'Crime's a serious business' – Anthony Horowitz

Anthony Horowitz by Anna Lythgoe

Anthony Horowitz is no stranger to Sherlock Holmes; his career as a crime writer was inspired by the canon and he’s written two pastiches (House of Silk, Moriarty) and a pair of novel series (the Daniel Hawthorne series, beginning with The Word is Murder and the Susan Ryeland series, beginning with Magpie Murders) which are homages to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous creation.

Horowitz’s books are full of humour, but they aren’t comical; that’s an important distinction for the prolific author, who harbours an active dislike for comedy mysteries like the Knives Out series of films starring Daniel Craig. “I’ve always said that crime’s a serious business,” Horowitz says. “You don’t do it for fun; you do it because you’re angry, upset, scared.”

That’s an interesting point; there are only a few basic reasons to kill somebody. “Somebody knows something about you; somebody has something that you want; or you hate them for something they have done,” Horowitz elaborates. And the killer’s motive is where he starts when plotting out a new book.

“I always start with the reason for the murder. A + B = C. ‘A’ is one person; ‘B’ is another person; ‘C’ is the reason why ‘A’ murders ‘B’. That, to me, is the bullseye. That is the core of the whole thing, and that motive can’t be something dull. It can’t be because you were going to change your will or because you were sleeping with my wife. It’s gotta be something that makes you sort of smile and also, I think, that makes you realise that…it is a good reason to kill somebody.

“I think that one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels is The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, because it is a wonderfully human and understandable and clever motive for somebody to kill somebody else. I think of all her books, that’s the cleverest motive, and that’s what I’m always looking for.

“For example, in my new book [A Deadly Episode, due out in April] we’re on the set of a new-ish TV series, which is the Hawthorne series, being filmed for television, and it’s got to be the actor playing Hawthorne who will be murdered, because then Hawthorne can investigate his own death.

“So that leads me to say to myself, ‘Who do you have on a set who might have the opportunity to kill him? Is it going to be the director? Is it going to be the driver? Is it going to be somebody in makeup? Is it going to be the DP [Director of Photography]?’

“And then, ‘What reason would they have to kill the actor playing Hawthorne, and what is realistic? What do the people do, television makers or technicians or actors or whoever when they’re not making television? What is a good motive?’

“I’ll give you one straightaway, because it’ll be in the book, which is that if the producer has run out of money, and the whole show is about to collapse. There are real reasons why you might want to murder your lead actor, and you come from there and you choose the one which is the least likely, and then you write the book.”

Horowitz’s ability to remix the three basic reasons for murder into understandable yet fresh motives for each book seems never ending. And that’s a good thing for his legions of fans. If you’re one of them, or even if you’re just discovering his books and television shows for the first time, you’ll want to check out my full, in-depth interview with him in Sherlock Holmes Magazine No. 23, out now.