Debbie's Pick: "The Twist of a Knife" by Anthony Horowitz

The Twist of a Knife is Anthony Horowitz’s fourth whodunit featuring Detective Hawthorne and Horowitz’s fictional self and is the latest book in a long literary career which includes the Alex Rider series for young adults and Magpie Murders which was recently dramatized for the PBS Mystery! series. Horowitz is a master storyteller with clever plots and characters that catch the reader’s imagination, and this book is no exception. I literally couldn’t put it down!

The book begins with the fictional opening night of Horowitz’s play Mindgame in London’s West End. Mindgame is panned by critics, and one critic is especially brutal in her review. The next day this critic is discovered stabbed to death, and all evidence points to Horowitz as the murderer. Can Detective Daniel Hawthorne, his sometimes friend and muse, help him? More to the point, will he help? Horowitz recently refused to write another book about Hawthorne’s cases, and Hawthorne feels no need to come to the rescue. How will the mystery be solved and Horowitz cleared of the crime without him? Fortunately, Hawthorne agrees to investigate the seven suspects who are all part of the production of Mindgame.

In the tradition of Golden Age mysteries, Detective Hawthorne and his sidekick Horowitz delve into the back stories of the characters and find arcane secrets and clues along the way. In a Poirot-like ending, all the suspects gather on the stage of the empty theater for Detective Hawthorne to reveal who did it and why.

This book is for anyone who likes a clever mystery with just little blood, a bit of humor, and a satisfying ending.

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