As plot devices go I think putting yourself as a main character in a novel is a pretty clever one and clearly it works as we are here with the fourth Hawthorne and Horowitz mystery.
Putting yourself in as a main character and also mentioning other works you have written as well, is pretty genius too. Here in this fourth outing Horwitz finds himself distracted by his new play Mindgame which is about to open in London. It done well on tour, surely that can translate to the stage at the Vaudeville theatre.
It does and the opening night is a success. Apart from one scathing review from a well known critic who as well as remarking on the actors performance is particularly ruthless over the writing.
The critic is found dead the next day. Stabbed by an ornamental dagger a gift, from the producer to all the cast and the writer.
The dagger has fingerprints all over it. They are Anthony’s. An arrest is made and it seems that only one person can help – Hawthorne. Why should he help? Hawthorne is an enigma Hortwitz has yet to fathom but will he ever know the truth?
Full of twist, turns, clues, red herrings this classic crime novel in the vein of Christie is one of the best I have read in a long time. I had some doubts at one point that it was actually true, and I was reading a fictionalised version of real events, that absorbed I was in the plot. Of course I came to my senses but it did add to the desperation I had in finishing the novel just to make sure it all ended up as it should. I can’t say if it did or not, but the classic dénouement scene in the theatre was pure theatrics at its best.
I hope there is more to come.
Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.
The Twist of a Knife is out now.
The Book Jotter 
This is a great series, isn’t it? I know what you mean about it almost feeling like a true story – it’s so cleverly done that it’s hard to tell which bits are real and which aren’t!