The Word Is Murder: A Novel

One bright day a woman walks into the local funeral parlor and plans her own funeral. She has a list of requirements and pays with her credit card. Six hours later she is dead .... someone strangled the life out of her. This is a uniquely written book. Anthony Horowitz has written a fictional book using himself as one of the primary characters. It's like reading a story within a story within a story. As a character, he is a writer, screenwriter, and speaks often of some of his real time books. He is Watson to a modern day Holmes ... whose name is Daniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne is a unique being, as well. He touts himself as a consultant to the police when it comes to unsolved murder cases. He has Horowitz following him around as he searches for clues and interrogates possible suspects. Their relationship is anything but easy. They each want this future book to be written a certain way ... and with two alpha males, it isn't happening. There are plenty of suspects to follow .... a theatrical producer who had lunch with the woman the same day she died.... her famous son, an actor, and some say a bully. Since everything she had has been left to him, he becomes someone to watch.... Her housecleaner, who found the body, yet lied to the police.... The number one suspect is the family of two young boys. 10 years ago the woman, driving her car without her glasses, plowed into them while they were crossing the street. One boy was killed outright .. the other boy left with massive head injuries. She was charged, but found not guilty. But the biggest question is ... dd the woman know she was going to die that day? Twists and turns, lies and secrets ... all the marvelous things that make a murder mystery a great read. I loved how the author invented a mystery with him in the center of everything. Many thanks to the author / Random House UK / Eidelweiss for the advanced digital copy of this most entertaining book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I loved it!