What an absolutely brilliant idea for a book. I absolutely loved it. Original, quirky, and I wasn’t quite sure if it was real. Such an incredible idea.Anthony has to write another book about Detective Hawthorne, but there isn’t a suitable case currently, so Detective Hawthorne decides to drip feed Anthony a previous case he has solved, which took place years ago in a private Close in London.
Riverside Close is picture perfect - a closed community of friends who all get on well and live an idyllic lifestyle – that is until one family move out, and the family who moved in are a complete nightmare. The trouble is, when the father, Charles Kentworthy dies literally the whole Close could be responsible as every one had reason to hate him. Added to that the gardener, the nanny, there are more suspects than you can shake a stick at. Charles does by crossbow, and a few days later another of the neighbours ends up dead in his car – with an apparent suicide note on his lap. Seemingly an open and shut case – but is all as it seems?
Exciting, puzzling, brilliantly written, believable characters, twists and turns, What’s not to love? Putting himself writing the story, into the story – sheer genius -as is the idea of the author ‘not knowing who the murderer is’ until the end of the book. Brilliant.

I enjoyed the previous Hawthorne and Horowitz books. This one is slightly different in that Horowitz isn’t part of a current investigation but is reviewing a cold case due to publishing deadlines. This is a locked room style murder in that all the residents of a gated community are suspects when an obnoxious neighbour is murdered. Great twisty plot and I didn’t identify the murderer. Highly recommended

Part of me wants to write a really short review of this book. I could sum it up in one word. “Fantastic” springs to mind. Maybe four words – “Best Mystery In Ages”. But last time I wrote a short review (if memory serves, it was a Ngaio Marsh book and the second of two words was “Awful”) I got a bit of flak for it, so I’ll go into a little detail.

Structurally, this does resemble Horowitz’s masterpiece Magpie Murders more than the other Hawthorne books, as it interweaves Hawthorne in the present day with his novelisation of Hawthorne’s notes. The present day starts just with Horowitz talking to Hawthorne, but expands into his own investigation, both into the events of Riverview Close and into Hawthorne’s past (and present).

The mystery at Riverview Close is clever enough, with an old idea at the heart of it, but masked so well, with every character in the drama given real depth but never at the expense of the mystery. As with Magpie/Moonflower, that half of the book would be an excellent tale if that was all it was. But the combination of the past and present stories elevate this to something more than that.

I think the best way to sum up this book is like this. After reading it, I had trouble starting another book because no matter what it was, I knew it wouldn’t be as good as this one. And it wasn’t…

Close to Death was my favourite (so far) of the Horowitz and Hawthorne series. Having got my head around the whole 'Anthony Horowitz writing character Anthony Horowitz' they make for thoroughly enjoyable reads.

This time around, the action takes place in two time periods, with Horowitz and Hawthorne picking up a cold case. In the original timeline, Hawthorne and Dudley (a different sidekick) investigate the death of Giles Kenworthy, who's upset all of his neighbours in his gated community. There are plenty of suspects, but who has taken the biggest step to becoming a murderer?

I really enjoyed Close to Death; it's got all the trademark style of Horowitz's other novels and with the added suspense of the cold case.

Having read Moonflower Murders, I was looking forward to reading Close to Death. Having now finished it, it really did not "float my boat" and so this will likely be the last one I will read.

To my mind, this book really did hark back to Hercule Poirot when he was dragged off to the theatre to watch a play about a murder. Having sat almost to the end wondering what was going on, the sleuth in the play strolls onto the stage for the last scene to layout who the murderer was and "all the clues". Hercule was incensed at the illogicality of it all and to some extent so was I by Close to Death.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for an advance copy of Close to Death, the fifth novel to feature investigator Daniel Hawthorne and author Anthony Horowitz, set mostly in Richmond.

Riverview Close, Richmond, a gated community of six houses, is a pleasant place to live until Giles Kenworthy, his wife and two sons move in. They are noisy, inconsiderate and disliked by the other residents, especially when they get planning permission for a swimming pool. When Giles is shot dead with a crossbow bolt the police are baffled and ask Hawthorne for assistance.

I thoroughly enjoyed Close to Death as it has an engaging style that invites the reader to keep turning the pages. I have not read any of the previous novels which are gathering dust in my TBR pile, but I think this may bump them up the list.

I understand that this novel is different to its predecessors in that it covers a closed case rather than an active one, but it seems to work well with the present timeline filling in the gaps in the five year old case. I was initially unsure about the author inserting himself into the novel as it feels a bit narcissistic, but in actual fact it works out ok with him playing the useful idiot to uncover more plot details.

