Close to Death as the title of Horowitz’s 5th book in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series series is a pun. The “close” referred to is a short, dead end street somewhat like a cut-de-sac in the US.  In this case the people who live there are quite well off financially and very good neighbors, not quite real buddies, who have known each other for many years.  

Close to Death 
by Anthony Horowitz
2024
Read by Rory Kinnear 9h 12m 
Rating 7+ / A+  literary crime 
#5 in Hawthorne and Horowitz series 

 Some time prior to the events in the novel one of the residents had a downturn in business and had to sell his home and move to a smaller (but still large) house . The new residents are nouveau riche of a very ugly variety. At one point, after this new resident and his family have annoyed the older residents quite a lot,  the new neighbor is found in his overly decorated home, dead.  It was neither an accident nor a suicide as he was shot with a cross-bow which landed right in his neck.  The crossbow is owned by one of the neighbors and just about everyone knows where it’s kept. Every adult in the community is a suspect.  

This is a new kind of crime novel for Horowitz who has written himself into the series book 1,  but in the prior books he’s been a very active 1st person. This time he’s writing quite a lot in 3rd person, telling Hawthorne’s story.  The case is an old one which Hawthorne has brought to him to write up.  This is their relationship. Hawthorne wants to be like the fictional detectives who have their names in print and their brilliance acknowledged.  He thinks of himself as a 21st century Sherlock Holmes.  In the first four books of the series, Horowitz does his best following Hawthorne around on various detective jobs and writing it up in the form of a novel (or is it true crime?) –  This time he has to piece it together without seeing the detection involved play out. 

But because Hawthorne has not told Horowitz how it ends,  who done it (!), it’s not easier. It might actually be harder to work from a blind like that. 

Every time I read the new book in this series I think it’s better than the prior books. That may be because I know the main characters so well now, and each book is so innovative. 

The characters are interesting and very nicely differentiated. The plot is layered, twisty and head scratching.  The writing is a joy to read – suspenseful without being nerve-wracking and often quite humorous.  Actually, the whole series reads like an homage to the Golden Age of Detective Novels like Agatha Christie’s or Dorothy Sayers’, between the World Wars.  These ware “who done its” of the very best kind. 

Per Kirkus Reviews: “Gloriously artificial, improbable, and ingenious. Fans of both versions of Horowitz will rejoice.” – Oh I do so totally agree.

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/anthony-horowitz/close-to-death-2/