Reviews

The Sentence Is Death by Anthony Horowitz

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belle590's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

abaranes's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I've yet to read an Anthony Horowitz book I didn't like, and this is no exception.

Hawthorne is back with another puzzling murder, asking Anthony to write about his solving of the case. This time, it's a high-powered divorce attorney murdered with a bottle of wine - except he doesn't drink.

This is a great follow up to the prior mystery for a few reasons. One - without spoiling too much - there are a lot of broken parallels between the first one and this one. Plot similarities that were unimportant/unrelated in book 1 are important/related in book 2 and vice-versa. Two, I enjoyed the evolution of Hawthorne and Horowitz's relationship. You do start to get the view that they actually do care for each other - and that Hawthorne actually likes Horowitz (even if it's only begrudgingly reciprocated). Obviously, there are plenty of Holmes/Watson vibes - it is a first person narrative ! from the sidekick's perspective, after all! - but they're both appropriately subtle and lampshaded when appropriate. Three - and most importantly - it's a good mystery! SPOILERS:

I especially liked how the time-change plot was used. I distinctly recall an episode of Monk that uses that plot point and Horowitz does a great job leading the reader down the path - those familiar with mystery novels will feel clever for having figured it out, only for him to subvert it at the end. The hard part to fair-play mysteries is tricking the reader when they know they're being tricked, and I think Horowitz did a great job in this aspect.

Overall, a great second entry in the Hawthorne & Horowitz series.