Match BookThe Word is Murder
Anthony Horowitz
2018 · 333 pages · Mystery
How it reads
The Word is Murder is mystery (meta detective mystery, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.
It's set in a big city setting, in the present day, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are secrets, justice and identity. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.
It opens a series. The ending resolves happily. At 333 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something tense
- you want a book that pulls you through
- you want to be sure it ends well
Maybe not if…
- you need something cosy or heartwarming
- you want dense, lingering prose
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- mystery
- Author gender
- male
- Author experience
- prolific veteran
- Setting: place
- big city
- Setting: time
- contemporary
- Mood / feeling
- tense
- Pace
- fast paced
- Tone / weight
- balanced
- Length
- medium
- Narrative style
- first person, one narrator
- Publication era
- recent
- Popularity
- mega-bestseller
- Series vs standalone
- first in a series
- Ending style
- resolved and happy
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
The Sentence is DeathAnthony HorowitzShares: mystery, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced- NightshadeMichael ConnellyShares: mystery, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
- The Case-Book of Sherlock HolmesArthur Conan DoyleShares: mystery, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
- RiptideMichaela ThompsonShares: mystery, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
- The Dark LakeSarah BaileyShares: mystery, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
- The High AuctionMisbaShares: mystery, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
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