The author is on deadline to produce a new novel but with no current murders for him and Hawthorne to investigate he decides to write about one of Hawthorne’s old cases. Hawthorne delivers the case files in instalments, which allows the author to comment on what he has received, speculate on events, carry out some further investigation in the present, not entirely successfully as he never considers the consequences and critique his progress. It’s interesting.

This is a clever novel, not just in the concept but also in the execution. There are enough developments and reveals to keep the reader occupied culminating in a fiendishly intricate explanation for Kenworthy’s death and a second associated one. I assume that this is the author’s take on the classic locked room genre, which he mentions in “his” chapters and it lives up to all his criticism.

Close to Death is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I do enjoy Horowitz's style! An interesting narrative that kept me guessing throughout. The characters are so well done you feel like you actually know them. A fantastic 'whodunnit' with a twist. I will be recommending to everyone.

Thank you for the chance to read this ARC in return for my honest opinion.

I had not realised this was part of a series when I requested it. I found it a very difficult book to read in a very odd format and way of writing.
I think this made it impossible to read as a stand-alone book and recommend reading the whole series.
The convoluted way of writing meant that unfortunately I was unable to finish it.
It’s very unusual for me to give up on a book in this way.

I haven’t read an Anthony Horowitz book for a long time, I think the last one I read was Groosham Grange when I was a kid! I do however always think of him as a very assured author, and I was excited to request ‘Close to Death’ as his latest read.

I didn’t realise this was book 5 of the ‘Hawthorne and Horowitz’ series when I requested to read it, but actually I think this was a great book to pick as it works well as a standalone. No doubt you get some more information on the main characters if you’d read them all, but I wouldn’t worry too much about reading the others before this one if you haven’t already! The book was really interesting, and very meta in places as the actual author (Anthony Horowitz) narrates certain chapters talking about his work with the fictional detective and the case that he is writing about.

The murder mystery itself feels like a classic – there’s a small neighbourhood of 6 houses on a road with a locked gate. One of the neighbours, who has just moved in and has been annoying everyone in the community, has been found murdered. How do you solve a murder when everyone is a suspect? Without giving too much away, there is also a ‘locked room’ element to this case as well which was interesting. The murder mystery is the book that Horowitz is writing, and you felt very much in safe hands with it. The writing style is engaging, the characters are portrayed with a lot of detail, the clues are mixed in well and the setting is intriguing. The other part of the book, where the author is talking about the book, helps to keep tension high and breaks up the flow of the piece nicely to keep you engaged throughout.

The ending of the story is a little convoluted and complex but I did enjoy it. We didn’t really get to know Hawthorne much in this story, but I didn’t like the reference to a character having an ‘Oriental Brain’ which is used by him at one point. The ending sets up more intrigue about him which obviously doesn’t have as much of an impact if you haven’t read the rest of the series.

Overall, Close to Death is a well-written crime thriller which felt very much like a classic. Suitable to read as a standalone, but a great addition to the Hawthorne and Horowitz series. Thank you to NetGalley & Random House UK – Century and Cornerstone for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 5th in this series and, for all the usual reasons, plus the fact that they are all cracking books, I will definitely recommend you go back and start from book one if you haven't already done so. As an addition, these books are also excellent in Audiobook if that is something that appeals to you...
So... its the 5th outing for our rather chalk and cheese duo Horowitz and Hawthorne and this time the case in question is one of the death of an annoying neighbour in a upmarket gated community. It also happened 5 years ago, and was investigated by Hawthorne in the days prior to the partnership so there is much less Horowitz than usual. An annoyance to me as I do love the way they rub each other up the wrong way but, it is what it is... Horowitz needs a murder to write about and fresh ones are not forthcoming, and publishers won't wait, deadlines and advances and all that...
We start with a gated community, all is ticking along nicely until one of the families decides to leave, another moves into their home, and the vacant property bought by a new family, the Kentworthys. One that will soon become one of THOSE families. Many cars, children running amok, and, the icing on an already mouldy cake, they have just submitted plans for a swimming pool...
So, when the father turns up dead on his own doorstep with a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest, no one is particularly surprised. But who dunnit? Loads of suspects... Enter Det Hawthorne and his sidekick John Dudley to investigate...
And so begins a different sort of tale with the majority set in the past and, as already mentioned, not really starring Horowitz, which is a shame as it is the USP of this series of course... but it's an intriguing tale nonetheless. It's tightly plotted and, in between the case being investigated, the author does get the chance to insert himself into the narrative, poking fun at himself as per usual, it's just not as much. Characters are well drawn as you would expect from an author of this calibre and all play their parts well. Pacing is good and matches the narrative all the way through. And the ending when it came was perfect. As with all the previous books I can't wait to revisit it on Audio when published. And then, I guess, just sit back and wait for book 6. I do hope we get a fresh body for that one...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is the first time I have read a book by Anthony Horowitz. Enjoyed its tangled web and use of a chess grandmaster as he key character acknowledging his brilliant mind. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

I was looking forward for this latest book in the Detective Hawthorne's series and it was worth the wait. Highly recommend this clever and twisty murder mystery (and the rest of the series too!)
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this copy.

