This is the third instalment of the Hawthorne series and it’s as entertaining as the previous two – possibly more so.
This time, Hawthorne and Horowitz are invited to a literary festival on the small Channel Island of Alderney where there has never been a murder...until now, of course. It’s really a classic Golden Age Country House Mystery, with a small, isolated group of suspects, many of whom have a motive for killing the victim. They are all well painted, the clues are fairly laid and the solution is quite satisfying, if a little pat. And, of course, Hawthorne and Horowitz’s Holmes-and-Watson-like schtick persists and works very well.
I enjoy Anthony Horowitz’s fictionalised self in these books, as he gives an insight into the life of a writer – while disingenuously portraying himself as somewhat slow-witted in finding solutions compared to Hawthorne, when, of course, he has created the whole plot himself. It’s an amusing, knowing conceit which works very well for me. This time we actually learn a little more about Hawthorne’s past - or at least he tells people things about himself; whether they are true or not remains to be seen.
In short it’s classic Horowitz; entertaining, clever and well written. Recommended.
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