The latest in Horowitz’s Hawthorne series, I listened to this one ready by Rory Kinnear and the author.

Either my listening skills have improved considerably or my familiarity with Hawthorne’s world and Horowitz’s writing style, because I was thoroughly engaged with this audiobook from the start and rarely had to repeat portions! I was pleasantly surprised since audiobooks are not my favourite way of reading.

We begin with the cast of characters in Riverwood Close - a chess grandmaster, a retired barrister, a doctor, a dentist, widows and a hedge fund manager with their families. The dynamics between this varied cast change when a new family move in and a horrific murder follows. Hawthorne and his troubled sidekick Dudley are called in to help the investigation by the obnoxiously ambitious DS Khan, who in my opinion is as pea-brained as they come! 

In this one, Hawthorne and Horowitz are actually interacting five years after the events and their aftermath. Horowitz isn’t involved in the sleuthing, just in unravelling the truth from all the evidence presented to him by Hawthorne and writing a novel about the events. He writes well as usual and has made Hawthorne so real to me that I refuse to believe he’s imaginary, preferring instead to leave him on the fringes of my reality, to be called upon at will 😀 In this book, we get a true sense of the depth of Hawthorne’s loyalty and friendship. Horowitz once again teases about Hawthorne’s past without providing newer, concrete details. That’s the only part of the books that annoy me. I want more and I want it now!

I enjoyed this book, the mystery and the twists at the very end were very satisfying. Horowitz mentioned he had 7 more books coming up in this series and I can’t wait!