The Twist of a Knife

(Hawthorne and Horowitz Investigate #4) @AnthonyHorowitz @harperbooks @JanBelisle @absltmom

“That’s why life is so different to fiction. Every day is a single page and you have no chance to thumb forward and see what lies ahead.

Jan’s Review

Anthony Horowitz’s new play, Mindgame, opens to great excitement, but receives a scathing review from the powerful critic, Harriet Throsby. The entire cast and crew are devastated.

The next morning Harriet is found dead, stabbed through the heart with a dagger. All signs point to Anthony as the culprit, and he makes an appeal to Hawthorne to investigate and clear his name.

As with the previous books, the author cleverly inserts himself into the narrative, and what makes this series so enjoyable is the relationship between Hawthorne and Horowitz, with their witty dialogue and snark. Every book reveals a bit more about the secretive and elusive Hawthorne, and leaves me wanting more.

In a nod to Agatha Christie, there is no shortage of suspects and motives for the murder, and I was kept guessing to the very end. The final resolution is clever when Hawthorne gathers all the major players together and reveals all.

If you love Agatha Christie and the Golden Age of classic mysteries, you will enjoy this one. The theater world isn’t my favorite setting, but the author managed to make it interesting. The ending will leave fans of the series with hope for more to come.

This was an enjoyable buddy read with my friend Marialyce, one that left us looking forward to the next book in the series. Although not strictly necessary, I highly recommend reading the series in order, as there is further character growth and development with each book and it helps to know the background.

The audiobook was narrated by Rory Kinnear, who does an amazing job.

Marialyce’s Review

Anthony Horowitz has done it again…. and I am so happy to say I loved it. His new book is a wonderfully done mystery that had me believing that every one of the characters had murdered the odious critic, Harriet Throsby. ( I will admit I thought that Horowitz might have been the culprit) However, as it seems that Anthony was knee deep in this murder, the other actors and stage manager all had multiple reasons for doing away with Harriet.

Anthony had written a play, The Mindgame, that is opening in London’s Vaudeville Theater, and Harriet, since it’s the opening night, is in attendance. The play seems to go well, but as things go, Harriet cuts the play to its core in a scathing review. After, at the first night party, her review is read online by one of the actresses and it’s really Anthony who is trashed (motive). The next morning, Harriet is found stabbed and once again all the police fingers point to Anthony. As Anthony is arrested, he knows who he needs and will ask to step in to this nightmare and of course it is Hawthorne. After much cajoling and the usual barbs and verbal jabs between Anthony and Hawthorne, Hawthorne agrees to lend a hand for price of course. So the two men link forces once again trying to solve this mystery.

I do so love these books. They are always super fun as the two main protagonists romp through murder and mystery while developing a semi friendship with Anthony learning a tad more about the illusive Hawthorne. I do so love the insertion of the author into these tales and he’s so good at this, that at times I found myself wondering if parts were true. Hmm, can’t say more than I so enjoyed this escapade into the lives of two who always offer intrigue with a very definite wink to the writers of yesteryear.

Jan and I read this one and both came away with our fingers crossed that H and H will once again team up to solve more mysterious blood and death stories.

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