Anthony Horowitz has a murder to solve.
As to who is Hawthornes unwitting (and somewhat unwilling) sidekick on the case?
But its far from Horowitzs first investigation.
Simone Padovani/Awakening/Getty Images; Harper
The prolific British author published his first book in 1979 and has since found staggering success across multiple mediums.
On TV, hes createdMidsomer MurdersandFoyles War, the latter of which has won BAFTAs.
And thats not the idea at all.
First of all, the books not about me.
Its about Daniel Hawthorne, an ex-detective inspector and now private investigator.
He is Sherlock Holmes, and I am merely Watson, the narrator.
Normally, when a writer writes a whodunit, he knows everything.
The whole perspective changes, radically.
And that summarizes in a way the weird world in which Ive found myself.
There were two things in my mind while writingThe Word is Murder.
And the second thing is in the title:The Word is Murder.
Ive been writing for a very long time and I was quite keen to write about writing.
Ive always always wanted to write something in that line, to write about the nature of writing.
But the problem is, Im not really smart enough to do a handbook like they did.
On the one hand, I hope its enjoyable fiction.
On the other, I hope its also tantalizing metafic.
Thats so exciting, that theres a sequel!Yes, yes.
And its going pretty well, I think.
Im a great believer in structure.
Sometimes I spend longer planning a book than I will writing it.
It was a book I thought up many, many years ago.
WithThe Word is Murder, it was the same thing.
The character motivations work.
That scene in particular is such a page-turner.
And so far the response in both the U.K. and America is that people have enjoyed it.
Thats all I ask, really and that they dont guess the ending.
Who is Damian Cowper, the son of Diana Cowper, the woman murdered in chapter 1?
Has he really been in all the TV shows I mention?
And thats definitely what I believe Ive done withThe Word is Murder.
I could have written 30 Alex Riders novel, I wrote 11 and that was enough.
This a series about a detective who has clearly got issues.
What has made him into this man?
Thats whats different and so entertaining.
That is the aim: to spend 10 murder mysteries with him.
But its the beginning of this long journey, which I hope will take me another decade to finish.
James Bond is an iconic figure, probablythemost iconic figure in literature all over the world.
To be entrusted with his life and adventures is incredible.
But I wouldnt do it if I didnt just love the character.
Its a great experience.
How do you define success?
But thats my life.
Its what I set out for in my early 20s.
Ive always been a writer and pretty much nothing else.
When I was 10 years old, I was telling stories.
