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.

Anthony Horowitz has done it again with this superb addition to the Hawthorne and Horowitz series. This is different from all the other books in the series. Horowitz is under pressure from his acerbic publisher to produce a novel quickly, yet his sidekick, Hawthorne has had nothing new to solve and is nowhere to be seen. The idea occurs that he could easily write about an old historical case of Hawthorne’s. He will be able to do this relatively easily and get the publisher off his back. This changes the style of the whole book from all the others in the series.
Of course, it doesn’t work out like that. The case chosen is 5 years prior and is before Hawthorne and Horowitz had even met. Hawthorne has a different sidekick, the enigmatic John Dudley and there is even a little green-eyed envy from Horowitz when he hears of the relationship between the pair.
We enter the private, very exclusive community of Riverside Close in Richmond, comprising only six houses. The community is very tightly-knit and more than a little parochial and then the Kentworthys move into the largest house. Giles Kentworthy is very loud and very brash erecting a flag in his garden and leaving his large cars deliberately awkwardly parked on the shared driveway. The final straw comes when he receives planning permission to put in a vulgar swimming pool. His neighbours hold a meeting. There is the celebrity dentist and his chronically ill wife, The GP and his wife, the retired barrister, the chess grandmaster and his wife, and finally, the mystery bookshop owners who are also former nuns. They all vow that something should be done. Then something is done and Giles Kentworthy is murdered with a crossbow in the hallway of his home. The crossbow belongs to one of the neighbours and the police think they have a cut-and-dried case, but Hawthorne and John Dudley think otherwise.
Close to Death is completely different from all the other books in the series, but it is fiendishly twisty and quite the masterpiece.
My sincere thanks to Netgalley, Random House Cornerstone, and Anthony Horowitz for the much-appreciated ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

"It would be another six weeks before death came to Riverview Close and everyone who attended the party would find their lives turned upside down. And throughout the police investigation, with its mutual suspicion and alternative truths, there was one thing on which they would all agree.
Giles Kenworthy really should have been there."

Book five of the Hawthorne & Horowitz (yes the author is a character in his own novel, of this series is new to you) detective series. It sees Horowitz investigating a cold case Hawthorne solved, of a murder in a wealthy close in Richmond, Surrey.

Starting with a controversial planning application felt a little too close to home for me (I am a Town Planner by profession), but this was only one of the issues with an inconsiderate neighbour in an exclusive closed community. Yorkshireman Hawthorne is his usual opaque self, giving little away, whilst Horowitz uses his newly discovered predecessor's notes to plot the novel, all without knowing the culprit. Numerous timelines, switching between the written plot and the author researching it, but the relatively small cast of characters and locked room / closed community element made this manageable to keep track of. I love a map at the beginning of crime fiction and it helped set the scene for the site's layout and neighbours' proximity. Unexpectedly, I found this less complex and with less misdirection (or perhaps I predicted them?) than other books in the series, although I didn't guess the culprit despite once knowing it feel obvious (like it often does with Christie's novels)! Thoroughly enjoyable, character-driven British crime fiction that gently pokes fun at itself, from this reliable and experienced author.

Have read most of Anthony Horowitz's books Typically complex plot, typically unexpected denouement, typically brilliant. Not the easiest read, with jumping timelines, multiple characters plus cutting in and out between actual plot and first person commentary but well worth the effort. Thoroughly recommended, Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for a review copy.

Unfortunately I really struggled to get into this book more due to the way it was written. Not sure if others in the series are like that, or if helping read previous ones would have made my enjoyment of this one better. Nice enough characters in the book, just not a fan of how it was written.

Although the fifth book in a series it works well as a stand alone story. I found the format of this book a bit disconcerting. The switch between the story and him "researching" it felt a little strange although it did move the story along. A complicated plot, with numerous characters and suspects, but written in a way that you could understand it. No loose ends. If you like Agatha Christie you will love this.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the advance copy of this book.

This was a mixed bag for me maybe because I'd not read any of the other books in the series I found it a strange read but even so I did read till the end,parts were very slow and the ending was an anti climax for me
Overall this just wasn'tfor me,I would give this author another try in the future and hopefully I'll connect more with his writing style.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for the ARC

My favourite murder mysteries are closed ones; that is, those mysteries with a locked room, an island, or another location where the murder must have come from a finite list of characters. I think the setting of Close To Death is one of the best things about it. Riverside Close is a gated close with a few different houses, all of which are occupied by some interesting characters. It gave the book an air of suspense that made for such a good atmosphere while I was reading.

The story itself was solid, if a tiny bit unoriginal. Wealthy man gets murdered, and the whole community wanted him dead. It didn't feel like a particularly new story, but that doesn't mean it wasn't done well. And it definitely doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable. After so many years of reading his books, I feel safe reading a Horowitz novel - I can always be comfortable in the knowledge that no matter where the story turns, it's going to pay off.

And if we can say the plot was a little unimaginative, we have to add that the characters certainly make up for it. There's quite a lot of characters to keep track of which is often challenging in a book like this, and yet it was surprisingly easy in Close To Death. The map at the start (always a great addition) helps, but it was primarily down to the way the characters were drawn. They all have such distinct personalities, and I found it surprisingly easy to distinguish them.

Close To Death is my favourite book in the Hawthorne series so far. The closed community of Riverside Close lends itself perfectly to a murder mystery, and the characters were all so vivid. A fantastic read that I finished in no time.

Anthony Horowitz write reliably great books and this one is no different. Part of a series but could easily be read as a standalone. Very entertaining.