A Line to Kill
“Horowitz is a master of misdirection, and his brilliant self-portrayal, wittily self-deprecating, carries the reader through a jolly satire on the publishing world.” — Booklist
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In case anyone was not already aware, Anthony Horowitz is a genius, an absolute marvel. This versatile, imaginative and prolific British author of mystery, suspense and psychological thrillers has published over 40 books, all of which are diverse, nonformulaic and written for a wide range of audiences. He was even chosen by Ian Fleming’s estate to keep 007, James Bond, alive. And beyond books, he has written for both the stage and the screen, including Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War among other notable series. Despite so many huge credits to his name, Horowitz’s body of work is better known in the UK and deserves a much wider American audience. His writing is clever, literate and completely engrossing, making his novels highly entertaining and quick reads.
His latest is one such novel. A Line to Kill (Harper) is both a classic whodunit and locked-room mystery, but it is also a smart satire about authors and the publishing world. While it is the third book in a series, which includes The Word Is Murder and The Sentence Is Death, it works as a standalone novel. These books uniquely feature the author as narrator and protagonist. In them, Horowitz is partnered with a taciturn, disgraced ex-Detective Inspector turned private investigator named Daniel Hawthorne who utilizes unorthodox methods to solve crimes.
Unofficially, Hawthorne is often asked to assist with puzzling police investigations. The premise is that Anthony Horowitz was hired by Hawthorne to shadow him at work and document his life and cases. Horowitz’s publisher reluctantly approved a three-book contract, and in no time, hesitant tagalong Horowitz is plunged into murder investigations. Horowitz is cast in a passive role — the somewhat dim Dr. Watson playing biographer to the great Holmes or the dense Captain Hastings, frequent sidekick to Hercule Poirot.
Hawthorne is a difficult biographical subject. He refuses to divulge details of his personal life or his sudden resignation from the police force, yet he expects Horowitz to be available at all times. He even disrupts a difficult London street scene filming sequence of Foyle’s War. The detective rudely commands Horowitz to be present, observant and silent. Our author is not certain he even likes Daniel Hawthorne and frequently questions their working relationship.
In A Line to Kill, Horowitz and Hawthorne are invited to participate in an exclusive literary festival held on Alderney Island. This northernmost Channel Island is a British Crown dependency situated about 60 miles off the south coast of England. It boasts dazzling views, brilliant wildflowers and exotic seabirds but also a dark history of Nazi German occupation during WWII. Unlike larger Guernsey, permanent residents were evacuated early in 1940. The Nazis built massive fortifications and bunkers and established several SS-run slave and concentration camps where thousands died. They also worked on developing secret V1 or vengeance missiles with banned chemical warheads meant to target mainland England. Homes and other property were destroyed, leaving devastation in the wake of their defeat. This secret history is a vital component of the novel.
This fictional Alderney literary festival is a smaller gathering than Horowitz anticipates with only the event organizer, some assistants and the wealthy sponsor present in addition to an odd mix of authors: a celebrity chef, a blind psychic and her husband, an avant-garde French performance poet, a children’s author and a war historian. The Horowitz/Hawthorne book is not yet in print, thus eliminating book signings, but the men were scheduled for talks and interviews during what was promising to be a long and trying weekend.
The sponsor Charles le Mesusier, the island’s wealthiest resident, with a fortune made from an online casino game, is embroiled in a heated feud with the permanent residents. He would benefit financially from a proposed power line that would run the length of the island and disturb family cemeteries as well as mass graves remaining from the war atrocities. Aside from its WWII occupation, Alderney is an idyllic island with no recorded murders … until Charles le Mesusier’s death, that is. Found in his home’s private, locked bunker after a gala reception, there is no shortage of suspects, including his flashy spokes model wife, as nearly everyone loathed the man. Horowitz and Hawthorne are immediately on the case.
A Line to Kill is quite entertaining and written with tremendous intelligence and perception. It presents a perfect blending of murder mystery, insider gossip about the publishing industry, and Horowitz’s own television projects and family life. The reader is actively engaged, brought along by the ongoing, fascinating inner chatter of his mind as he reluctantly assists Hawthorne in crime-solving. Clearly, he’d rather be focused on his own work. The author inserts such authentic detail about the actors and authors he references that you find yourself checking sites such as IMDB to verify whether a character is real or fictional. It’s a delightful change of pace from typical cozies or thrillers, and I hope there will be more Horowitz and Hawthorne mysteries. I highly recommend it.
