Anthony Horowitz really gets his Agatha Christie hat on for this novel:
1. It's set in a tiny community where everyone knows everyone else.
2. Most of the characters are situated in the same hotel.
3. They've all been invited to a tiny, remote island for a book festival.
4. The murder victim is widely despised. There are many suspects.
5. Hawthorne is as reluctant to part with his process as Hercule Poirot.
6. Horowitz (his fictional self) takes the clueless Arthur Hastings role.
7. Hawthorne does a final reveal with explanation a la Poirot.
8. A morally ambiguous ending, where a potentially very guilty person gets off relatively easy.
To be absolutely honest, I was less than happy during the first third of the book, until I realized what the author was doing. Why would he make the character bearing his name and narrating the tale such a dim bulb? It annoyed me excessively, until I figured out that he was the Hastings to Hawthorne's Poirot. Suddenly, it became a much more entertaining book! How to feel delighted and kind of dumb in the same instant.
I will be extremely interested to see what my book club members have to say about it! Fingers crossed for a lively discussion!
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