The sentence is death: a novel

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Publication Date
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language
English
Appears on list

Description

New York Times–bestselling author Anthony Horowitz and eccentric detective Daniel Hawthorne team up again in a new mystery, the sequel to the brilliantly inventive The Word Is Murder, to delve deep into the killing of a high-profile divorce lawyer and the death, only a day earlier, of his one-time friend.

“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 . . .

More Details

Contributors
ISBN
9780062676832
9781443455510
9780062912077
9780062930934
9781784757526
9780062676856
Appears on list

Discover More

Also in this Series

  • The word is murder (Daniel Hawthorne novels Volume 1) Cover
  • The sentence is death: a novel (Daniel Hawthorne novels Volume 2) Cover
  • A line to kill: a novel (Daniel Hawthorne novels Volume 3) Cover
  • The twist of a knife: a novel (Daniel Hawthorne novels Volume 4) Cover
  • Close to death: a novel (Daniel Hawthorne novels Volume 5) Cover

Similar Series From Novelist

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for series you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Starring offbeat protagonists, these metafictional mysteries blur the line between reality and story, offering mind-twisting commentary on classic detective tropes, an unconventional storyline, and intricate plotting. Though the Hawthorne novels hew toward traditional mysteries, both series are plot-driven and amusing. -- Mike Nilsson
Although the Daniel Hawthorne novels are mysteries and the Map of Time novels blend sci-fi and alternate history, both unconventional series mix the actual with the fictional while also inserting real authors as characters within each story. -- Mike Nilsson
The metafictional Daniel Hawthorne novels function as offbeat, unconventional mysteries as well as commentary upon mysteries in general while the steamy, witty metafictional Hortense novels -- also mysteries -- simultaneously offer literary references, puns, philosophical conundrums, and cats. -- Mike Nilsson
These series have the appeal factors offbeat and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "mysteries"; the subjects "authors," "murder," and "murder investigation"; and characters that are "sarcastic characters."
These series have the appeal factors intricately plotted, and they have the genre "mysteries"; and the subjects "murder," "murder investigation," and "detectives."
These series have the appeal factors offbeat, witty, and unconventional, and they have the theme "metafiction"; the genre "mysteries"; and the subjects "authors," "murder," and "murder investigation."
These series have the appeal factors offbeat, darkly humorous, and unconventional, and they have the genre "mysteries"; the subjects "murder," "murder investigation," and "detectives"; and characters that are "sarcastic characters."
These series have the appeal factors offbeat and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "mysteries"; the subjects "murder investigation" and "former police"; and characters that are "well-developed characters."
These series have the appeal factors angst-filled and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "mysteries"; the subjects "murder," "murder investigation," and "detectives"; and characters that are "flawed characters" and "complex characters."

Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the appeal factors intricately plotted, and they have the subjects "authors," "secrets," and "deception."
These books have the appeal factors offbeat, witty, and first person narratives, and they have the theme "books about books"; and the subjects "authors," "mystery authors," and "deception."
These books have the appeal factors stylistically complex and unconventional, and they have the genre "mysteries"; and the subjects "detectives," "secrets," and "murder."
These books have the appeal factors intricately plotted and first person narratives, and they have the genre "mysteries"; the subjects "authors," "secrets," and "deception"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These books have the appeal factors intricately plotted, and they have the genre "mysteries"; the subjects "detectives," "former police," and "murder"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These books have the appeal factors offbeat, witty, and intricately plotted, and they have the genres "mysteries" and "hardboiled fiction"; the subjects "detectives," "secrets," and "former police"; and characters that are "sarcastic characters."
The circle - Lovesey, Peter
These books have the appeal factors offbeat, darkly humorous, and unconventional, and they have the genre "mysteries"; and the subjects "authors," "murder," and "writing."
These books have the appeal factors offbeat, witty, and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "mysteries"; the subjects "detectives," "authors," and "secrets"; and characters that are "well-developed characters."
These books have the appeal factors offbeat and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "mysteries"; the subjects "secrets," "murder," and "murder investigation"; and characters that are "sarcastic characters."
NoveList recommends "Thursday Next novels" for fans of "Daniel Hawthorne novels". Check out the first book in the series.
NoveList recommends "Map of time" for fans of "Daniel Hawthorne novels". Check out the first book in the series.
The Sentence is Death's literary tone stands in contrast to The Never Game's gritty, suspenseful approach, but both novels offer a chance to explore and potentially unravel a suspenseful mystery via a compelling and oddly relatable protagonist. -- Michael Jenkins

