The Sentence Is Death

A Novel

By: Anthony Horowitz

Narrated by: Rory Kinnear

Narrated by Rory Kinnear

Death, deception, and a detective with quite a lot to hide stalk the pages of Anthony Horowitz's brilliant murder mystery, the second in the bestselling series starring Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne.

“You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late . . . ”

These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine—a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise.

Odd, considering he didn’t drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?

Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony, who’s really getting rather good at this murder investigation business.

But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide. As our reluctant narrator becomes ever more embroiled in the case, he realizes that these secrets must be exposed—even at the risk of death . . .

THE MYSTERY IS: WHY AREN'T YOU READING THIS?!

Full Disclosure: I am an avowed and very devoted fan of Anthony Horowitz's work so I knew I was going to love this book...but I really, really, really loved this book! This is the second of an upcoming quartet of mysteries featuring his detective Hawthorne, with Horowitz writing himself into the story as his sidekick (or, Watson, if you want to know the truth). I love the cross-pollination of Horowitz's life and career in these novels and I love the self-deprecating way he views himself (even though, in real life, he is an amazing writer).

The story involves two deaths, both mysterious. Are they related? They seem to be...but then again...

The narration by Rory Kinnear is top-notch (as it was in the first of this quartet, The Word is Murder). His voice is clear, he reads carefully. is easily understandable and distinguishes the characters well. The book is well-served by his performance.

I love the wry humor that populates the novel, I love the way Horowitz shows us London, I love Hawthorne's understated brilliance and I love Horowitz as his sidekick.

In other words: I love this book!

Even better than the first one

Horowitz is a fiendishly clever mystery writer. Books like "The Magpie Murders" were so clever that Horowitz himself almost seemed to be a character in the story, because his cleverness was so front and center all the time. I like to imagine that he just decided to go with that concept when he started writing the Daniel Hawthorne series, which features Horowitz himself -- or, I'd assume, a somewhat fictionalized version of him -- as a main character. These are very clearly Holmes homages (Holmages?), with Horowitz as Watson and Hawthorne as Holmes. He even says so explicitly in this one, but it's perfectly obvious, especially given Horowitz's obvious love of, and high regard for, the Holmes stories and novels.

This is the second book in the Hawthorne series, and there's obviously going to be at least one more. (It says so in the actual text of both of the first two.) I fervently hope it's more than that. They're both thoroughly delightful: twisty, complex plots, completely satisfying resolutions, and as an added bonus, lots of reminiscences about the technicalities of working on "Foyle's War," which I suspect are probably pretty accurate. I was a huge Horowitz fan going into this series, and I'm an even bigger one now. (Though, to be honest, I can take "Foyle's War" or leave it; it's basically "Midsomer Murders" with older cars.)

Rory Kinnear's narration is ALMOST universally brilliant. The one exception is the character of DCI Grundshaw. Male narrators often do women's voices by speaking in a softer tone, and that frequently works out fine; see, for example, Gildart Jackson's approach to the Serena Butler character in Peter Grainger's D.C. Smith books. Kinnear uses that technique sometimes, but unfortunately Grundshaw is a female character for whom a soft voice would be all wrong. So he takes a different approach, and I have to say it doesn't work very well; Grundshaw basically sounds like she's on the point of tears all the time. I'm not sure how I think Kinnear should have handled this; I do understand that it was a tough narration problem. But I found his Grundshaw voice annoying. Other than that, he's fabulous, one of my very favorite narrators on Audible. Hawthorne is described in the text as having an accent that's an odd combination of central London and Northern England, which is a difficult thing for anyone to pull off; Kinnear does it flawlessly.

loved it

Anthony is my favorite author. this series is amazing. great narrator as well. Thanks Anthony

Makes you feel part of the story

I love this series of books. The style is so refreshing and I love the mix of reality and fiction in Anthony’s life.

really liked the series, hope there are more comin

I really liked this series and hope there are more coming in it. it is a really interesting take on this genre. worth the listen but make sure you listen in order!