4.5⭐️

A Line To Kill by Anthony Horowitz, the third book in Anthony Horowitz’s Hawthorne and Horowitz Investigate Series takes us to a literary festival being held on the small island of Alderney, where both former DI Daniel Hawthorne and his biographer, writer Anthony Horowitz are invited to speak about the first book in their forthcoming series (the first in three book collaboration between the two characters). Among the other writers featured in the festival are a celebrity cookbook author, a children’s author, a performance poet, a war historian, and a blind author with second sight, among others. A few days into the festival, in a shocking turn of events, the host of the festival, an affluent business magnate is found murdered in his own study and Hawthorne and his biographer/sidekick Horowitz find themselves with another case on their hands.

This installment gave me strong Agatha Christie vibes – the remote location, several suspects with secrets and motives for murder, a multitude of red herrings and an intricate plot make for a riveting read. Though I could guess the identity of the culprit, I liked how the plot progressed and how the mystery is ultimately unraveled. I enjoy the dynamic between the two characters and love the humor the author injects into the narrative, especially in the context of his own characterization as Hawthorne’s bumbling sidekick.

With every installment in this series, we get to learn more about Daniel Hawthorne’s life from before his collaboration with Horowitz in bits and pieces. He doesn’t reveal much about himself to Horowitz, who is often baffled and annoyed with his tight-lipped partner. In this story, we are finally introduced to certain facets of Hawthorne’s personality we had not seen before and given insight into the details about Hawthorne’s dismissal from his former position as DI.

Overall, this is a worthy addition to this highly addictive series, and I can't wait to begin the next installment. I would recommend reading this series in order to fully enjoy the stories and understand the characters.

I paired my reading with audio narration by Rory Kinnear, which I enjoyed. ( )

I found this to be a rather interesting story about a family that enjoys gaming but has a hard time actually enjoying it thanks to Duddy’s constant taking over the game from the kids. They learn that they need to respect one another as gamers as well as a family to defeat the final boss. The family felt realistic, bickering, taking care of, and playing with each other, and I was able to relate to them very easily. The artwork was fun and the expressions were great as well in this book.
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