具体描述
One bright spring morning in London, Diana Cowper – the wealthy mother of a famous actor - enters a funeral parlor. She is there to plan her own service.
Six hours later she is found dead, strangled with a curtain cord in her own home.
Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric investigator who’s as quick with an insult as he is to crack a case. Hawthorne needs a ghost writer to document his life; a Watson to his Holmes. He chooses Anthony Horowitz.
Drawn in against his will, Horowitz soon finds himself a the center of a story he cannot control. Hawthorne is brusque, temperamental and annoying but even so his latest case with its many twists and turns proves irresistible. The writer and the detective form an unusual partnership. At the same time, it soon becomes clear that Hawthorne is hiding some dark secrets of his own.
用户评价
##Typical British mystery with reference of drama, theatre and, of course, Hamlet. A very grumpy Holmes and a less amicable Watson plus a nice little plot on the platter, including enough red herrings.
##:(
##核心诡计一般，Hawthorne人物倒挺形象。对英国影视圈的影射也挺有趣，自从看到书里写这个Damian演了《国土安全》后，后半部书都脑补Damian Lewis的脸了
##过分无聊了。前两百四十页几乎是全程家访...而这里面还包含了一看就是为了进行家访才写的误导，以及一堆废话里藏几个莎士比亚梗的所谓伏线。哦和喜鹊一样有人名和字谜梗，勉强可以当冷笑话看的那种。总之不推荐在这种书上浪费时间。ps：拜托有几个正常读者会愿意听作者聊丁丁历险记或者斯皮尔伯格彼得杰克逊什么的（看到这里我很绝望），灌水就灌水扯什么小说构架＆日本读者的审美彻底理解不能。
##因为上一本Magpie Murders，作者今年的新书刚一出来就迫不及待想看了。和上一部作品一样的是，Horowitz 的crime fiction 给人耳目一新的感觉，总会留下很“机智”的印象。挺喜欢找到很有个人特色的作者。
##出于对Magpie Murders的喜爱读完了这本，结果远不如前者啊。为了消减本格案件置身当代伦敦的违和感，同样是在叙述手法上玩花样，喜鹊是用“作中作”，这系列看来是打算一路走“元小说”风。案件本身中规中矩，red herring是常规套路，凶手时间线那块明显玩脱了，最后认凶的大场面也不够份量。唯一的亮点大概是散落书中的所有真实人物，斯皮尔伯格和丁丁历险记那段怎么看怎么像发自肺腑的吐槽。
##核心诡计一般，Hawthorne人物倒挺形象。对英国影视圈的影射也挺有趣，自从看到书里写这个Damian演了《国土安全》后，后半部书都脑补Damian Lewis的脸了
##3.5星 因为现代侦探小说难写而鼓励0.5星。和喜鹊类似，作者仍采用了两个故事相扣的设计，可惜的是第一个故事和最后的谋杀案相差太远。不过第一个故事(车祸谜团）更有趣，颇有阿婆的小说韵味。
###2020ReadingChallenge01AmateurDetective 核心诡计平淡了一点但整本书有种whimsical的机智。希望写成系列啊，新时代的watson和sherlock。