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Title details for Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz - Available

Close to Death

A Novel

#5 in series

by Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Horowitz
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available

In New York Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz's ingenious fifth literary whodunnit in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series, Detective Hawthorne is once again called upon to solve an unsolvable case—a gruesome murder in an idyllic gated community in which suspects abound.

Riverside Close is a picture-perfect community. The six exclusive and attractive houses are tucked far away from the noise and grime of city life, allowing the residents to enjoy beautiful gardens, pleasant birdsong, and tranquility from behind the security of a locked gate.

It is the perfect idyll, until the Kentworthy family arrives, with their four giant, gas-guzzling cars, gaggle of shrieking children, and plans for a garish swimming pool in the backyard. Obvious outsiders, the Kentworthys do not belong in Riverside Close, and quickly offend every last one of the neighbors.

When Giles Kentworthy is found dead on his own doorstep, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest, Detective Hawthorne is the only investigator they can call to solve the case.

Because how do you solve a murder when everyone is a suspect?

  • Creators

  • Series

    Hawthorne and Horowitz

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 16, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780063305670
      • File size: 265181 KB
      • Duration: 09:12:27

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 26, 2024
      In the intriguing if uneven fifth installment of Horowitz’s Hawthorne and Horowitz series (after The Twist of a Knife), the author again blends mystery and metafiction to examine a murder in an exclusive London cul-de-sac. After the obnoxious Giles Kenworthy is slain with a crossbow in his home among the ritzy mansions of Riverview Close, police detective Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, John Dudley, jump on the case. At first, owing to Kenworthy’s lack of popularity among his neighbors, Hawthorne and Dudley float the idea that it was a collaborative killing in the tradition of Murder on the Orient Express. Then one of their key suspects dies in an apparent suicide, and the case shifts into locked-room mystery territory, with a single killer likely picking off Riverview Close peers one by one. Horowitz again inserts himself in the narrative, working with Hawthorne to turn the case into a proper novel, but he writes much of this volume in third person, turning to his own voice only occasionally to comment on genre conventions or tease the mystery’s conclusion. The result is a narrative of frames within frames that gradually loses entertainment value as a fair play mystery and ultimately slips into something far more jumbled. There’s plenty of ambition on display, but this isn’t up to series standards. Agent: Jonathan Lloyd, Curtis Brown.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Rory Kinnear's performance of the fifth Hawthorne and Horowitz mystery is "something of a masterclass," says author Anthony Horowitz in a recorded postscript that praises Kinnear's flair and fluency. Indeed, Kinnear's voice--rich and resonant, with precise articulation--is one of the many pleasures in this outing of the comical, ill-matched pair as they investigate which neighbor hated Giles Kentworthy enough to kill him--with a crossbow, no less. Kinnear's real-life pacing creates fly-on-the-wall verisimilitude. He also delights in vocal characterizations and British class distinctions that enliven the audio experience. Be it a middle-class bookseller whose accent occasionally slips or a suspect whose screechy tone diminishes as their life improves, they're all evocatively real. Hawthorne remains mysteriously deadpan; Horowitz sometimes whines. It's all grand. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      September 13, 2024

      Horowitz returns with the fifth installment in his metafictional "Hawthorne and Horowitz" mystery series (following The Twist of a Knife). Mystery writer Anthony Horowitz teams up again with ex-DI-turned-private investigator Daniel Hawthorne, writing what he sees as Hawthorne unravels a perplexing murder in Riverview Close, a gated community outside of London. The Kenworthys, the newest family in the neighborhood, are proving to be a big problem. They seem to go out of their way to irritate their neighbors, and everyone is outraged when they receive notice that they plan on putting in a swimming pool. As the homeowners discuss getting rid of the Kenworthys, Giles Kenworthy is murdered, shot through with a crossbow. Everyone seems to harbor unsavory secrets, and with the complication of a second, locked-room mystery, Hawthorne and Horowitz have their work cut out for them. Longtime series narrator Rory Kinnear narrates skillfully, signaling the characters' social standing and personalities with well-crafted voices and accents. Horowitz narrates his postscript, offering a heartfelt acknowledgment of Kinnear's formidable skill. VERDICT Horowitz's fans will enjoy the many twists in this clever mystery, complete with Horowitz's signature frames-within-frames structure.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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