, and subplots, Horowitz takes the reader for a ride that is exciting and terrifying. I thoroughly enjoyed his method of employing a book within a book, like a meta-fiction tale. 
If you are curious about what goes on inside the head of a crime fiction writer, this book is perfect to read. You don't read the other books in the series, although that might help to get the context of the relationship between Horowitz and Hawthorne.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for sending this book for review.

Another delightful read of the pairing Horowitz and Hawthorne. I was a bit worried as it seems the pair are not working together as closely in the latest book but the inhabitants of Riverside Close (and the murder mystery to be solved) are so intriguing it was not an issue at all. There's a wonderful old quality to the book, an Agatha Christie style but modernised by the writer. I do hope we will get more in this series. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

The series usually has me right alongside the protagonist, piecing together the clues. This time, I felt a bit left out of the investigative process, which was a bummer. The mystery itself was still captivating, but it lacked the unique, collaborative feel I've come to love. Thanks to Netgalley for sending across an e-ARC!

At some point in our lives, many of us will have to deal with the problem of difficult neighbours. Loud music and late-night parties, badly-behaved children, disputes over parking and damage caused by cats and dogs are all things that can make life stressful – but most of us wouldn’t resort to murder as a solution. However, that is exactly what seems to have happened at Riverview Close, a street of six large, luxurious houses in an affluent area of London.

The residents of Riverview Close include a doctor, a dentist, a retired lawyer, a chess grandmaster and two former nuns, all of whom have been getting on well together and leading peaceful lives. Everything changes with the arrival of Giles Kenworthy and his family, who are noisy and inconsiderate and succeed in annoying everyone else in the Close. When the residents learn that the Kenworthys are planning to cut down a beautiful tree and build a new swimming pool in its place, they decide to hold a meeting to discuss the situation – but a few weeks later the problem is solved anyway, as Giles is found dead, having been shot with a crossbow.

Five years later, author Anthony Horowitz (who uses himself as a character in his own novels) is looking for a subject for his new book. His previous four have been accounts of mysteries he has investigated alongside the private detective Daniel Hawthorne, but it seems there are no new mysteries to solve – and his publisher is putting pressure on him to start writing. Anthony decides to write about one of Hawthorne’s older cases instead, which happens to be the murder of Giles Kenworthy. Hawthorne agrees to share the details of the investigation with him, but warns him that the ending isn’t very satisfactory.

With large sections of the book set in the past and written in the third person from the perspectives of the residents of Riverview Close, this means Horowitz himself plays a much smaller part in this novel than he did in the earlier books in the series (the first one is The Word is Murder, if you’re wondering). Although I love these books, I know there are a lot of readers who find it irritating and egotistical of Horowitz to use himself as a character, but I think that would be less of a problem with this particular novel.

Because we see less of Anthony, there’s also less time spent on his interactions with Hawthorne, which is a shame as that’s one of my favourite things about this series. I had hoped to learn more about Hawthorne as each book has been slowly adding to our understanding of his character and background, but there aren’t really any major revelations about him in this instalment. There are lots of other interesting characters to get to know, though, including the members of the various households that make up Riverview Close; I particularly enjoyed meeting the two old ladies, May and Phyllis, who used to be nuns but now own a tea shop/book shop that sounds like a great place to visit!

The mystery itself is an interesting one as all of the suspects have the same motive – Giles Kenworthy’s selfish, inconsiderate behaviour – and although I was convinced I had guessed the culprit correctly, it turned out I was wrong. I did wonder why Horowitz (the character) didn’t just look up the solution to the murder on the internet rather than waiting for Hawthorne to tell him the story bit by bit and getting frustrated about not knowing the ending, but that’s just a minor quibble. I’ll look forward to the next book in this series, assuming that there’s going to be one, but I’ll also continue to hope for a new book in the Magpie Murders series!

Anthony Horowitz continues his Hawthorne and Horowitz series by proving yet again that he's far cleverer than us. Book five sees him needing another H&H book (and quickly), but he has the slight I convenience of Hawthorne not being very busy. Those murderers are slacking. Then he is given an idea. How about a book about one of Hawthornes' previous cases. There is no danger, less time spent with Hawthorne, and he'll know from the start who the killer is. Except Hawthorne won't tell him. For authenticity. And Hawthornes picked a great case. A neighbourhood dispute has gone too far where every suspect has the same motive....

I'm not sure anyone has ever written themselves into a series in such an unflattering way. Despite us knowing what a genius the writer is, he portrays himself as....well a bit thick. And not actually that likeable. Hawthornes is really quite unpleasant. But somehow, I love them both.

A great mystery dotted with a dry wit throughout. Those murderers better pull their finger out soon as I want more.

I found this slightly disappointing based on previous works by Horowitz. I found the characters weren't super strong and the writing was fine but none of it really stood out for me. I think the premise was there but it didn't really do much with it. I feel that the plotting was okay but definitely could have been better. It wasn't bad but not entirely what i expected.

A new Hawthorne & Horowitz mystery, fifth in the series
Detective Hawthorne is called to solve an unsolvable case - gruesome murder - the crossbow slaying of an arrogant new neighbour in an idyllic gated community in a desirable area of London
It’s a dual timeline, told in the third person and in nine alternating sections.
A perfect Christie style mystery with lots of twists and turns and red herrings - the eccentric and quirky characters of Riverview Close gated community all have a motive, they’re multi-layered and secretive. -it seems an impossible puzzle to solve.
I love how Horowitz creates a book within a book and the series just keeps on improving, exceeding expectations, I can’t get enough of the series, especially the shocker of an ending that I didn’t see coming.
Perfect for fans of Midsomer Murders and Agatha Christie
Thanks @anthonyhorowitz100 @centurybooksuk & @netgalley for the sharp and witty read

A murder with an obvious guilty party. But is it? Hawthorn is brought in as a consultant on the case to establish what happened but is this too convoluted a story or is it exactly as it seems?
This is another wonderful twisted murder mystery. Written again in the style of two stories that are interlinked. Good pace and interesting characters hold the imagination of the reader. Overall another good read by Horowitz.

I haven't read any of the previous books in the series but this book is a good standalone .This is a very clever ,twisty and complicated plot set in up market Richmond in a gated community. When a particularly unpleasant neighbour is found shot dead with a crossbow ,everyone is a suspect .I enjoyed the characters and the ending was very good .I look forward to reading more in this series .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

Close to death is Anthony Horowitz’s fifth book featuring detective Daniel Hawthorn. If you haven’t read the previous four novels I would highly recommend you start at the beginning but this could be read as a stand alone novel. The small community of Riverside Close in Richmond upon Thames gets on very well until Giles Kenworthy and his family move in. He successfully irritates all his neighbours through loud music, late night parties and inconsiderate parking. When murder comes to Riverside Close, everyone is a suspect but Daniel Hawthorn can be relied upon to solve the mystery.
Anthony Horowitz brings suspense and humour along with fantastic characters to each of these books. I couldn’t help relating to their petty grievances and thought the escalation of minor inconveniences into eventual murder was brilliantly written.