Hawthorne is called in to help out with a murder at a seemingly pleasant Close in Richmond. He and his side kick, Dudley, uncover all sorts about these perfectly respectable people, much to the dismay of the police.
Great read, very engaging. The characters were well formed and believable.
A little Agatha Christie in style, gentle and yet absorbing.
Easy read.

This is the first Anthony Horowitz novel I have read and it won't be the last.

A man living on a desirable Close is murdered. He's managed to alienate all of his neighbours, but did one of them actually kill him? The police call in Hawthorne a private eye, to see if he can uncover what they can't.

I hadn't realised this book is the latest in a series of books to feature Hawthorne. Despite that I had no trouble reading this as a standalone book, and now want to read the earlier ones too (and probably everything he has ever written). I don't think I have ever been as intrigued by a book since I read Agatha Christie many moons ago. Brilliantly written it had me turn the pages so fast that I finished it in two sittings.

There are so many facets to this story and at first I struggled with too many characters and a map I couldn't memorise. I just read on and it all fell into place and I even had an inkling of what may have happened. To say I loved this writing would be an understatement. Why has it taken me this long to discover this fantastic author.

I like this author and I like this series of books, but this one was a bit lacking. I say lacking, but I think it was the repetitiveness of the story that made me lose interest. I know feeding bits of information at a time is the way these stories go, but I think it dragged on.

Close to Death is the fifth in Anthony Horowitz’s series featuring Detective Hawthorne but could be read as a stand-alone book. As in the others, Horowitz, features himself ‘breaking the fourth wall’. I am not fond of this method in literature and found it quite distracting in his novel.

The plot is a murder mystery centred on a close knit community of six homes in Richmond who share a central courtyard.. Fortunately there is a map of the homes with the occupants in it otherwise the plot would be quite challenging to follow from descriptions alone. One wonders how it will work as an audio book.

It was a good plot with the expected twists and turns but just a little too involved and complicated with the different styles of writing to make if a favourite of Horowitz’s books for me.

With thanks to NetGalley and Cornerstone for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Horowitz tries something slightly different in this, so the first part of the book had me puzzled, as it simply seemed a straightforward crime novel (with a slight Golden Age tinge to it). But then the post-modernist element came in, with his own character stepping in (and getting everything wrong, as usual) and his partner detective reluctantly giving him feedback and clues. Great fun to read, although implausible in parts.

These books are interesting the way they are written. They start will setting a scene to a Murder then they go back to the present day with Anthony working with an ex detective on Murders he has worked on.
The ending wasn’t as predictable as it seemed so was a good read.

It is no secret that I am the biggest fan of Horowitz's work, both adult and children novels alike. I think this may have been my favourite novel!

The narrative follows a murder that took place in a very close-knit, or so it seems, affluent housing area, known as Riverside Close. Being brought up near Richmond myself, it was absolutely wonderful to read a book with such a familiar location and I think that's partly the reason I felt so warm when reading this tale.

I absolutely adore novels that explore dysfunctional relationships, so this take by having complicated relationships through neighbours was extremely interesting and quite refreshing. Horowitz's style of writing is so unique and it honestly felt like returning to home picking up this novel to read. I love the way in which there are different parts of the novel, and how they act as jigsaw puzzle pieces that are only then pieced together in the last 10% of the novel. The multi-timeline narratives, alongside the questioning of characters created such a complex narrative, but one that I was totally immersed in. I cared deeply about the characters, I rooted for that 'happy ending/conclusion' and I really and truly felt like a detective myself, particularly at the end when Hawthorne was explaining the actual crime and how he believed it to have happened.

Honestly, the best crime read in a long time.

Close to Death is the latest outing for the Hawthorne and Horowitz partnership and I really enjoyed this novel. It is deftly and cleverly plotted with blind alleys and red herrings. I loved it. Thank you to the publishers, to Anthony Hororwitz and to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review an arc.