The Sentence Is Death

A Novel

By: Anthony Horowitz

Narrated by: Rory Kinnear

Death, deception, and a detective with quite a lot to hide stalk Anthony Horowitz's brilliant murder mystery, the second in the best-selling series starring Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne.

“You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late....”

These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine - a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise.

Odd, considering he didn’t drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?

Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony, who’s really getting rather good at this murder investigation business.

But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide. As our reluctant narrator becomes ever more embroiled in the case, he realizes that these secrets must be exposed - even at the risk of death....

©2019 Anthony Horowitz (P)2019 HarperAudio

A+

Anthony Horowitz is my new favorite author since I read his novel Magpie Murders. I absolutely love all of his books and The Sentence is Death is no exception! His talent for writing great twists and solid characters is showcased in this book and I am amused to no end at the way in which he writes himself as a character. I sincerely hope there's another in the series!

Love the series

great characters but women's voices were fingernails on a chalkboard. add a woman narrator?

Clever and refreshing

I really enjoy the pace and tenor of these Hawthorne books and the characters are entertaining - particularly when read by Rory Kinnear. I actually took a guess about the killer early on yet was still taking a ride with all the laid out clues tied in subtly. I’m looking forward to number 3! Horowitz is a gifted talent and approaches his mysteries with cleverness and wit not seen in too many of today’s stories - makes for refreshing escapism.

Two outstanding books

I did read the house of silk by this author, but that was no where as good as the first two in this series. Spellbinding. I stayed into the night to finish the audiobook

Masterful

Masterful example of Sherlockian detective story - semi-hapless sidekick with the brilliant, but unsociable detective. In this case, as in The Word is Murder, the sidekick is the author Anthony himself, with many references to books and projects of the real Anthony Horowitz. The brilliant detective is again Hawthorne, one step ahead of everyone. We have "Tony" to provide the various speculations as to who did the killing and Hawthorne to remain inscrutable, make corrections, and patiently guide the rest of the characters and the reader to the solution. Horowitz excels at presenting interesting characters and places, in this case including a deep cave. I usually ration my audio book time to driving or doing chores. But this one was so engrossing, entertaining and pure fun, I couldn't stop.

Narrator Rory Kinnear is perfect, clearing differentiating the characters and beautifully capturing the flat, unemotional Hawthorne. His hilarious depiction the DI Cara Grunshaw has strong echoes of Monty Python.

Very good mystery

I liked the way the story progressed. I do think Rory could work on his female voices, but all in all fine. A very good series!

A virtual page-turner!

A very interesting story, fall of twist and turns. Hawthorne is a fascinating character that Horowitz develops nicely. The narrator does a nice job, overall. Anxious to read the next one.

A Worthy Sequel

If you loved The Word is Murder you will not be disappointed by the second. Hawthorne and Horowitz are reunited by another murder investigation that has the police stumped. Mysteries within mysteries, and Hawthorne's past remains one of the biggest of them all.

good solid 4 stars

At first, the narrator seemed annoying, but he grew on me, and I do like him. The story has twists and turns, and the interaction between H and H is good too. Will go on the next in the series.

Still a fan of Horowitz

This installment of the Detective Daniel Hawthorne series continued to captivate me until the very end. It twisted and turned to the point that I didn't have a clue who had done it til the end. Every time a credible explanation was given I was on-board --- until the next credible explanation. Loved it. The reason for the downgrade in stars is the narrator. He is very good with the male voices, but his female voices were horrible. Not just bad -- horrible and hard to listen to.