I really like this series - and how Anthony Horowitz continues to find new ways to put the fictionalised version of himself in the way of murders - whilst pretending that it's all real. The first four books in the series have been written in the first person - but the new book is a bit of a departure, with BookHorowitz fulfilling a publishing contract by writing about one of Hawthorne’s prior cases, and giving us sections in the third person from the “book” and then first person sections as BookHorowitz goes through the process of finding out the details about the case - and about some new developments in the backstory.

Once I get going with these (and that usually means I need to actually sit down and get at least 50 pages in), they’re incredibly easy to read, and I really appreciate the meta-ness of it all as Horowitz weaves the fiction into his real biography. And I love how bumbling he makes himself - it’s fun and funny to read. I’m still hoping that he’ll write another in the Magpie Murders series, but I suspect those are even more complicated to dream up than these are, so I’ll happily accept more in this series!

Close to Death is an excellent new addition to the Hawthorne & Horowitz series, where Horowitz sort-of appears as himself and teams up with the odd but brilliant Detective Hawthorne - but this instalment is a little different as we’re reading about a crime that happened many years ago, and which Hawthorne investigated without Horowitz.

There’s pressure on Horowitz to write another book but Hawthorne has no interesting crimes to solve. So he begins trying to find out about historic cases that he can write about - and a murder in the exclusive Riverside Close in Richmond five years ago presents a baffling but intriguing case for Horowitz to recount. Although we know there is some conclusion to the case, we have to piece it together as we go along, like Horowitz, which adds extra tension.

I hugely enjoyed this book - it felt like a fresh take on the series. There’s less of Horowitz in the main plot, as he’s mainly recounting what he’s told about instead of being right there as the original investigation happened, which is a shame, but the story worked so well. There were plenty of humorous moments as I’ve come to expect from this series, including lots of amusingly deprecating comments about Hawthorne’s sidekick at the time, from a plainly envious Horowitz. I also really enjoyed the location - set in affluent Richmond, and an exclusive road within the area at that, we have a snobbishly entertaining and often flawed cast of characters to get to know.

This book does a great job of combining humour, classic crime references and a twisty, brilliant plot. I love the ‘book within a book’ format and found it all utterly brilliant. Long may this series continue.

Another book in the series where Horowitz inserts himself as a character in his books featuring private detective Hawthorne. I’m not completely enthralled by this plot device as it feels like a contrived way of injecting originality into what is otherwise a fairly formulaic murder mystery. In my opinion it makes the reader feel detached from the story and its characters.

With thanks to the author, NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

As a fan of Anthony Horowitz's books, this one was an extreme letdown. I was only able to make it 60% through before I had to DNF it. I was never a fan of this series; Anthony showing his narcissism as the main character and Hawthorne, who is just boring and unlikable. It's a painful read. I can't imagine that readers are out here demanding more of this series. Additional Sherlock Holmes stories or the Magpie Murder series would be so awesome, except he keeps writing this stuff. Does anyone else cringe at the descriptions of himself? In the first book, I thought, hey, that's original. I kind of liked it. But now? It just screams narcissism. I'm honestly embarrassed for Anthony that he put this out. I will not be recommending this book nor reading any follow-up books in this series. Let it die.

The relationship between Hawthorne and Horowitz is becoming more unpredictable with no new case to keep them together, nerves are getting frayed. But a cold case is the lure that our intrepid writer can’t resist and despite the warnings from Hawthorne, our wannabe detective is out of his league.

Every time I pick up a book in this series, I know I’m going to be entertained and feel just as befuddled as the character of Anthony Horowitz when the big revel happens. Of course, the clues were all there! Yet I miss most of them and don’t mind one bit that I do. I love being drawn into the clever plots and mysterious players that are peppered throughout. The latest story is just sublime and I loved every page.

Pushed by his publisher to produce another 'Hawthorne' mystery, Anthony gets in touch with the man himself. Hawthorne is reluctant to get involved but allows Anthony to see the notes from an intriguing mystery in his past. Riverview Close is a smart private enclave of houses but when one of the residents is murdered then it is clear every one of them has a motive. The police bring in Hawthorne and his then assistant Dudley, but after another resident dies by apparent suicide leaving a note behind, they believe the cased closed.
I really love this series of books, the initial premise is perhaps a little too clever, a fictional Anthony Horowitz inhabits a parallel world helping to solve crimes. What really works is the writing and plotting. Here the plot is both clever and simple, the lead characters frustrating but in Hawthorne's case, very clever and the setting is believable. The homage to the Golden Age through hints and plot links is deferential and rather wonderful.

