Anthony Horowitz in his fictional novelist self with PI Daniel Hawthorne in this 5th instalment of their series; having a dual plotline with present-day Horowitz urgently digging a narrative of a real crime case from Hawthorne after getting a push by his publisher to write another thriller book— bit hard to grasp on the flow at first as I traversed the years ago setting with Hawthorne’s flashback during the murder before I could get the present-day narrative of both Horowitz and Hawthorne on the later part.

Chapters with Hawthorne’s flashback brought me to uncover a whodunnit murder incident happened in the neighbourhood of Riverside Close; a picture-perfect community that went berserk one day when the newcomer Giles Kentworthy was found dead on his own doorstep with a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest. A tricky case to handle for Hawthorne and his assistant John Dudley; too many suspicious neighbours as a suspect with convincing motives and secrets to unfold that soon Horowitz felt a slight dissatisfaction after reading Hawthorne’s investigation notes and lured him to start his own investigative journey despite knowing the case has been closed for years.

It was too twisty than I thought; a cunning crime yet it frustrates me as much as Hawthorne during that scene in Part 8 but loving how Horowitz peeled another layer of suspense from the after-scene. I love most characterization especially all the neighbours of Riverside Close— their motives intrigued me (I pitied some of them too) and I like how Horowitz hooked me with his findings afterwards. A devilish mystery, very intricate, clever and so perfectly planned (wish they really go and dig that magnolia tree!). Bit upsetting nearly the end but I understand the act, glad Horowitz finally could deduced it.

4.2/5 stars.

Thank you Pansing Distribution for the gifted review copy!