The Word is Murder

Allusions are a common literary device in which an author includes references or responses to other literary and cultural works in a given text. In The Word is Murder, Horowitz uses allusions to reinforce themes, telegraph plot points, and draw distinctions between his role as author and character. In Chapter 1, Anthony describes the building housing Cornwallis and Sons funeral parlor, including the quotation above it: “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions” (4). Anthony does not identify the quotation—taken from Hamlet—though he does say the chapter had a “clue, which would indicate, quite clearly, the identity of the killer” (32). Thus, the decision not to identify the quote explicitly prevents the reader from finding the reference significant immediately, in keeping with the convention of the detective novel where the reader is left to put pieces of evidence together over time. Other allusions to Hamlet are mentioned explicitly, but their significance is left unexplained. Meadows and Hawthorne have an argument at Diana’s funeral, echoing a scene from the play in which Hamlet spars with Laertes at Ophelia’s funeral. Anthony makes the comparison himself but does not note that Ophelia is deprived of full burial rites due to her own death by suicide, so the reference reinforces that this had been Diana’s wish her for her own death, thwarted by Robert Cornwallis. Diana chooses another quotation from Hamlet for her husband’s memorial garden, telegraphing that the play will have ongoing relevance.

Anthony’s gradual discovery that the key to the killer’s identity lies in Damian Cowper’s time at drama school reinforces the importance of allusions in the text. Hamlet contains a play within a play, which Hamlet himself stages, hoping to force his uncle into confessing to his father’s murder. This is a metafictional element, just as Horowitz’s own text contains the author as both the creator of the text and a participant in it. Horowitz as author telegraphs the link just before the final confrontation with Cornwallis: From a future vantage point, he notes that the funeral home has been replaced by “a brand-new office block, Elsinore House” (240). Elsinore is the castle in which Hamlet takes place, so the building remains a kind of monument to the killer’s obsession with the play and its role in his life.

Shakespeare, however, is not the only allusion Horowitz uses: He also frequently refers to detective fiction, particularly that of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. Hawthorne’s uncanny ability to predict Anthony’s recent behavior based on his appearance echoes the reasoning methods of Sherlock Holmes, a detective with little interest in emotions or a private life. The allusion, and Hawthorne’s shared last initial with the great detective, assures the reader that Anthony the character is needlessly worried that Hawthorne might not solve the case, negating the need for a book. Indeed, Hawthorne’s resemblance to Holmes is an indicator that the book should be viewed as the first entry in a series, not a singular experiment.

Damian Cowper’s own name and role in Homeland evokes English actor Damian Lewis. Lewis had an early-career appearance in a television adaptation, written by Horowitz, of the Poirot mystery Hickory Dickory Dock. After interviewing Charlie Meadows, Anthony the character notes that he had been portraying him as a Japp or Lestrade character. Japp is one of Poirot’s frequent collaborators, who lacks his intellectual prowess and depends on him to resolve the case. Lestrade serves a similar function in the Sherlock Holmes universe. In this case, the allusion is used to showcase an error—Anthony the character ignores, in this moment, that he plays a similar role, though his decision to become more active and pursue Cornwallis on his own may be seen as an effort to transcend it.

Later, Anthony compares his newfound devotion to Hawthorne for rescuing him to that of “Hastings” and “Watson” (253). This indicates he has embraced his role as a secondary character to the great detective. The resemblance, however, is partly superficial: Anthony argues with Hawthorne more than these counterparts and pushes him to overcome his character flaws. Their partnership’s future is the cliffhanger, not another murder, emphasizing that while he has traits in common with his detective predecessors, Anthony is dedicated to a character-driven project.