The Word is Murder

Another twisty plot and story within a story from Anthony Horowitz, creator of Foyle's War. As in the Magpie Murders, a literary figure--this time supposedly the author himself--becomes embroiled in a real-life murder mystery. Horowitz drops in so many asides to his own works (past, present and proposed) that it's a big self-promotion piece, just in case you didn't know about his accomplishments. Also he names lots of real-life people and events, leaving the reader at times wondering if this is indeed a "true crime" piece rather than a work of fiction.
Horowitz, the character in the book, used a consultant named Daniel Hawthorne on one of the TV shows he created; Hawthorne is a former investigator on the Met's murder squad--brilliant but not very personable. Hawthorne is now brought in by the Met as a special consultant when the case is a particularly difficult one. He has a Holmesian ability to notice the smallest details and interpret them accurately to help him solve crimes, or just to annoy those around him.
When a wealthy older woman, Diana Cowper, is strangled in her own home on the very afternoon of the day she went in to make funeral arrangements for herself, Horowitz decides he wants his prowess as a detective documented and he comes to Horowitz to write a book about the case. Howowitz reluctantly agrees, even though the case is far from being solved. We follow along in Hawthorne and Horwitz's footsteps as they interview those who knew the dead woman, including the funeral home staff, her movie star son and his live-in partner, the parents of twin boys who were struck by a car driven by Diana Cowper 10 years ago (one died, one needs a full-time caretaker), the judge who let Diana Cowper off with no jail sentence, and, of course, the cleaning lady. Horowitz chafes that he has to pry information out of Hawthorne, either about himself as a person, or about his thoughts on the case--how can Horowitz write a book when he can't control the material or the outcome. When Horowitz finally figures out who the killer is, it almost gets him killed. Tongue in cheek style of writing prevents the book from ever feeling very heavy, and the ending was certainly a surprise. An engaging and entertaining read. More details to be found in reviews from Kirkus, the Star Tribune, the Washington Times, and Publishers Weekly.
Scott Simon interviews Horowitz about the book on NPR.