Close to Death

“The lyrics were so loud they were echoing in the room and, for a brief moment, Strauss froze, his index finger hanging over the trackpad. He knew the car. He knew the driver. It was so typical. Only one man could be as gauche, as inconsiderate as this.”

Giles Kenworthy, the murder victim, is introduced into the novel. The above quote illustrates both the force of his character and the nature of his conflict with the neighborhood. Adam’s reaction to Giles represents all the residents’ attitudes toward Giles. Although the reader isn’t aware of it at this point in the novel, this is the first interaction in the narrative between the victim and the murderer.

“It was a tightly knit community. In fact, it was almost hermetically sealed. Yes, you could still hear the traffic crawling up and down Richmond Hill—particularly in the morning and evening rush hours. But the sound was counterbalanced by birdsong, the whirr of weekend lawnmowers, the occasional snatch of Back or Sidney Bechet through an open window. Everyone knew each other. Everyone got on. At least, they had until the Kenworthys arrived.”

From the beginning of the novel, Horowitz establishes Riverview Close as not only a small neighborhood but also a closed community. He lays out the advantages of the unique development of the neighborhood, representing the setting as a place out of time, separate from the busy modern world just outside the gates. With the Close, Horowitz manages to establish a classic cozy mystery setting in the middle of modern-day London.

“That’s the whole point of the meeting. To clear the air. The trouble with the Kenworthys is that even though they’ve been here for more than six months, they’re still behaving as if they’re new to the close and haven’t learned how to fit in with our ways.”

May has just closed the door after a confrontation with Lynda Kenworthy, and she and Phyllis are discussing the upcoming neighborhood meeting. The confrontation with Lynda, in which they argue about Ellery getting into the Kenworthys’ garden, is a typical neighbor spat. With it, Horowitz highlights the everyday nature of Riverview Close and the fact that the events leading up to Giles’s murder are commonplace.