Hawthorne & Horowitz · BOOK 5 OF 7
Close to Death
Spoiler-free summary
Hawthorne revisits a murder in an apparently perfect gated London close. A cold case, a hostile community and an unfinished story collide.
Riverside Close, an apparently perfect gated London community. The pleasure lies in observation and privacy, shaped by a first-person detective chronicle in which the narrator is also a character and occasional suspect..
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Can I start here?
Best read after Hawthorne & Horowitz 4; the central plot is approachable on its own, but continuing relationships and consequences carry forward.
What makes it different
Riverside Close looks immaculate, which naturally makes it one of the most suspicious addresses in the whole reading room.
Setting
Riverside Close, an apparently perfect gated London community.
Content guidance
Murder, death, grief and criminal investigation; the summary above withholds solutions.
Source-linked extras
Horowitz on the craft
A publisher interview in which Horowitz discusses constructing murder-mystery twists; linked as series-level context, not misrepresented as a comment on this title alone.
Penguin — The Art of the Murder Mystery Twist ↗Continuity
Close to Death is volume 5 of 7 in Hawthorne & Horowitz. Its central adventure has a resolution, while relationships and consequences can continue into later volumes.
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These are affinity matches, not catalogue neighbours. Each card names the connection I used.