A Twist of a Knife is the latest novel by Antony Horowitz, a very successful fiction writer and former journalist who is well known for his crime novels. This book is the first of his novels I’ve read, and in an interesting twist, while it is fiction, he has inserted himself as the protagonist and used some real events and people he knows in real life in the story. He has of course made up some of the characters who clearly represent people he has encountered in his life, but probably feels it might be libellous to name them.
Set mostly in London, the ‘fictional’ Horowitz has a working relationship with a former police detective turned private eye called Daniel Hawthorne. The ex-cop solves complex crimes and Horowitz writes very popular books about them. At the start of the story however, Horowitz has grown tired of their arrangement and wants out.
But, shortly after a theatre critic is murdered after attending the premier of Horowitz’s new play, the writer himself is arrested for the killing. He needs Hawthorne to prove his innocence.
So begins a brilliantly written yarn with so many carefully crafted twists, clues and false starts that it is almost impossible to guess who done it. Horowitz has a very clever way of describing characters including their personalities and physical appearance that they come alive on the page. He seems to have a special ability when crafting people who are incredibly grating. It’s hard not to feel real emotions and even anger at some of the ways they interact and the things they do and say. Indeed, while I condone murder, it’s hard not to feel that the victim kinda deserved it!
A Twist of a Knife reminded me a great deal of the works of Agatha Christie and indeed it even has a self admitted Christie-esque reveal of the murderer. It is a funny, delightfully entertaining book with enough tension to keep the reader engrossed. It literally is a page turner.
