NEED REVIEW TAG

Byline: Laurie Hertzel

Minneapolis Star Tribune

"The Twist of a Knife" by Anothony Horowitz; Cornerstone (400 pages, $29.99)

The thing I most like about the mysteries of Anthony Horowitz — besides their smooth writing, skillful plotting and delightful sense of humor — is this: Horowitz gives you clues. He lays them all out there, and if you are sharp and paying attention, you can solve them. I never have.

"The Twist of a Knife" is Horowitz's fourth book in the series featuring himself (or a caricature of himself) and a taciturn detective, Daniel Hawthorne. This one doesn't follow the same formula as the previous three, in which Hawthorne solves a murder and Horowitz tags along, hoping to write a successful novel about it all but in actuality just sort of mucking things up.

In this one, Horowitz turns Hawthorne down for a fourth collaboration — and then realizes he needs Hawthorne's help when an obnoxious theater critic is murdered and Horowitz finds himself a suspect.

There's a very Agatha Christie vibe to this novel, which takes place in London and ends with all the suspects gathered together in a room as Hawthorne dramatically reveals who did it.