Close to Death

Horowitz returns with the fifth installment in his metafictional “Hawthorne and Horowitz” mystery series (following The Twist of a Knife). Mystery writer Anthony Horowitz teams up again with ex-DI-turned-private investigator Daniel Hawthorne, writing what he sees as Hawthorne unravels a perplexing murder in Riverview Close, a gated community outside of London. The Kenworthys, the newest family in the neighborhood, are proving to be a big problem. They seem to go out of their way to irritate their neighbors, and everyone is outraged when they receive notice that they plan on putting in a swimming pool. As the homeowners discuss getting rid of the Kenworthys, Giles Kenworthy is murdered, shot through with a crossbow. Everyone seems to harbor unsavory secrets, and with the complication of a second, locked-room mystery, Hawthorne and Horowitz have their work cut out for them. Longtime series narrator Rory Kinnear narrates skillfully, signaling the characters’ social standing and personalities with well-crafted voices and accents. Horowitz narrates his postscript, offering a heartfelt acknowledgment of Kinnear’s formidable skill.