I do enjoy the Anthony Horowitz Hawthorne books. The style is so different to the usual run of the mill crime mystery genre. You still get the murder mystery and the detection but it is mixed with reality and 'asides' from the author.
The writing is first class as always with accomplished descriptions of both characters and scenes and a plot that teases the reader despite the liberal sprinkling of clues.
This case is different to the rest as it concerns an old case so Anthony is working from documents and recordings to weave the story but it still provides the same entertaining read.

How well do you know your neighbours?

The first section of the book concentrates on five of the residents of Riverview Close, a modern development of six houses in Richmond upon Thames, and how they are all upset by the inconsiderate behaviour of the occupants of the sixth house, which is the largest.

It transpires that this first section is Anthony Horowitz’s telling of a murder investigation undertaken by his private detective ‘friend’, Daniel Hawthorne and Hawthorne’s associate, John Dudley. In previous books Anthony has been the Watson to Hawthorne’s Holmes, but as he hasn’t got a current murder investigation Hawthorne is reluctantly providing the notes of an historic case.

The next section moves on to the murder of Giles Kenworthy, the resident causing the trouble, and because the murderer is obviously someone resident or involved in the Close, and they all have both motive and opportunity, the investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Khan, decides to call in Hawthorne. Things change, however, when the most likely suspect commits suicide and leaves an apparent confession. Khan considers the case closed and dismisses Hawthorne, but Hawthorne is not convinced and continues his investigation.

As the investigation progresses we find that nearly everyone in Riverside Close has not told the whole truth, whether about the murder or their past, and so our focus flips around. The clues are there …….. can we, the reader, solve the case before the final chapter?

This is the fifth book in the Daniel Hawthorne series, I read the fourth recently, The Twist of the Knife, which was excellent and this one does not disappoint, despite the format being different.

I read this book from a pre-publication copy kindly supplied by the publisher, but this is an honest review with no concession to their generosity.

I really enjoyed this! I didn't realise it was a series, so I jumped straight in at number 5, but it didn't make a difference!

A wild murder, likeable characters, and a good old murder mystery!!

Definitely one not to be missed.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

A “neighbour from hell” is murdered via crossbow in a posh London suburb. But when all of his neighbours hated him, whodunit? Hawthorne investigates - this time, from the past!

Anthony Horowitz’s fifth Hawthorne and Horowitz novel, Close to Death, is easily the least interesting one in the series yet. The plot, the characters, the plummy setting - none of it is all that compelling and the story draaaags for much of the book. I was close to sleep pretty much the whole time!

The fictional Horowitz needs to churn out a new H&H book because of his contract (which probably isn’t a million miles away from the real Horowitz’s situation either) and the novel reads as forced as its inception. Hawthorne’s run out of recent murders so they delve into the pre-partnership past for this case.

The fact that everything happened years ago takes away an element of urgency to the narrative and I’m surprised the fictional Horowitz didn’t just read up on the investigation online to find out whodunit, considering the murderer had already been identified (the reason he didn’t is probably something contrived about wanting to maintain integrity with Hawthorne).

But, despite the unusual murder weapon, it’s just not that interesting a scenario. The characters are all mundane, ordinary, upper-middle class folk whose bugbears against the murder victim are all bolshy crap: getting planning permission for a swimming pool that’d ruin their view of the garden, having too many cars blocking their driveway and so on. Y’know, really relatable stuff.

The story starts off slowly - even (Horowitz as)Hawthorne has the self-awareness to note this, but doesn’t change it; it serves a purpose though it’s still boring - and never gets going. The narrative plods along pretty much the whole time until the slightly less-tedious finale where we find out whodunit.

Hawthorne and Horowitz was Anthony Horowitz’s most reliable series in terms of quality - they were generally not bad, with the occasional standout, but none were so dull I wished it was over long before the end - until Close to Death, when I began to feel like this series had run its course.

