There was a danger that by the fifth of his Hawthorne mysteries that started with The Word is Murder , Anthony Horowitz would have stretched the unusual format too far. The other books were written in the first  person, with a fictional version of Horowitz himself acting effectively as Watson to eccentric ex-cop Daniel Hawthorne. But this entry in the series starts in the conventional third person, describing the occupants of an exclusive close in Richmond on Thames and their fractious relationships with a boorish man who it feels is surely going to be the murder victim. The setting is clever, because the small gated development effectively provides a similarly isolated group of suspects to a traditional country house murder mystery, but better suited to a modern world. And we get a classic varied group of suspects from a chess grandmaster and a 'dentist to the stars' to a pair of old ladies. But Horowitz then comes into the story as this was a past case of Hawthorne’s that Hor...

For an example in a book I'm writing, I needed to get the generative AI ChatGPT to come up with a poem in a known style, and then to do something else related. I chose to ask it for a poem on sausages in the style of Wordsworth, and the to provide a 2,000 word literary criticism of its own poem. I love what came out - and particularly as the editor rejected it from the book (philistine) I feel the need to share it.  Read the poem, but do stay for the literary criticism - there's something wonderful about an AI doing a lit crit of its own work. Savoring the Sausage Symphony by ChatGPT Wordsworth In quaint kitchens where hearths did glow, Amidst the aroma's gentle flow, There lies a tale of savory delight, Where sausages dance in golden light. Oft in the sizzle of the morning's yawn, When dew-kissed grass greets the dawn, The humble links, with humble grace, Fill the air, a savory embrace. Oh, how they sway in the skillet's song, Echoes of flavor, pure and strong, As ...

I'm quite fond of Sarah Painter's Crow Investigations books - an urban fantasy series set in London featuring four magical families in the otherwise normal setting, so I was interested to see what her newish Unholy Island series, based in the same world, but located on an island with a causeway off the North East of England, just north of Holy Island, would be like. Going on the first two books in the series, the concept and setting is great, but the plot development is initially somewhat glacial. The idea is that Unholy Island has its own, magical nature - unless you are wanted by the island, you will never stay more than two nights and you will forget about any experiences there when you leave. It's a great setting into which Painter deposits a newcomer, Luke, who gets a mixed welcome from around a dozen residents, each a remarkable character, ranging from BandB owner (and ward witch) Esme to the mysterious (and unnerving) three sisters. The first book, The Ward Witch , ...