This feels like a typical stale middle book, which is really disappointing because I don't think it's a trilogy. I'm really hoping book 3 is better.

This has a much speedier solution than the first one, which I would have liked if we had gotten more out of Hawthorne. Instead, he continues to be rude, homophobic, and a mooch, with no redeeming qualities. We also get a female detective who is equally awful.

Horowitz's self-analogue is much whinier in this one, which I don't like. I loved hearing about his writing process and it was fun to see the way his family interacts with the existence of Hawthorne, but there isn't anyone who is particularly memorable.