Realising all these permutations had been done, Horowitz began to wonder what would make his series different.

As the inexperienced cops bumble around, Hawthorne does the real investigating, his faithful scribe Anthony Horowitz tagging along. Anthony eventually finds out that Hawthorne had his own motive for going to Alderney, relating to Derek Abbott, a pedophile and child pornographer who got a light sentence after Hawthorne couldn't make the case, and who is now living on Alderney and worked for le Mesurier. Blind Seer: One of the authors at the literary festival, Elizabeth Lovell, is a blind woman who claims that going blind gave her the power to talk to spirits on "the other side of the mirror", aka the afterlife. She calls it "blind sight". Subverted in that Daniel and Anthony are both positive she's faking, and they're right. Double subverted when it turns out she isn't even blind. The cast of suspects/characters from the literary world is colorful and quirky, and I loved the witty satire, with the author poking fun at the literary world, and himself. Not every attendee is who they say they are and there are plenty of suspects and secrets to uncover. “There are an awful lot more than six people who wanted him dead… It’s a line to kill if ever I saw one.” Because of the circumstances, Horowitz wondered why Hawthorne insisted the women admit their crimes. Horowitz believed justice was served when Anne died before she could go to trial. Kathryn’s case was heard by a jury, but they sympathized with her and found her not guilty of any crime. Maissa Lamar – A French performance poet. (The ‘i’ in her Christian name actually has two dots above it, but I have no idea how to type that?!)As the story opens Horowitz and Hawthorne are meeting with Horowitz's publishers to discuss a publicity campaign for their first collaborative book.

Closed Circle: Alderney, a rather small island, although played with in that the suspects actually do leave after three days and aren't trapped there the whole time. As usual Hawthorne’s usual intuitive skills are fine tuned as he continued to banter Horowitz who often appears clueless. It makes for the often funny interactions between them. Cigarette of Anxiety: A jittery Helen demands a cigarette and gets one from Hawthorne, the morning her husband is found dead. This time around the odd couple ends up on a small island as part of a literary festival to promote their first book.Islands make for popular settings for whodunits from Agatha Christie’s And Then There were None to PD James’ Skull Beneath the Skin . “There is also The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji.” Choosing to set A Line to Kill on an island was a coincidence, says Horowitz. This is the 3rd installment in the Horowitz/ Hawthorne series, featuring my favorite duo. This can work as a standalone, but for insight into the characters I recommend reading the previous two books first (plus they are really good!). Horowitz is both author and a character in his own novel, as a bumbling ‘Watson’ to retired Detective Hawthorne’s ‘Holmes’. They are an unlikely pair that get along as well as oil and water. Their relationship adds much to the charm and humor in this story, with Horowitz’s cluelessness adding to the fun. That Horowitz is out manipulated, out maneuvered, and outshone by his own creation is a running joke. Horowitz also sets his sights on other tropes of the modern writer: publishers, agents, editors, literary festivals. He is an insider's insider. More importantly, he manages to make the reader care for Hawthorne, who is neither cuddly nor entirely admirable, but seems to live by his own code--a code which neither Horowitz nor the reader to this point have entirely apprehended.