A Deadly Episode by Anthony Horowitz

In A Deadly Episode, the sixth book in the Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery Series, Anthony Horowitz is once again both author and character in the story. He and ex-Chief of Detectives Hawthorne are in Hastings for the filming of one of their previous cases when the actor playing Hawthorne is stabbed to death. Almost everyone on the set—his agent, the director, the script-writer and mother of his child, the cash-strapped producer, the just-fired production assistant, and the second lead whose career he’d mercilessly sabotaged—has a motive to kill the actor. The stage seems set for Hawthorne to do his sleuthing magic and identify the murderer, only for the investigation to veer off on a tangent, Hawthorne’s attention suddenly focused on a cold case and his long-held doubts about the guilt of the convicted man. Horowitz, always a step behind, worries that the actor’s murder seems to have been forgotten, but Hawthorne coolly demonstrates that the two cases are connected, and, of course, solves both. Fans of the series will love having two mysteries for the price of one and will relish the fresh round of banter between author and detective. As will newcomers. A great read.