Tony and Mr. Hawthorne, and Me

I have seen the name Anthony Horowitz in so many places that, for some reason, I got confused as to what he actually writes, and for that reason he did not really appeal to me.

I would recognize the name, pay attention for one second and then move on.

When the Magpie Murders came into my life it was in the shape of the TV series which I disliked deeply. So, although I have the book in my lovely tiny library, I did not read it.

As a good, nice book hoarder that I am I bought the Moonflower Murders also, this is the second book in the Magpie series, again did not read it. I also bough The House of Silk at some point, this is Anthony Horowitz’s contribution to the Sherlock Holmes legacy, book which now is nicely lost in the vortex of books that is my living room. I did not read it either.

The Word is Murder, I had actually bough in a paperback version, God knows when, but did not read it. I only started to read it, when I found in a charity shop the American imprint, a lovely hardback, with a pretty cover, showing a pencil and a knife.

Who said we should not judge a book by its cover? Not me for sure!

So, I started The Word is Murder on a whim and loved it. The proverbial, could not put down.

Of course, as a true obsessive, I looked up everything there was to look up about the books, the author, etc. Even before I had finished The Word is Murder, I was on the hunt for the rest of the books in the series.

I don’t know if this ever happened to you, when you look for something, and the universe just plops it in front of you?

As it turned out, I had a really good time in the charity shops and found more of the Tony and Mr. Hawthorne books, plus, pluuuus, a Marble Hall Murders (the third book in the Magpie series) signed. Oh, the joy! I love me a signed book!

So, now, I am on the third book in the TnH series. I read The Sentence is Death (second TnH book) and now I am reading A line to Kill. I still have to read The Twist of a Knife before I can get to the last one Close to Death, which, I understand from online reading, is amazing.

The joys of being OCD, I cannot skip the line, I must go through all of them to read that one, but they are really nice and very easy to read. So I do not foresee there will be any problem. I hope …

Now, you might say: But what did you like about them Alina? Well, let me answer.

Not surprisingly, I loved the weaving of the writing craft with the murder investigation. I do not care for Hawthorne that much, but I really like Tony, and all the tidbits he shares about writing and his routines.

Plus, it is quite interesting to read about the inner workings of the TV shows he works/ed on and their world. As I have written in the past, I am a huge fan of Caroline Graham’s books Midsomer Murders and also the TV series with the same name, which Anthony Horowitz took part in creating and for which he wrote significantly.

Though, mostly Foyle’s War appears mentioned in the books, series which I do not like, but it does not really matter as Anthony Horowitz has his hands in so many pies, that it is impossible not to find one you like.

For The Word is Murder I did not guess the murderer, it was very well hidden, for The Sentence is Death I did guess who the killer was, and I was very pleased with myself. For the third one, I am still working at it.

I must say, I have gotten curious about reading the Holmes novels he wrote. It would be interesting to see if the voice of Watson is similar to that of Tony in the TnH series. I did not read them yet so will have to see.

When I was reading the first two books, and I was following the action in London, I could not help think about the Galbraith Strike novels, but I have to say, the lack of romantic tension in Horowitz is something I found refreshing.

Sometimes in the Strike novels all that tension between Strike and Robin, just gets to me, come on let’s get on with it and focus on the murder. Too soapy!

I cannot help but feel a bit of a hypocrite, as in my eternal novel, the one I have been writing for a few years now (deep sigh!) romantic tension rules a lot of the action, but then again, it overtly wants to be more of a romance-existentialist novel, not a crime thriller.

It was really nice being entertained by Anthony Horowitz in the TnH series, while also learning about his writing craft, his habits and his way of working. I find it mad and inspiring, that he writes the first draft by hand. I mean I understand it, but typing is so much easier! Maybe that is the answer right there, easy is not the name of the game, and that has been my downfall often.

I did not write because it was not easy, because I had to break myself in bits and build myself again on paper. I am learning though, and with each day I feel I am more resilient and hard-wearing.

There are people that for one reason or another are late bloomers, and I am one of them, and that is ok.

More than ok, it is a joy.

So yeah, I heartily recommend Anthony Horowitz, whichever of his works you prefer, I am pretty sure he has something for everyone.