Brought to you by Penguin.

From the global bestselling author of Moonflower Murders and Close to Death comes an unputdownable new mystery in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series.

The Word is Murder, the first book in the Hawthorne series, is about to be made into a major feature film.

The actors have been cast, the script written, and filming has already started in Hastings.

But when Hawthorne and Anthony visit the set, they find a far from happy family.

The director’s pretentious, the screenwriter’s an eco-warrior, the two stars hate each other, and the producer has run out of money.

And things are about to get much, much worse.

In the middle of shooting, the actor playing Hawthorne is stabbed – which leaves the real Hawthorne with no choice. He has to step in and investigate his own murder.

Because the killer may not have got the right man. Was it Hawthorne himself who was meant to be the target?

A Deadly Episode is a wild ride through a world that the author knows only too well, and the most personal case Hawthorne has had to deal with so far.

‘Easily the greatest of our crime writers’ Sunday Times
'Nobody does this crime fiction better than Anthony Horowitz’ Crime Time FM
'Anthony Horowitz is a national treasure' Ragnar Jónasson

© Anthony Horowitz 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026