When he was 13, Anthony Horowitz received the gift he requested: a human skull. Nearly 50 years later, it’s still on his desk, a constant reminder that time is fleeting. No wonder he’s so prolific. As a screenwriter, Horowitz created British TV’s “Foyle’s War” and “Midsomer Murders.” He’s also written a series of YA books and several adult novels, the latest of which, “Magpie Murders,” came out in June. Alert “Midsomer” viewers may have glimpsed a book with that title in episode two. Horowitz says “Magpie” took years to get it together, since it’s actually two whodunnits in one. “I knew it would be quite complicated but enormous fun to do,” he told The Post. Here are four thrillers this writer loves.
Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson
A wonderful, seat-of-the-pants thriller that’s been recently re-released. The hero is a Native American sent on a suicide mission to Siberia to break into a scientific base, discover a secret and bring it home. Davidson’s brilliant at atmosphere. He never went to these places but makes you believe he has. It has the sweatiest climax I’ve ever read.
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
A lady and her unmarried daughter take on paying guests in 1920s London, and the daughter begins a lesbian affair with one of them. At heart, it’s a murder story. What I love is, it’s so grounded in the times: the sense of loss after WWI and the details: the galoshes, bowler hats, food.
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
This novel had a huge impact on me because it’s about writing, both to make art and money. The main character, George Comstock, wants to be a poet, but everything conspires against him. The aspidistra, the plant every middle-class family had on its windowsill, stands for giving up. Such a bitter, hard book to read.
The Deadly Percheron by John Franklin Bardin
This starts with a man going to a psychiatrist and saying a leprechaun is giving him strange jobs to do. The psychiatrist is knocked on the head and ends up in an insane asylum. What I love about it is, it sort of makes sense . . . I call it “Raymond Chandler on acid.” It’s an ambition of mine to adapt it for the cinema.