“Close to Death” - Anthony Horowitz

(Hawthorne book 5)

🚐 Due to the vagaries of library holds, I got book 5 before book 4 (“The Twist of a Knife”). But don’t worry, friends. I pressed on. CTD is a delightful take on the closed circle model of murder mysteries. Rather than a country manor house, Horowitz (the real) gives us a gorgeous, but insular community of 5 cottages built in a circular drive around a larger McMansion.

🚐 The reason this one is so delicious is that the victim is the neighbor from hell. He’s everyone’s worst nightmare, and he’s quickly become the arch nemesis of the denizens of idyllic Riverside Close. So who hated him the most?

🚐 I love when I get a book recommendation from a character in a book! In this case, it’s from the Golden Age mystery buffs and owners of the Tea Cosy bookshop. I’m going to check out Anthony Berkeley’s sleuth Roger Sheringham based on their reco.