The Sentence Is Death

"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 realises that these secrets must be exposed – even at the risk of death…

I enjoyed book one in this series so much that I immediately picked up this sequel.

I thought the mystery in this book was even more intriguing than that in book one, and really enjoyed its twists and turns. There is no shortage of suspects, and I had fun trying to solve this one.

Just as intriguing as the mystery is the detective, Hawthorne, and Horowitz’s attempts to learn more about him. The more he tries, the more Hawthorne resists, but it’s clear that there is more to Hawthorne than meets the eye.

I love their dynamic between Hawthorne and Horowitz. It’s not quite a friendship – maybe more of a reluctant partnership? Either way, it makes for a tense, funny, intriguing relationship and is a great backdrop to the mystery.