The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz

 (Hawthorne and Horowitz Investigate #4)

400 pages / 8 hrs, 30 mins

'Our deal is over.'

"That's what reluctant author Anthony Horowitz tells ex-detective Daniel Hawthorne in an awkward meeting. The truth is that Anthony has other things on his mind.

"His new play, Mindgame, is about to open in London's Vaudeville theatre. Not surprisingly Hawthorne declines a ticket.

"On opening night, Sunday Times critic Harriet Throsby gives the play a savage review, focusing particularly on the writing. The next morning she is found dead, stabbed in the heart with an ornamental dagger which, it turns out, belongs to Anthony and which has his finger prints all over it.

"Anthony is arrested, charged with Throsby's murder, thrown into prison and interrogated.

"Alone and increasingly desperate, he realises only one man can help him.

"But will Hawthorne take his call?"  --from the publisher

I love this series--solid mysteries and great characters with wry, British humor. What's not to love? I give it four out of five stars.

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

 (Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery #3)

384 pages

"When Ex-Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, author Anthony Horowitz, are invited to an exclusive literary festival on Alderney, an idyllic island off the south coast of England, they don’t expect to find themselves in the middle of murder investigation—or to be trapped with a cold-blooded killer in a remote place with a murky, haunted past.

"Arriving on Alderney, Hawthorne and Horowitz soon meet the festival’s other guests—an eccentric gathering that includes a bestselling children’s author, a French poet, a TV chef turned cookbook author, a blind psychic, and a war historian—along with a group of ornery locals embroiled in an escalating feud over a disruptive power line.

"When a local grandee is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Hawthorne and Horowitz become embroiled in the case. The island is locked down, no one is allowed on or off, and it soon becomes horribly clear that a murderer lurks in their midst. But who?"

Another good one! These books are unique since the author tells the story as if he is experiencing the events while he is writing the book about Hawthorne. I give it four out of five stars.