The Word is Murder

“The conversation that I have described is only a rough approximation because, of course, I wasn’t there. But I did visit Cornwallis and Sons and spoke at length to both Robert Cornwallis and his assistant (she was also his cousin), Irene Laws. If you were to walk down the Fulham Road you would have no trouble identifying the funeral parlour. The rooms are exactly as I describe them.”

This section marks the first entrance of Anthony as first-person narrator—the reader’s first indication that this is a work of metafiction and not a mere whodunnit. The parenthetical, along with use of both first and last names for the minor characters, emphasizes that Anthony is taking pains to establish his credibility. He insists that there would be “no trouble” identifying the funeral parlor’s location and that his descriptions are “exact.” This prepares the reader for fiction with a somewhat empiricist commitment, signaling that truth and evidence are key to the mystery genre and Horowitz’s experience as author turned character.

“It struck me from the very start that my job was to be invisible. I tried to hide myself in Doyle’s shadow, to imitate his literary tropes and mannerisms, but never, as it were, to intrude. I wrote nothing that he might not have written himself. I mention this only because it worries me to be so very prominent in these pages. But this time round I have no choice. I’m writing exactly what happened.”

Here, Horowitz reflects even more openly on the metafiction project and its contrast with his past work. His own life, he posits, had no relevance to writing about Holmes and Watson. Then, he was like a clever mimic, a close trail in a giant’s shadow. Now, he is “prominent” and unavoidable—a witness rather than a faithful disciple. His use of the word “worry” may betray some authorial awareness that metafiction is an experiment and a risk, perhaps even more than following within an established and beloved canon was.