The Twist Of A Knife by Anthony Horowitz

A copy of The Twist Of A Knife was sent to me by a good friend, who is also a published author of mysteries. It garnered my immediate attention because the corpse in this whodunnit is a critic who pans the opening night performance of a thriller titled Mindgame at London’s Vaudeville Theatre.  The first “twist” is that Anthony Horowitz, the author of the book actually wrote a play called Mindgame that was premiered at London’s Vaudeville Theatre in 2000. The second “twist” is that the book deals with a play written by Anthony Horowitz that is opening at the Vaudeville Theatre. The third “twist” is that Horowitz (the author of both the real play and the one featured in the book) makes himself in the play in the book the primary suspect for the murder. Do you have that straight or is the mind game working on you overtime?

As someone who has had a previous life as a theatre director, teacher, and unrepentant anglophile, I can happily vouch for the accuracy of the theatre material right down to the grotty and cramped backstage at the Vaudeville Theatre.  I caught Mr. Horowitz in only one little boo-boo, which was attributing Peter Schaffer’s Black Comedy to his brother Anthony, who did write the classic Sleuth. Horowitz’s depiction of travel around London’s streets and into tube stations is also right on the money.

I am not quite as keen on Horowitz’s police procedures, however. The critic, Ms. Harriet, Throsby’s, is found dead at her home at 10:00 AM the morning following the opening. She has been stabbed to death by one of the several daggers given as opening night presents to the key company members by the producer.

With a speed unknown to most police departments, much less by London’s constabulary, the Peelers are able to process the crime scene, interview people at the first night party, track down the location of all the gifted daggers, and still arrive at the author’s home by 4:00 PM that afternoon armed with a murder warrant. In short order, the author manages to get his former literary partner, who is a cashiered former police detective (Daniel Hawthorne) to help him prove his innocence. 

Hawthorne, posing as a policeman, takes author Horowitz on a series of interviews of the other suspects. None of the interviewees challenge his status, ask to see his warrant card or ask for a solicitor. And no one seems to find it odd that a policeman, fake or not, who was investigating a murder would bring his main suspect along with him as he works the case.

Detective Hawthorne plays an inscrutable Poirot through all the interviews and ultimately schedules an Agatha Christie showdown with all the suspects right on the Vaudeville Theatre’s stage. The coppers sit in the auditorium while Hawthorne takes us through a far too long denouement.   

In spite of my reservations, the book kept me turning the pages. I loved the London theatre ambiance, and missed the other twisty clues that cemented the guilt of the villain. I give the effort 3.5 stars and am only mildly excited by the last pages, which promise at least three more adventures with Horowitz and Hawthorne in the future.

Jim De Young   2/4/23