The Recommended Reading Order
While the murder mysteries in each installment of the series are self-contained, the overarching narrative of Hawthorne and Horowitz’s partnership is highly continuous. The slow, tantalizing trickle of details about Hawthorne’s secretive past, his sudden dismissal from the police force, and his private life are revealed sequentially across the novels. For this reason, we strongly recommend reading the Detective Daniel Hawthorne books in publication order.
- The Word Is Murder (2017/2018) – The partnership begins when a wealthy woman is murdered hours after planning her own funeral.
- The Sentence Is Death (2018/2019) – A divorce lawyer is bludgeoned with a £3,000 wine bottle, opening up clues to Hawthorne's past.
- A Line to Kill (2021) – The duo travels to a literary festival on the island of Alderney, only for a lockdown murder to occur.
- The Twist of a Knife (2022) – Anthony Horowitz himself becomes the prime murder suspect when a harsh theatre critic is killed.
- Close to Death (2024) – A gated-community mystery in Richmond told through a unique split timeline.
- A Deadly Episode (2026) – Murder strikes on the Hastings film set during the adaptation of their very first book.
Understanding the Meta-Fictional Timeline and Caveats
The defining feature of this series is its meta-fictional framing. Anthony Horowitz is not just the author; he is also a central character and the narrator of the books. He presents himself as a reluctant Watson to Hawthorne’s Sherlock Holmes, often complaining about Hawthorne's difficult, abrasive personality and the frustrations of writing a biography about someone who refuses to share anything about his life.
For the most part, the chronological order matches the publication order. However, Close to Death breaks this mold by utilizing a split-timeline structure. In this fifth installment, Horowitz is under pressure from his publisher to write the next book but has no current cases with Hawthorne. Consequently, he decides to write about an old case Hawthorne solved five years prior, before their partnership began. This core mystery features Hawthorne working with a different sidekick, John Dudley, while the framing story shows Horowitz and Hawthorne discussing the draft in the present day. Despite this flashback structure, you should still read it fifth, as the framing device relies on the established dynamic built over the first four novels.
Detailed Book-by-Book Guide
1. The Word Is Murder
The series kicks off with a brilliant premise: Diana Cowper, a wealthy woman, walks into a London funeral parlor to plan her own service. Six hours later, she is found strangled to death in her own home. Reluctantly, author Anthony Horowitz is approached by Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant but disgraced former detective inspector who now works as a consultant. Hawthorne wants Horowitz to write a book about the case and split the royalties. What follows is a clever introduction to their thorny partnership, packed with classic whodunit elements and self-deprecating humor.
2. The Sentence Is Death
In the second book, divorce lawyer Richard Pryce is found bludgeoned to death in his home with a highly valuable bottle of wine. Oddly, Pryce didn't drink, and his last words were a cryptic phrase: "You shouldn't be here. It's too late." Once again, Hawthorne drags a reluctant Horowitz into the investigation. As they parse through secrets involving a historic caving accident and wealthy clients, we get the first real glimpses into Hawthorne’s private life, including the existence of a mysterious book club and his former colleague, John Dudley.
3. A Line to Kill
Moving away from the streets of London, the third novel takes Hawthorne and Horowitz to the remote Channel Island of Alderney, where they are invited to a local literary festival. The island is already tense due to a controversial proposed power line project, and things turn deadly when a wealthy sponsor is found murdered. With the island put under lockdown, everyone present—including the guest authors—is a suspect. This book is notable for being the first time Horowitz is present for the entire investigation from start to finish, rather than catching up on the details later.
4. The Twist of a Knife
The meta-narrative takes a personal turn in the fourth book. Anthony Horowitz has written a new play, Mind Game, which premieres in London's West End. However, a notoriously harsh critic, Harriet Throsby, writes a devastating review. When Throsby is found stabbed to death with a dagger belonging to Horowitz, and with his fingerprints all over the crime scene, the author becomes the prime suspect. Arrested by the police, Horowitz has no choice but to rely on Hawthorne to clear his name, leading to a tense race against time where the author's own freedom is on the line.
5. Close to Death
Set in a gated community called Riverview Close in Richmond, this fifth installment deals with the murder of Giles Kenworthy, a loud and abrasive hedge fund manager who made enemies of all his neighbors. When Kenworthy is killed by a crossbow bolt, everyone in the close has a motive. Because this is an old case Hawthorne solved years ago, the narrative shifts between Horowitz’s manuscript (detailing Hawthorne’s investigation with his temporary partner John Dudley) and the modern-day framing sequence where Horowitz tries to coax more details out of the reticent detective.
6. A Deadly Episode
In this 2026 release, the meta-fictional elements reach new heights. The Word Is Murder is being adapted into a major movie, and Horowitz and Hawthorne visit the filming location in Hastings. The set is rife with drama, which turns into a real tragedy when David Caine, the actor cast to play Hawthorne, is murdered. As Hawthorne investigates the murder of his fictional self, he uncovers a complex web of blackmail and old secrets that stretches back a decade to a case in Yorkshire, illustrating how his past continues to haunt his present.
What to Know Before You Start
If you love classic detective fiction but want something fresh, this series is a must-read. Horowitz draws heavy inspiration from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, intentionally casting himself in the role of the long-suffering Watson. However, unlike Watson, Horowitz is a real-world author who writes about his actual career, mentioning his TV shows like Midsomer Murders and his real-life publishers, which adds a surreal layer of realism to the books. Horowitz plans to write 12 books in the series, matching the number of chapters in a traditional mystery novel, meaning there are plenty of puzzles still to come.