Reviews with content warning for Murder - Close to Death

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz

7 reviews

gillianengelbrecht's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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20lbsofglass's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

I think the biggest problem I have with this book is Dudley. He’s central to the story, but incredibly boring. He never feels like a character. No personality whatsoever, just a name that gets mentioned a lot and becomes very important towards the end. The worst part of his character is that he makes Hawthorne a worse character by proxy. Part of what makes Hawthorne a good character is his banter and general relationship with Horowitz, and we get none of that with Dudley. They are supposedly very good friends, but they have no chemistry whatsoever. Without Horowitz, Hawthorne is kind of a bland, generic detective. I think it’s cool that Horowitz went for a swing with this book, and it’s an admirable attempt to add some realism to the series. In real life, someone isn’t murdered every time a new book is due. While it’s cool to have this addressed, I think Horowitz would’ve been better suited just completely forgoing the realism. It’s not something people even really look for in this type of book, and I think everybody who enjoys whodunits is able to suspend disbelief that there are so many regular murders. I think this mystery is good and it deserves to be told. It’s clever, there are good clues, and the reveal is satisfying. It just unfolds in a very uninteresting way compared to the previous installments. If this were set in the present and was just a standard Horowitz/Hawthorne mystery, it would be far more entertaining and might even rank among the best of the series. The way this played out, the Horowitz sections were easily the most entertaining. I think that another problem that arose with shaking up the formula this way is that third person doesn’t suit Horowitz as much. He’s great at writing himself as the narrator. His attempts at figuring out the mystery make the story so much more engaging to the reader because they can put themselves in his shoes, rather than just reading about a genius detective who is three steps ahead of them, which is what this book is. It’s nice to share the frustration at not being able to figure things out, and that only happens in small doses in this book. It’s a shame, because it’s what makes this series so unique in the world of modern whodunits.

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sarahb919's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Didn’t care too much for this one. The who-dunnit portion was good and interesting but I hated most of the characters, including the narrator and main detective, Hawthorne, who was a racist but was still fawned over by the narrator and the detective’s former partner. “Better a racist than a murderer?” I wouldn’t be too sure.

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aileron's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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emlilley's review

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challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Once again Anthony Horowitz proves himself to be a master of mystery, pacing, and plot. This series is, in my opinion, his best, and this is another excellent installment. Would have been a 5 but for an unnecessarily graphic depiction of animal death, and that the lack of engagement between Horowitz and Hathaway, which normally provides the backbone for the books as well as some humor and a sense of camaraderie, left the story feeling a bit less zippy and fun than the others in the series. But, overall, a great read and leaves me looking forward to the next one as always.

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emshawkes's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A clever mystery that kept me guessing.
This is the first book I’ve read by Anthony Horowitz so I came at it without any previous baggage of what to expect. I've seen several reviews saying they either liked or disliked the main characters which affected their enjoyment of the book. I had no background knowledge, and I think it worked well as a standalone book, I didn’t feel like I was missing any backstory.
In this novel, Horowitz needs to write the next instalment of his Hawthorne and Horowitz crime series. However, there haven’t been any new cases to write about so they come upon the idea of using a Hawthorne past case: Giles Kenworthy is the neighbour from hell and has been making the lives of the occupants of Riverside Close a misery. 6 weeks after an intervention meeting with the residents of the close, which Giles and his wife do not attend, he is found dead with a crossbow bolt through his neck. But which of the neighbours fired the shot?
The series meshes reality with fiction, and does it really well. I had to Google to see if the book was based on a true story and which parts were true to life: Anthony Horowitz is a writer who has a series of teenage spy books - Alex Rider - he has written new Sherlock Holmes and James Bond stories and has written TV shows including Midsomer Murderers and Foyle’s War, both of which I’ve seen episodes of and enjoyed. He has a wife called Jill who works as a Film and TV Executive (forgive me if I have used incorrect terminology). All of this is referenced in the novel.
The thing that irked me, and means that I’ve given it a 4/5 star rating I was annoyed that Horowitz insisted on digging into Hawthorne’s past and his previous partner John Dudley and their dealings with the shady Alastair Morton despite repeatedly being warned away. Surely Hawthorne chose this case, so why would he give Horowitz the details if it came to a dissatisfying conclusion.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this novel in exchange for an honest reveiw.

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what_heather_loves's review

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

"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.

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