Clara’s Verdict
Anthony Horowitz has been doing something genuinely clever with the Hawthorne series: writing himself into his own mysteries as a character, then using that meta-fictional premise to explore questions about authorship, collaboration, and what it means to write about violence for a living. A Deadly Episode – the sixth book in the Hawthorne and Horowitz Mysteries – takes this conceit to its logical and rather dangerous extreme. A film adaptation of the first Hawthorne book is being made, shooting in Hastings, and when the actor playing Hawthorne is stabbed on set, the real Hawthorne has to investigate his own fictional murder. Rory Kinnear reads with the dry precision the material demands. It’s an absolute pleasure.
About the Audiobook
Horowitz the writer has always been comfortable with the gap between the detective fiction he creates and the messy reality of actual investigation – and A Deadly Episode exploits that gap with considerable wit. The film set in Hastings is a comedy of professional dysfunction: a pretentious director, an eco-warrior screenwriter, two leads who loathe each other, and a producer who has run out of money. When the actor playing Hawthorne is stabbed mid-shoot, the question that immediately complicates everything is whether the real Hawthorne was the intended target.
Horowitz describes this as “the most personal case Hawthorne has had to deal with so far,” and you can feel why – the self-reflexivity here goes deeper than clever plotting. Questions about how crime writers commodify real suffering, how detectives are mythologised in fiction versus how they actually operate, and what Hawthorne himself thinks about being turned into a character, are woven through the mystery with enough lightness that the book never tips into self-indulgence. The solution, when it comes, is properly surprising and properly fair.
The Narration
Rory Kinnear is an inspired choice for Horowitz’s authorial persona – the slightly rueful, frequently exasperated, fundamentally decent writer who gets involved in these investigations despite his better judgment. Kinnear has the acting range to differentiate the large cast clearly, and his handling of the comedy of the film-set scenes is genuinely funny without ever undermining the genuine menace of the central crime. At 8 hours and 4 minutes, this is exactly the right length for a weekend mystery.
What Readers Say
Released in April 2026, A Deadly Episode is too new for ratings to have accumulated on Audible UK, but Horowitz’s track record speaks for itself. The Sunday Times calls him “easily the greatest of our crime writers.” Ragnar Jónasson, one of Scandinavia’s most respected crime authors, describes him as “a national treasure.” The Hawthorne series has built a devoted audience through five previous books, and this sixth instalment arrives with significant anticipation from readers who’ve followed Horowitz and Hawthorne from the beginning.
Who Should Listen?
Fans of the Hawthorne and Horowitz series should start from the beginning with The Word Is Murder – this is not a standalone. Readers who enjoy classic mystery with a modern self-aware twist, crime fiction with genuine literary ambition, or simply a very well-crafted puzzle with a satisfying solution. Horowitz admirers who haven’t yet discovered the Hawthorne series are in for a treat: start at Book 1 and expect to work through all six in short order.
Listen on Audible UK: Get A Deadly Episode on Audible UK.