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Like Anthony Horowitz's books, Roland Smith's suspenseful, fast-paced adventure thrillers for tweens will satisfy readers who crave plot twists and nonstop action. -- Kathy Stewart
Both of these writers create boy-centric, fast-paced teen novels full of action and adventure. Richard Yancey and Anthony Horowitz also both employ humor, though Yancey's is darker and more gruesomely witty. -- Kelly White
Each author captures the experiences of ordinary boys undertaking extraordinary adventures in otherworldly realms. Rick Riordan is well known for his mythology-based, action-packed series, while Anthony Horowitz sends his courageous teen heroes into inventive spy fiction and suspenseful horror stories. -- Diane Colson
Anthony Horowitz breathes new life into Ian Fleming's iconic super-spy series with the continuing adventures of Bond -- James Bond -- set during the height of the international Cold War. Both Horowitz and Fleming deliver fast-paced action, deft characterizations, and nail-biting espionage adventures. -- Kim Burton
Both authors write suspenseful, intricately plotted mysteries, often with a metafictional narrative. Anthony Horowitz writes for children and adults while Sulari Gentill primarily writes for adults. -- CJ Connor
Underpinnings of British secret service operations are the core of both authors' fast-paced fiction for teens. Each author infuses adventure with espionage and their protagonists (often teen guys) frequently use computers and gadgets to unravel covert plots. -- Kathy Stewart
Both write literary metafiction (in which a fictionalized version of the author is a character within the storyline) and draw inspiration from classic mysteries in the vein of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. McAlpine hews closer to his source materials, while Horowitz strikes out in unconventional directions. -- Kim Burton
Horowitz pens old-school spy stories whose 1950s' characters retain a love-'em-and-leave-'em perspective, while Matthews injects his modern spycraft adventures with an edge of lingering romance. Both write immersive, fast-paced, and action-packed spy thrillers that draw inspiration from classic conflicts of the Cold War's legacy. -- Kim Burton
These authors' works have the genres "spy fiction" and "humorous stories"; the subjects "courage," "assassins," and "international intrigue"; and characters that are "likeable characters."
These authors' works have the genre "spy fiction"; and the subjects "teenage spies," "rider, alex (fictitious character)," and "fourteen-year-old boys."
These authors' works have the genres "spy fiction" and "thrillers and suspense"; the subjects "detectives," "international intrigue," and "serial murder investigation"; and characters that are "likeable characters."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

Horowitz succeeds on all levels with book two in the Detective Daniel Hawthorne series. As in The Word Is Murder (2018), Horowitz inserts himself into the plot as a fictional (yet very real) version of himself, playing Watson to Hawthorne's Holmes, once again irresistibly drawn into a mystery. Suspects are hardly in short supply in this case of murder-by-wine-bottle: Richard Pryce, a lawyer specializing in celebrity divorces, has been bonked on the head with a 1982 Château Lafite worth £3,000. The police enlist the aid of PI Hawthorne, who quickly summons Horowitz to help. (The latter is in the middle of filming a Foyle's War episode, adding another meta element to the plot, which will delight Horowitz's fans.) Hawthorne continues to try the author's and the reader's patience with outlandish behavior, but there are hints this time that he has gone to extreme lengths to conceal an unfortunate past, making him a somewhat more sympathetic character than in the earlier tale. Readers will enjoy Horowitz's insights into the publishing world and rack their brains deciding which stories are true and which are fictional. Literary references abound within the text, too, including a three-digit number scrawled on a wall, nodding to Doyle's A Study in Scarlet, along with other Doyle and Christie references. Despite these allusions and the Holmesian frame story, the overall voice of the series is fresh and original, Horowitz writing with the effortless élan that distinguishes all of his work.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Horowitz has the Midas touch, whether he is creating television series, writing children's books, or reinventing iconic crime-fiction characters, including those of Christie, Fleming, and Doyle.--Jane Murphy Copyright 2019 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Powered by Syndetics

Publisher's Weekly Review

Bestseller Horowitz's doppelganger, also named Anthony Horowitz, once again plays Dr. Watson to PI Daniel Hawthorne's Sherlock Holmes in the British author's superb sequel to 2018's The Word Is Murder. This time the astute, if irritating, detective ropes Tony into helping him investigate the murder of high-powered London divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, who was struck on the head with a bottle of expensive wine in his home. The obvious suspect is prickly poet and novelist Akira Anno, who threatened to hit Pryce with a wine bottle in a restaurant where they ran into each other days before the murder. Pryce was representing Akira's husband in a divorce settlement in which she felt she was getting a raw deal. Other suspects emerge in the complicated case, which may have its roots in a caving expedition that Pryce and two close friends took 10 years before in Yorkshire; one of those friends died while trapped in a cave during a rainstorm. Leavening the grim story line are deliciously comic scenes in which Tony typically makes a wrong deduction or suffers a personal slight (Akira disdains him because he writes popular fiction). Horowitz plays fair with the reader all the way to the surprise reveal of the killer's identity. Fans of traditional puzzle mysteries will be enthralled. Agent: Jonathan Lloyd, Curtis Brown (U.K.). (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Powered by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

