Anthony Horowitz - are all his books similar?

[PrunellaMcTat]

I'm reading my first Anthony Horowitz - Magpie Murders - and really enjoying it. Not yet finished - no spoilers please. It's a real 'murder cardigan' sort of book - Midsommer Murders / Richard Osmond / Poirot. Exactly my sort of thing.

I see he has an enormous catalogue and a few different series. Are they all in a similar vein? Any advice on what I should read next?

I've just finished it, the only other novel of his I read was The word is Murder. I would say it's also pretty similar, although rather than all the Christie-esque references in Magpie Murders, the other novel is more of a Sherlock Holmes type of book – and also another story within a story type of book. i've decided I'm not really a fan of his work but if you like this book then I think you'll probably like his others.

There is a sequel to magpie murders - moonflower murders, which is similar. I also enjoy the Hawthorne series starting with The Word is Murder.

Not a fan of the James Bond stories or the Sherlock Holmes ones (The house of silk). I think the rest are children books.

The Alex rider ones are young adult books.

I love magpie murders ones & Hawthorne series but I do love a nice gentle murder!

PD James are classics of this type too if you've not tried those, definitely worth a dip.

OMG PD James and PG Wodehouse are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PEOPLE. I have never entirely realised that before.

I love Anthony Horiwitz.

If you like Moonflower murders then you'll probably also enjoy the Word is Murder and the sequels.

Moriaty and the House of Silk are good for Sherlock Holmes fans. He really captures the style.

I haven't tried the James Bond sequels.

The Alex Rider books are a kind of junior James Bond for older children. Fast paced and an entertaining read. He started the series a long time ago and has said that if he was beginning now, he'd have written stronger parts for girls and women.

The Power of 5 is a fantasy YA series. I really enjoyed them.

The Diamond Brothers is a series of comic detective stories for children but I think a lot of the jokes go over their heads. Adults familiar with Agatha Christie, film noir etc will appreciate the titles eg The Falcon's Malteser and South by South East.

I've read his two Bond books and am currently on the third, most recent one. If you want Bond in the Fleming style, he's a decent enough bet over the previous writers - he's keen, he's dedicated - I don't feel his prose style is quite as immersive as Fleming's, but nobody writes like that now, it's all about the plot, the twists, the page turner events. He doesn't capture the depressive feel of Fleming's prose. Not sure you'd read these books however if you weren't a Bond fan already, and in particular of the originals. Still a bit ersatz. But readable.

I listened to the Word is Murder from the library - as they only seem to get new books once in a blue moon, I don't normally read Whodunnits - the reader was Rory Kinnear and I loved it. The two characters bounced off each other - it was very good.
I've now listed to A Line To Kill. Good but less fun - I liked the jokey mocking of Horowitz in the first.

I hated The Word is Murder and was really disappointed because I love Foyles War