British author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz has released Marble Hall Murders, the final installment in his acclaimed whodunit trilogy, following Magpie Murders (2016) and Moonflower Murders (2020).
Speaking on The Ray D’Arcy Show, Horowitz reflected on his prolific writing career, his unconventional sources of inspiration, and his firm stance on the limitations of artificial intelligence in creative writing.
Horowitz, who has published nearly 100 books across genres including young adult fiction, horror, and detective stories, is also known for his continuation novels for literary icons such as Ian Fleming’s James Bond and Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. His latest work sees the return of book editor-turned-amateur sleuth Susan Ryeland. Now retired, Ryeland is drawn into a chilling investigation when author Eliot Crace seeks her help in solving the mysterious death of his grandmother, famed children’s writer Miriam Crace. In a metafictional twist, Eliot embeds clues to the crime within the pages of the book he is writing.
The 70-year-old author shared an unusual detail about his writing process—he keeps a human skull on his desk, a gift from his mother when he was 13. For Horowitz, it serves as a powerful reminder of life’s brevity.
“I use it as a symbol of mortality and a reminder—get on with the next book,” he said. “Don’t waste time on YouTube or doing crossword puzzles—get on and keep writing, because all too soon, that’s what you’re going to look like.”
In preparation for the possibility of an untimely death, Horowitz revealed that he leaves an envelope near his writing space, containing the solution to his current mystery.
“I say who the killer is, what the clues are, how you should work it out,” he explained. “My last thoughts would be, ‘Dammit, no one is ever going to know who killed Miriam Crace!’ So, it has to be there.”
Having been officially sanctioned by the estates of Ian Fleming and Arthur Conan Doyle, Horowitz is no stranger to inhabiting the voices of literary greats. He likens continuation writing not to imitation, but to “ventriloquism.”
“I suppress my own voice, but the message still comes through,” he said.
When asked about the rise of AI-generated storytelling, Horowitz remained unfazed. Responding to the claim that an AI-written short story was “quite good,” he offered a sharp critique:
“I’m not scared. If I was ‘quite good’ only, I wouldn’t be writing. That in itself is a criticism of AI.”
While acknowledging the value of technology, Horowitz underscored the fundamental difference between human creativity and machine learning.
“AI can’t be stupid. It can’t make mistakes. It’s not even very good at being funny,” he said. “It doesn’t have our experience. I don’t think AI is intelligent—that’s the wrong word. It is imitation.”
Horowitz also spoke about his upcoming TV project, Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue, which features Irish actress Siobhán McSweeney and was filmed with an Irish production team.
Marble Hall Murders is published by Century and is available now.
