The metafictional world inhabited by Anthony Horowitz in this series, where he plays Watson to the mysterious, ingenious ex-DI Daniel Hawthorne, kicks up a notch in sixth title A Deadly Episode (2026). A film is being made of the first book, The Word is Murder (2017), and early on Horowitz reflects on its being set in Hastings when the events on the book took place 60 miles away in Deal: “I thought it was questionable to take a real tragedy and real pain and to fictionalise it by changing the location”. It’s a sly joke — if ‘joke’ is the word, which I suspect it isn’t — and it speaks to the confidence Horowitz is finding as this series progresses.

When one of the actors appearing in the film is murdered, Hawthorne and Horowitz again find themselves with a front row seat, and begin investigating in earnest.

“Most writers have to sit on their own, twiddling their thumbs and making it all up, but you get it handed to you on a plate.”

The book is a rollicking success for a multitude of reasons, not least the confidence Horowitz has now found in his fictional pairing with Hawthorne, reflecting on how “the view from five steps behind him was one I never enjoyed” and playing structural games — c.f. Hawthorne insisting that something only appear in the book if it has relevance to the case…and so obviously shifting your focus to those events on account of their appearance in the book. Hawthorne seems more rounded than previously, too: his first scene in which he demonstrates how “real” he is provides much delight, but as the investigation inevitably takes in more of his past we start to get a little shading on a man seen largely in outline. I still maintain that this isn’t going to pay off as darkly as Horowitz has hinted, but the steady parcelling out of information has achieved a heft of its own on account of its careful handling to date.

We also confront some questions about their association, many of which has remained unexamined to date. Do they actually like each other? Is Horowitz interested in Hawthorne’s past beyond more than just self-interest? And what if Hawthorne isn’t the unerring sleuth of lore?

It was unthinkable that Hawthorne could ever have made a mistake and I wouldn’t have dreamed of suggesting it myself. I had many reasons to be wary of him but I had never had any reason to question his brilliance. How could I have written about him if I had thought otherwise? For that matter, why would anyone bother to read a mystery novel if they had any doubts about the man who was leading them to a solution? It’s a simple rule. Detectives have to be infallible. If not, readers will never trust them again.

I worried that Horowitz had hit a bit of a duff in introducing fully eleven new characters at once just past the halfway stage, but the man’s a consummate professional and draws those relationships clearly and quickly, pulling you in to this new focus. And yet, for all that he knows he’s doing an excellent job, he’s not drowning in hubris: I enjoyed that the film is somewhat low-rent and poorly conceived (“I suppose it might have been a mercy killing. If the killer had read the script…”), and the numerous knock-backs Anthony (the character) receives throughout are all part of the fun, not least the way he is treated by people who really don’t want him digging, making him more convinced that there’s something to find (“I know I have an overactive imagination. It’s what’s kept me in business all these years.”).

And, on top of all this superbery, the book also stands as an exquisitely-clued mystery in the grand tradition, with even the couple that might be a little borderline explained away beautifully in the closing scenes. There’s so much going on that I was very proud of myself for catching what I was certain was a key one — (rot13) ab ubgry yrgf lbh purpx bhg ng unys-cnfg guerr va gur nsgreabba, fheryl? — which would have been very clever of me if it had any relevance to the plot. Instead I overlooked some screamers, and was thoroughly taken by surprise by the two-tiered solution. Excellent work, sir; my hat is off to you.

If you’ve not read any of these books yet, A Deadly Episode is not the point to join, but if you’ve been a fan all along this is the mid-series lift you were hoping for: a richly-plotted, slickly-written, highly-readable, and expertly-weighted example of the detective novelist’s art which shows there is plenty of life in the concept yet. All Horowitz has to do is write another six like this and he’ll have produced perhaps the great modern crime series. And that should be easy, right? With Hawthorne handing him cases this rich on a plate, all Horowitz needs to do is ask for more…

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The Horowitz & Hawthorne mysteries: