The Word Is Murder / Magpie Murders / The Sentence Is Death

by Anthony Horowitz

The Word Is A woman is strangled six hours after organising her own funeral.Did she know she was going to die? Did she recognise her killer?Daniel Hawthorne, a recalcitrant detective with secrets of his own, is on the case, and he's found himself a sidekick – popular crime novelist Anthony Horowitz, who's struck a deal with Hawthorne to turn his latest case into a true crime. Magpie Readers love his detective, Atticus Pünd, a celebrated solver of crimes in the sleepy English villages of the 1950s.But Conway's latest tale of murder at Pye Hall is not quite what it seems. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but hidden in the pages of the manuscript lies another story. The Sentence is These were Richard Pryce's last words, overheard moments before the celeb divorce lawyer was bludgeoned to death with a £3,000 bottle of wine.Strange circumstances pile up. Pryce was teetotal, so why this bottle? Why those words? Why did the killer paint a number on his wall? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Anthony Horowitz, OBE is ranked alongside Enid Blyton and Mark A. Cooper as "The most original and best spy-kids authors of the century." (New York Times). Anthony has been writing since the age of eight, and professionally since the age of twenty. In addition to the highly successful Alex Rider books, he is also the writer and creator of award winning detective series Foyle’s War, and more recently event drama Collision, among his other television works he has written episodes for Poirot, Murder in Mind, Midsomer Murders and Murder Most Horrid. Anthony became patron to East Anglia Children’s Hospices in 2009.

On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled the House of Silk.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/anthon...

Reviews

[Mary Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the three novels I only read THE MAGPIE MURDERS. I listened to the audiobook and the narration was excellent. I enjoy British novels and will continue to read this author. Good story well told.

[Lynn Horton · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Please note—not that I can see it mattering—that I read the Kindle edition, although Goodreads shows no Kindle version of this book. How very odd.)

This is an enjoyable installment in the Magpie Murder series. I actually like it more than I did the previous book. It's a quick read (one night for me), and written in a straightforward manner that enabled me to keep all the characters straight, even though I skimmed a bit.

The vast amount of inner dialogue, which cost this review a star, bored me by the mid-point. But that's the case with any book. If the author hasn't fleshed out his or her character enough for me to generally know what they'd think by then, it's a poorly developed character. If, on the other hand, they HAVE built the character well, I don't need inner dialogue. And since the protagonist/author tends to be a bit of a smart-ass (probably by choice), his cleverness in his head grated on me.

But the story moves along at a quick clip, the twists and turns are satisfying, and there are enough idiosyncratic characters to keep my interest.

Recommended.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magpie Murders is such a fun read! Not what I usually dive into but it has a very Agatha Christie-esque vibe that is a chill, easy spring read. I found myself lost and forgetting which was the story within the story about mid-read, and was suddenly shocked when it reverted back to the real premise of the book. Light, retro murder mystery writing style that makes me want to read the next two!

[Patrick T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book and considered it a page turner. However, at times I felt that it was slow with parts not really moving the plot forward.

[Mike Cuthbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel has a clever form and, thank goodness, the form only enhances the story rather than dominating it. Horowitz writes himself as a main character in the story, which starts with the premise that Hawthorne, a grumpy former cop now a consultant, wants a writer to accompany him on his search for a multiple murderer with the idea of starring in the writer’s account of the story. A woman, Diana Cowper, starts the mystery by going to a funeral director to plan her funeral, telling him she is going to be dead soon. She is linked to a grisly car accident years ago in which she was driving and hit two young boys, killing one and giving the other permanent brain damage. She says she drove home rather than stay at the accident scene in order to protect the name and reputation of her son, a famous actor named Damian Cowper. She also admits to driving without her glasses. Shortly after her funeral, witnessed by Horowitz, Damian is killed as well. Hawthorne, a very uncooperative partner in the enterprise, stalks various folks as potential killers and Horowitz develops some ideas of his own. As luck would have it, Horowitz’s hunches get him in dangerous situations but, fortunately, he lives to tell the story. He admits that he regrets writing in first person since he obviously has to survive to finish the story! The novel is often amusing since Horowitz includes some of his own actual works in the plot (he created both “Midsomer Murders” and “Foyle’s War”) as well as references to other contemporaries, some real, some fictional. I said at the beginning that the author never lets the form of the novel destroy the action and, in fact, all works out very well for both Horowitz and the reader, though the murderer has a bit of a problem as far as his future is concerned. The novel was leant to me by my next-door neighbor, Will Staehle, who did the cover for this and another Horowitz title, “The Magpie Murders.” I am grateful to them both.

[Karen Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthony Horowitz knows how to tell an engaging tale. No surprise based on his background that his stories move ahead at a crisp pace and are quite cinematic. You can picture the future script of a TV series as you are reading along. It may not be high literature but for a beach read, an airplane book or simply a welcome break, I find his books to be enjoyable. If you don't particularly care for Midsomer Murders or other mainstream BBC Mysteries, this likely will not be for you. If you fall in the other category though, and I know many of you do, there's not much to lose in picking up one from this trio. My stars rating is very much based on considering these books in the context of similar fare.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is part of the Hawthorne and Horowitz series. I really enjoy Horowitz’s work which is well plotted and paced and unique in many respects. This series has Hawthorne, a retired detective solving murders with the author, Horowitz, writing the story of each murder Hawthorne solves. Horowitz plays Watson in a self deprecating manner, missing the clues and bumbling around. The two are like chalk and cheese and have a conflicted relationship.

Horowitz delivers a good read that is well written, never boring and just plain fun!

[Tracey Ready · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow loved the writing style of this author. My first book by this writer but not my last. A good storyline and loved the relationship between Hawthorns and Horowitz. A good Sherlock Holmes type of story with Hawthorn explaining the clues he picked up. Excellent read 📚 👌

[Allison Stokes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. A twist on the normal detective book. I didn’t guess ‘who done it!’ I highly recommend it.

[Dee Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another creatively written book within a book.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fun holiday reading. AH as Watson to Daniel Hawthorne’s Holmes. First in the series.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

England - The intricate plot drives this self insertion murder mystery from one of Britain's most prolific TV writers.

[Ingrid Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great read enjoyed it

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

review for magpie murders:
super interesting premise i love anthony horowitz as a mystery author. the book within the book though was more compelling than the mystery itself

[Robin Yaklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read one and I will keep going with Horowitz.

[Mary Ann Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this novel. First half was like an Agatha Christie novel, second half, completely surprising.

[Amanda Snoddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good little read recommend for a beach.not too taxing

[JJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very clever mystery. Quite a unique premise with Anthony Horowitz playing the protagonist. The different characters were very good.