The Word Is Murder cover art

The Word Is Murder

Hawthorne, Book 1

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The Word Is Murder

By: Anthony Horowitz
Narrated by: Rory Kinnear
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About this listen

She planned her own funeral. But did she arrange her murder?

Buried secrets, murder and a trail of bloody clues lie at the heart of Anthony Horowitz's new detective series. If you enjoyed BBC's Sherlock, you'll love The Word is Murder!

A wealthy woman strangled six hours after she's arranged her own funeral.

A very private detective uncovering secrets but hiding his own.

A reluctant author drawn into a story he can't control.

What do they have in common?

©2017 Anthony Horowitz (P)2017 Random House Audiobooks Amateur Sleuths Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Mystery Psychological Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Crime Murder

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Critic reviews

"The beguiling whodunit plot is dispatched with characteristic elan as Horowitz blurs the line between fact and fiction." ( Financial Times)
"A very clever and inventive mystery." ( Bookbag)
"With its unorthodox protagonist, clever plotting, brilliantly imperfect characters, and escalating sense of urgency and intrigue, The Word Is Murder is an instant crime classic that will keep you reading as fast as you can...one of the best and most compulsively readable mysteries of the year. Hugely satisfying on every level." ( Written by Sime)
"Will undoubtedly exhilarate not only crime and Horowitz fans but anyone who enjoys the sense of metafiction and fourth wall breaking found in books by authors like Lemony Snicket, Bret Easton Ellis and Martin Amis." ( Fiendfully Reading)
All stars
Most relevant
I started this with some trepidation, the idea of a novel with its own writer as a character in a fictional story had the potential to be a bit of a car crash. But he really did pull it off. The elements of reality and fiction were pulled together neatly, and I really enjoyed all the overt, and the more subtle, nods to the conventions and the works of the Greats of the Detective genre.

Enthralling

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Where does The Word Is Murder rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Am new to audio books so was enthralled by thus new experience.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Det. - so intriguing a character and so sharp. An enigma of a man.

Have you listened to any of Rory Kinnear’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No. In my opinion, brilliantly read - clear enunciation, wonderful grasp of dialects and accents. A masterful performance.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The playing of the child's nursery rhyme in the coffin.

Any additional comments?

Good PR for Horowitz referring to his numerous other works. But I found the character disarming and charming.

Unputdownable

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Now and again a book comes along which makes you want to listen at any spare moment you can get as at no point it loses pace or becomes boring. This is one such book - a page turner for sure. With a clear elegant writing style, excellent narration and a plot that keeps you guessing, whats not to like? Just going to download another title by the same author as I was very impressed with this book. A most enjoyable listen.

Smashing read!

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Very clever, keeps you thinking and a nice dry humour. I highly recommend it : sadly the narrator didn’t work for me , his voice was too harsh .

Clever book

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I enjoyed the author’s ingenious approach to creating a detective story in which a crime writer is approached by an ex-detective to write a book about the process of detecting a real crime. It is a welcome deviation from the plethora of detective novels that can be formulaic. It’s an interesting twist for the author to be one of the characters in the story. His first-person account gives the impression that this is a real-life investigation into murder. The details about author’s life and work appear to be largely autobiographical and he weaves this into what turns out to be an imagined crime story. The latter is a gripping narrative with false trails and believable characters. For most of the book I wondered if the detective story was true (I even checked some of he names on Wikipedia!) until I realized that having a final scene of cliff-hanger jeopardy followed by explanations for the crimes that were as clever and contrived to be worthy of an Agatha Christie story meant that this was enjoyable fiction.

Rory Kinnear does a great job of creating a range of voices that add to the seeming veracity of the story.

Clever and intriguing book within a book

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