I couldn’t stop myself. When I was at the Oxford Literary Festival, I let slip the title of number five in the Hawthorne series…much to the dismay of my editors and publicists at Penguin Random House. Sorry, guys!
So here it is – officially announced, along with a few details only available here.
CLOSE TO DEATH looks at a case that Hawthorne solved before I met him (although I’m still heavily involved). The close in question is a private, gated enclave in Richmond, London. Five neighbours have lived in perfect harmony for twenty years but then a sixth moves in; an ex-Etonian restauranteur with a delightfully right-wing wife and two ill-behaved children. Charles Kenworthy owns four cars with personalised number plates, throws loud parties, hates dogs and is about to dig up his award-winning garden to build a swimming pool. Who wouldn’t want to murder him?
It's a nightmare neighbour story with a difference. The solution to the crime appears in Chapter Five – but that’s only the beginning.
I’m having a lot of fun writing this and look forward to seeing it on the shelves early next year.
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