A Line to Kill

 A Line to Kill is the third book in the six-book series written by Anthony Horowitz, the series being called Hawthorne & Horowitz. Please refer to my reviews of the first two books, The Word is Murder and The Sentence is Death. I’ve enjoyed Horowitz’s semi-fictionalization of himself as the unwilling biographer of ex-Detective Daniel Hawthorne. It is the real author’s intent to write something about the relationship between Hawthorne and himself, akin to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. In the novel, although it was Hawthorne who approached Horowitz to write books about him, he remains aloof from revealing details about his own life. So, the question that the fictional author constantly faces is how to write a book about a man who won’t reveal his own history and thought process. It is Hawthorne who can see and analyze clues in a manner that no one else can do. The fictional Horowitz is constantly frustrated by his inability to understand the clues and discovery process the way Hawthorne does.

In this novel, Horowitz has completed the first book in his series about Hawthorne, and they travel to a book festival on Alderney Island, which is just 12 miles off the coast of France, in the English Channel. The population of the small island is currently in an uproar over the plan to build an important relay station for underground cables. On the one hand, the plan would provide every inhabitant of the island with annual proceeds, but on the other hand, the construction process is likely to mar the scenic beauty of the island. The islanders are spit on the topic and anger abounds. The book festival is being sponsored by a wealthy man Charles le Mesurier, who would likely financially benefit from the installation which would happen on his lands. Charles is found murdered, and then his wife disappears.

There is a rich cast of characters, and as was the case with the first two books, the author provides very clever misdirection to the reader. There were other authors who were present for the festival, a man who Hawthorne had been accused of throwing down a flight of stairs causing him to be permanently disabled, and there were islanders who were extremely upset about the construction plan. There is wonderful misdirection provided by Horowitz. This is good stuff, and just like the first two novels, A Line to Kill gets my very favorable recommendation.