If you’re looking for a recommendation for this series, the third book, A Line to Kill, is the best one - you don’t need to read them in order either; they’re all loosely connected but are perfectly accessible as standalones. New readers though, don’t start with Close to Death and returning readers, keep them expectations low - what a dull, dull, dull crime novel this is!

Having read the last book in the Hawthorne Horowitz series I had a better understanding of the format of the book -so cleverly mixing reality with his fictional mystery. The mixed time frame is cleverly portrayed with Horowitz on this occasion trying to write a book about a 5 year old mystery, relying on tapes and historical information. As ever there are twists and turns galore with so many suspects to choose with varied histories to choose from.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Anthony Horowitz/Random House UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC. It's not the first of Horowitz's series of Hawthorne and Horowitz books that I've read. Although I find their format - with the author allegedly thrust into a world of murder and mayhem - a little odd and unbelievable I nonetheless find them quite compelling. This book, for me at least, was very much in the same vein of other books in this series, and what I'd been expecting and hoping for. It was a well-written story, lots of quite unpleasant characters, easy to read but not too challenging (having said that I still didn't guess who the murderer was).

I must admit this didn't grab me quite as much as the others I have read in this series, not quite sure why but maybe because Mr Horowitz took more of a back seat in this one? I don't know but I still enjoyed it.

Horowitz needs to write another book but, unfortunately, no bodies have turned up so he writes about a previous case Hawthorne was involved in and what a case it is.

It appears to be an open and shut case relating to a murder of a man in a small community by his neighbour however, nothing is quite so simple especially when the alleged murderer is found dead in his locked garage, in his locked car from apparent suicide. It all seems a bit too simple and it certainly is.

Full of excellent and interesting characters, told at a good pace and with some great twists, this is an intriguing story and one I would recommend reading by people who enjoy this genre and I highly recommend reading the others in the series.

Many thanks to the author, RandomHouse UK, Cornerstone, Century and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this great addition to a brilliant series.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my copy of Close to Desth in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say this series is my guilty pleasure! Each instalment of this uniquely written series is unputtdownable even when in this case following the style of a cosy mystery with an element of locked door mystery.

In this instalment Anthony is under pressure from his publisher to produce a new book in the series but having had no new mystery to follow he asks Hawthorne to tell him about an old case, this leads him to Riverview Close in richmond and the case of annoying neighbour in a quiet cul de sac being shot with a crossbow. All the residents are suspects and they all have something to hide.

As usual the story runs parallel to Anthony’s own desperation to uncover the truth at the heart of the mystery that is Hawthorne keeping the mystery intriguing alongside the main body of the story.

Another thoroughly enjoyable book in this series.

I love the Hawthorne and Horowitz series of books. This book is number 5 in the series and it has a slightly different format. It is a bit more serious than the others, and not as much of the trademark humour of the earlier titles. There is enough back story for newcomers to this series to jump in and work out relationships of the main characters. This book has clever plotting and enough red herrings and twists to keep you occupied, and an edge of your seat ending. I was proud of myself for catching some of the clues, but realised on reflection that they had been fed to me. No spoilers, but I was genuinely worried towards the end of the book.

Another great read from Anthony Horowitz! You get two stories in this book, the one about the author, and the story he is writing. A very clever way to keep the reader interested, I really enjoyed it. Even though this is book 5, I haven’t read the others and was still able to follow along. Anyone who is a fan of cosy mysteries will love it. Definitely recommend, thank you #netgalley

'Close to Death' is another hugely clever and enjoyable instalment in Anthony Horowitz's Hawthorne series in which Horowitz appears as a hapless sidekick to the brilliant but unorthodox and somewhat unscrupulous former police detective Daniel Hawthorne.

This volume is slightly different from previous books: under pressure from his agent to deliver another Hawthorne book by the end of the year but with no new cases on the horizon, Horowitz turns his attention to one of Hawthorne's previous cases to 2014, using Hawthorne's notes and interview transcripts to try and solve the case himself. The murder in question takes place in the exclusive gated Riverview Close, inhabited by a memorable cast of characters including a 'dentist to the stars', a widowed criminal barrister and two former nuns who now run a cafe and bookshop specialising in cosy crime. The victim, shot with a crossbow, is wealthy crossbow, Giles Kenworthy who turns out to be the 'neighbour from hell', angering everyone with his inconsiderate parking, loud music, Union Jack flag and plans to build a new swimming pool. But everyone seems to have the same motive, and none seem strong enough to lead to murder.

The variation in format this time round works extremely well. As with the whole series, a lot of the fun comes from seeing Horowitz reflecting on his knowledge of crime fiction as a genre and how this relates to ostensibly real-life cases. Here, there are some interesting metafictional reflections on the narrative privilege conferred by the omniscient third-person perspective and the pros and cons of the locked room mystery. As well as the mystery of Giles Kenworthy's death, which is full of unexpected plot twists, there is also the ongoing enigma of Hawthorne as a character. Once again, Horowitz can't resist the temptation to investigate his fellow investigator, and ends up finding out more than he wants to.

The title 'Close to Death' implies that this could be Hawthorne and Horowitz's final outing together: it is possible that there might be further twists in store for us, but if this is the end then it marks a strong conclusion to what has been an original and highly entertaining series - many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

I really enjoyed this book! And I’ll certainly be picking up the others. I enjoyed the fact that you weren’t sure what the answer was until the very end

Riverview Close is a quiet gated community located in Richmond Upon Thames.
All the neighbours get on until the Kenworthy family move in and a murder happens.
Giles Kenworthy is brash, rude and disrespectful. He has plans to put a pool into his garden, which upsets the whole Close, so someone steps in and kills him with an arrow to the chest, everyone had a reason to kill him and everybody is a suspect.
The police can’t figure out who did the deed so they call on Daniel Hawthorne and he tells Anthony Horowitz how solved the case, but he is reluctant to relive the past as Horowitz soon to discover for himself.
This series is highly entertaining and one of the best I’ve read.
Anthony Horowitz is a fine writer who knows how to tell a story that keeps the reader engrossed until its finale.
This another genius whodunnit which I highly recommend.

Neighbours, as the song goes, can become good friends – or bitter enemies, of course. Bitter enough to shun, ignore, hate, sue – or kill? Extreme, perhaps, but the best solution in the long term. In the enclave of Riverview Close, a private, gated group of six houses in the London Borough of Richmond on Thames, all the neighbours were friends until one family left and the new residents turned out to be trouble. Trouble in the sense of being selfish and uncaring of the community; loud, brash, barbecue burning, late night partying, probably racist, aggressive parking boors, with uncontrolled children. To be fair this appears to be down to the husband and father, Giles Kenworthy, a hedge fund finance sort of guy; the wife, Lynda, is somewhat aloof but pleasant enough. The rest of the community plan a get-together, billed as a social event but designed to try and get Giles to ‘toe the line’. Two things then conspire to stoke the animosity: Giles messages after the rest have already got together to say they won’t be coming, and a planning application is delivered announcing the construction of a swimming pool, sauna and changing rooms in the Kenworthy’s garden. Is this the final straw? It certainly seems so because, immediately after the council approve the plans, Giles is killed by a crossbow bolt through the throat. The case is investigated by Superintendent Khan, who has requested help from private detective Daniel Hawthorne and his assistant John Dudley. However, the case appears to be open and shut and so they are not needed, even though Hawthorne has raised a number of problems.
All this was five years ago, and Anthony Horowitz was not involved. However, after this case Anthony had replaced Dudley, and Hawthorne and Horowitz had become a successful team solving four complex cases which had become four successful books for the author. Now, though, Anthony is in a bind, because his five-book contract require a fifth book and there is no fresh body to investigate. In desperation, he seeks a Hawthorne case from before they met and hits upon the Riverview Close murder, a claustrophobic mystery involving a veritable Marple’s worth of characters. Despite Hawthorne’s protestations, he embarks on the task.
This book, as noted above, the fifth in the series, but differs from the others in that all of the evidence and the solution are already well known and Anthony is more an amanuensis than an investigator. Or so it seems. The style is very open, almost conversational, and flows so painlessly that it takes a little while for the reader to see that it is not at all the mystery they expected, but a much more complicated, indeed ingenious, one. Keeping track of the clues is a major intellectual task, the solutions brilliant in their contrivance. Altogether, a total enjoyment.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.