The Art of the Murder Mystery Twist with Anthony Horowitz

'Our deal is over.'

That's what reluctant author Anthony Horowitz tells ex-detective Daniel Hawthorne in an awkward meeting. The truth is that Anthony has other things on his mind.

His new play, Mindgame, is about to open in London's Vaudeville theatre. Not surprisingly Hawthorne declines a ticket.

On opening night, Sunday Times critic Harriet Throsby gives the play a savage review, focusing particularly on the writing. The next morning she is found dead, stabbed in the heart with an ornamental dagger which, it turns out, belongs to Anthony and which has his finger prints all over it.

Anthony is arrested, charged with Throsby's murder, thrown into prison and interrogated.

Alone and increasingly desperate, he realises only one man can help him.

But will Hawthorne take his call?

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[DLeRoux]

This needs to be turned into a full on Materclass lesson. His enthusiasm is palatable.

[Stephen_Lafferty]

It is lovely to hear Anthony Horowitz talk so eloquently and enthusiastically on the subject! Thank you for this video!

[wesleypatterson]

God, I love how enthusiastic he is! If he were a teacher he'd never have to fail a student! Also, wow, I'm just realizing he wrote the Alex Ryder novels! Those were my introduction to spy novels way back in high school!

[jimbyrne]

The guy is a genius! The passion is evident and enthusiasm comes across in bounds. He also comes across as a lovely guy.

[pieceofgosa]

The best twists in any genre are where you leave your audience completely shocked & utterly unsurprised at the same time.

[jessicastrike]

Anthony Horowitz has always been my favourite author and he has long since inspired me to write my own mystery novels, I wouldn’t be the writer I am without him. This is an excellent video, his passion, enthusiasm, and knowledge are evident throughout and I would encourage all writers to read his works

[leewoodauthor]

A real Masterclass in under fourteen minutes!

[ConradSpoke]

This was pure oxygen! I'm writing a screenplay with a twist at the end of the fourth act. But I didn't realize it.
My story is not a murder mystery, but with only a few tweaks I can introduce this element into the story.

[kredonystus]

My favourite twist ever is Hot Fuzz. In almost every mystery the twist is the victim, or killer, or not catching the killer. Hot Fuzz says yes the detective got everything right, except the motivation. Who got murdered, how they got murdered, and who did it, it as correct but there isn't some grand conspiracy, the murderers are just really petty.

[davidkeffen]

Anthony is one of the towering talents of our age. Thank you for this.

[jimmythompson]

Anthony Horowitz is one of my absolute favorite writers and this is very cool to see him talk like this about his works!!

[cindyheckerl]

I'm reading The Twist of a Knife now. Absolutely fascinating to see this video having read the whole series. I knew Mr. Horowitz had to be a good bloke!

[JonnyBoy]

Anthony's passion and energy is so contagious! He should do a masterclass series!

[kdee]

I am most grateful to the creator of Foyle's War, undoubtedly the best series ever on tv for me.

[Philsosopher]

He has such a genuine personality, I stumbled upon this accidentally and now I want to write a murder mystery of my own!

[mrdemrsai]

I’m so glad to hear him say Dorothy Sayers. She deserves more readership and lot more adaptations

[jeanniesegall]

I love Anthony Horowitz work. It's a pleasure to meet him and hear him speak.

[charliedrosario]

What a wise fellow. He is an expert. People should always listen properly. We should always listen and respect experts like he.

[smalltown]

I’m writing a sequel to The Mousetrap where everyone’s already dead on the opening page, nobody says or does anything.

[philnasmith]

Thank you Penguin, for posting this energised and exciting discussion.