Title:

A Line To Kill

Author:

Anthony Horowitz

Category:

Mystery / Thriller

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

April 25, 2026

his is the third installment in Horowitz's mystery series in which he portrays himself as a "Dr. Watson-esque" character to the fictional detective Daniel Hawthorne's "Sherlock". In this novel, A Line to Kill, Horowitz and Hawthorne have been invited to a literary festival on the island of Alderney, which lies in the English Channel. Although it is British territory, it was occupied by the Germans during World War II. The wealthiest man on the island, Charles le Mesurier, has invited a number of literary figures to Alderney to hold a writers festival. The first book in this series, The Word is Murder, has been published, and Hawthorne is a sensation. The islanders are eager to meet the newly-famous detective in person.

Once Hawthorne and Horowitz arrive on Alderney with the other writers, they discover there is friction amongst the local populace. A power company is planning to run a huge power line right through the island, and half of the Alderney inhabitants want it stopped. However, wealthy Charles le Mesurier (the sponsor of the literary event) backs to new line, as does one of the island's councilmen, George Elkin. Scattered around the island are signs reading "Ban NAB", where NAB stands for Normandy-Alderney-Britian - the planned high-power line that is slated to run from France, across the island, and into Britain. Passions run high over the issue; but are they so high that it would lead someone to kill?

Attending the festival are a number of eccentric writers. Marc Bellamy is a chef on a popular TV cooking show, he is attending because of his cookbooks. Elizabeth Lovell is a blind psychic - Horowitz is certain she is a fraud, but Hawthorne seems oddly intrigued by her seances. Anne Cleary is an author of children's books. Maissa Lamar is a French poet. Meanwhile, ominously, Horowitz discovers that living on the island is Derek Abbott. Abbott was the pedophile that "accidentally" fell down the stairs at the police station while being escorted by Hawthorne. Hawthorne lost his job over the incident, but Abbott suffered permanent injury. Horowitz wonders if Hawthorne agreed to attend the festival because he knew Abbott was on Alderney. Abbott and Hawthorne remain mortal enemies.

Horowitz meets each of the other writers and discovers that they are an eccentric lot. But aren't writers supposed to be wired a bit differently? The festival is held, and each author does a reading. When it comes time for the Hawthorne and Horowitz presentation, Horowitz is bit peeved that all of the festival attendees' attention is focused on detective Hawthorne; Horowitz, who actually wrote The Word is Murder, is merely an afterthought.

There is a big festival party at the Charles le Mesurier mansion. Before the night is ended, a murder is committed. Naturally, Hawthorne immediately begins investigating. All of the little "quirks" of the other writers and islanders now become clues to the truth.

Horowitz is a master storyteller. He has the knack for writing a narrative that keeps the reader wanting more. The pages turn quickly. Hawthorne interviews various islanders and all of the visiting authors. Naturally, there is a tense confrontation with the odious Derek Abbott. Horowitz misses all of the clues (or else wrongly interprets what they mean). I missed all of the clues as well, but I felt that some of Hawthorne's observations and conclusions were quite a stretch. I doubt that a real detective would be able to draw so many answers from such subtle hints, seemingly having total recall of every spoken word, of every gesture made by all of the suspects. Nevertheless, it is a joy at the end to read Hawthorne's explanations at the end about what various events or objects mean (Horowitz, of course, got everything wrong. That is one of the jokes of this series - that Horowitz depicts himself as an inept detective even though he is the creator of Hawthorne and the baffling mysteries)

I see that Horowitz just released a sixth book in this series, A Deadly Episode, so apparently the premise still hasn't run out of steam.