Fired Scotland Yard detective Daniel Hawthorne bursts onto the scene of his unwilling collaborator and amanuensis, screenwriter/novelist Anthony, who seems to share all Horowitz's (Forever and a Day, 2018, etc.) credentials, to tell him that the game's afoot again.The victim whose death requires Hawthorne's attention this time is divorce attorney Richard Pryce, bashed to death in the comfort of his home with a wine bottle. The pricey vintage was a gift from Pryce's client, well-to-do property developer Adrian Lockwood, on the occasion of his divorce from noted author Akira Anno, who reportedly celebrated in a restaurant only a few days ago by pouring a glass of wine over the head of her husband's lawyer. Clearly she's too good a suspect to be true, and she's soon dislodged from the top spot by the news that Gregory Taylor, who'd long ago survived a cave-exploring accident together with Pryce that left their schoolmate Charles Richardson dead, has been struck and killed by a train at King's Cross Station. What's the significance of the number "182" painted on the crime scene's wall and of the words ("What are you doing here? It's a bit late") with which Pryce greeted his murderer? The frustrated narrator (The Word Is Murder, 2018) can barely muster the energy to reflect on these clues because he's so preoccupied with fending off the rudeness of Hawthorne, who pulls a long face if his sidekick says boo to the suspects they interview, and the more-than-rudeness of the Met's DI Cara Grunshaw, who threatens Hawthorne with grievous bodily harm if he doesn't pass on every scrap of intelligence he digs up. Readers are warned that the narrator's fondest hope"I like to be in control of my books"will be trampled and that the Sherlock-ian solution he laboriously works out is only the first of many.Perhaps too much ingenuity for its own good. But except for Jeffery Deaver and Sophie Hannah, no one currently working the field has anywhere near this much ingenuity to burn. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Powered by Syndetics

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* Horowitz succeeds on all levels with book two in the Detective Daniel Hawthorne series. As in The Word Is Murder (2018), Horowitz inserts himself into the plot as a fictional (yet very real) version of himself, playing Watson to Hawthorne's Holmes, once again irresistibly drawn into a mystery. Suspects are hardly in short supply in this case of murder-by-wine-bottle: Richard Pryce, a lawyer specializing in celebrity divorces, has been bonked on the head with a 1982 Château Lafite worth £3,000. The police enlist the aid of PI Hawthorne, who quickly summons Horowitz to help. (The latter is in the middle of filming a Foyle's War episode, adding another meta element to the plot, which will delight Horowitz's fans.) Hawthorne continues to try the author's and the reader's patience with outlandish behavior, but there are hints this time that he has gone to extreme lengths to conceal an unfortunate past, making him a somewhat more sympathetic character than in the earlier tale. Readers will enjoy Horowitz's insights into the publishing world and rack their brains deciding which stories are true and which are fictional. Literary references abound within the text, too, including a three-digit number scrawled on a wall, nodding to Doyle's A Study in Scarlet, along with other Doyle and Christie references. Despite these allusions and the Holmesian frame story, the overall voice of the series is fresh and original, Horowitz writing with the effortless élan that distinguishes all of his work.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Horowitz has the Midas touch, whether he is creating television series, writing children's books, or reinventing iconic crime-fiction characters, including those of Christie, Fleming, and Doyle. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.
Powered by Content Cafe

Library Journal Reviews

Meta-mystery! In The Word Is Murder, a June 2018 LibraryReads pick, private investigator Daniel Hawthorne got help from a novelist named Anthony Horowitz. Now they're tracking down a killer who clobbered big-time celebrity divorce lawyer Richard Pryce with a bottle of 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, but our novelist narrator suspects that Hawthorne has secrets of his own. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal.
Powered by Content Cafe

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Bestseller Horowitz's doppelganger, also named Anthony Horowitz, once again plays Dr. Watson to PI Daniel Hawthorne's Sherlock Holmes in the British author's superb sequel to 2018's The Word Is Murder. This time the astute, if irritating, detective ropes Tony into helping him investigate the murder of high-powered London divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, who was struck on the head with a bottle of expensive wine in his home. The obvious suspect is prickly poet and novelist Akira Anno, who threatened to hit Pryce with a wine bottle in a restaurant where they ran into each other days before the murder. Pryce was representing Akira's husband in a divorce settlement in which she felt she was getting a raw deal. Other suspects emerge in the complicated case, which may have its roots in a caving expedition that Pryce and two close friends took 10 years before in Yorkshire; one of those friends died while trapped in a cave during a rainstorm. Leavening the grim story line are deliciously comic scenes in which Tony typically makes a wrong deduction or suffers a personal slight (Akira disdains him because he writes popular fiction). Horowitz plays fair with the reader all the way to the surprise reveal of the killer's identity. Fans of traditional puzzle mysteries will be enthralled. Agent: Jonathan Lloyd, Curtis Brown (U.K.). (May)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly.

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly.
Powered by Content Cafe

Reviews from GoodReads

Loading GoodReads Reviews.

Staff View

Loading Staff View.