100-515: Anthony John Horowitz CBE (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His works for children and young adult readers include the Alex Rider series featuring a 14-year-old British boy who spies for MI6 , The Power of Five series (known as The Gatekeepers in the USA ), and The Diamond Brothers series. Horowitz's works for adults include:
200-672: A California Young Reader Medal , Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award (2004), Utah Beehive Award (2004), Wisconsin Golden Archer Award (2003), California Young Reader Medal (2005), Iowa Teen Award (2005), South Carolina Junior Book Award (2005). Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry , rewarding contributions to
300-677: A Los Angeles detective to dissuade him. The novel follows Martin's attempts to solve the ever-growing mystery through a series of rather unusual circumstances and a number of people who seem rather glad that Shakespeare was murdered. The novel has never been published in the UK or even in English , but copies in Spanish and Dutch have been released (retitled as El asesinato de Shakespeare and William S. respectively). As of June 2021, despite Horowitz's recent successes in adult literature, there are no plans to get
400-535: A Knife (2022), and Close to Death (2024). The estate of James Bond creator Ian Fleming chose Horowitz to write Bond novels utilising unpublished material by Fleming, starting with Trigger Mortis in 2015, followed by Forever and a Day in 2018, and a third and final novel With a Mind to Kill in May 2022. Horowitz has also written for television, contributing scripts to ITV 's Agatha Christie's Poirot and adapting six early episodes of Midsomer Murders from
500-404: A broad riband or sash, passing from the right shoulder to the left hip. Knights Commander and male Commanders wear the badge from a ribbon around the neck; male Officers and Members wear the badge from a ribbon on the left chest; female recipients other than Dames Grand Cross (unless in military uniform) normally wear it from a bow on the left shoulder. An oval eight-pointed star is worn, pinned to
600-520: A children's book under the title Robin of Sherwood: The Hooded Man (1986). In addition, he created Crossbow (1987), a half-hour action adventure series loosely based on William Tell . This era in Horowitz's career also saw the release of Adventurer (1987), a thriller about a convict stuck on a prisoner ship with his sworn enemy based on the Richard Carpenter series, and Starting Out (1990),
700-401: A circlet bearing the motto of the Order; the reverse bears George V's Royal and Imperial Cypher. (Prior to 1937 Britannia was shown within the circlet.) The size of the badges varies according to rank: the higher classes have slightly larger badges. The badges of Knights and Dames Grand Cross, Knights and Dames Commander, and Commanders are enamelled, with pale blue crosses, crimson circlets and
800-466: A citizen of a Commonwealth realm can convert their appointment from honorary to substantive, and they then enjoy all privileges of membership of the order, including use of the title of Sir and Dame for the senior two ranks of the Order. (An example of the latter is Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan , who was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order in 2005, and on successful application for British citizenship, held alongside his Irish citizenship,
900-463: A collection of screenplays by the author himself, published. His association with murder mysteries began with the adaptation of several Hercule Poirot stories for ITV 's popular Agatha Christie's Poirot series during the 1990s. Often his work has a comic edge, such as with the comic murder anthology Murder Most Horrid (BBC Two, 1991) and the comedy-drama The Last Englishman (1995), starring Jim Broadbent . In 1991, The Diamond Brothers ,
1000-443: A gold central medallion. Officers' badges are plain silver-gilt, while those of Members are plain silver. From 1917 until 1937, the badge of the order was suspended on a purple ribbon, with a red central stripe being added for the military division in 1918. Since 1937, the ribbon has been rose-pink with pearl-grey edges (with the addition of a pearl-grey central stripe for the military division). Knights and Dames Grand Cross wear it on
1100-411: A human skull for his 13th birthday. Horowitz said in an interview that it reminds him to get to the end of each story since he will soon look like the skull. Horowitz's father was associated with some of the politicians in the "circle" of prime minister Harold Wilson , including Eric Miller . Facing bankruptcy, he moved his assets into Swiss numbered bank accounts . He died from cancer when Horowitz
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#17328517353011200-565: A joke to its source with disastrous consequences. The book was not very successful, and in August 2005, Horowitz returned to young adult fiction by releasing a book called Raven's Gate which began a second successful series entitled The Power of Five ( The Gatekeepers in the United States). Based heavily on one of his earlier novels entitled The Devil's Door-Bell , each of the first four entries of The Power of Five subsequently ended up being
1300-505: A new series of detective novels which includes himself as a novelist enlisted by an out-of-work detective called Hawthorne to write books about the way Hawthorne solves crimes. The fictional Horowitz accompanies Hawthorne as he investigates murders committed in London and other locations. So far, starting with The Word is Murder , five of these books have appeared, with three others commissioned. In 2011, Horowitz tweeted that he had plans to write
1400-601: A new trilogy for the same demographic as his Alex Rider and Power of Five books, but that it's still "a secret". During 2012 and 2013, Horowitz tweeted out some more information regarding the series, where he stated that it will be "a completely new genre" from anything else he'd done so far, and that it will have a contemporary setting in modern-day London with a 15-year-old protagonist. He also revealed that it's tentatively entitled The Machine . However, Horowitz revealed in 2021 that he has yet to begin writing this series and that he has no immediate plans to do so. Horowitz wrote
1500-690: A rewritten and expanded version of their respective counterpart from the Pentagram series. The second book in the series, Evil Star (based on The Night of the Scorpion ) , was released in April 2006. The third in the series is called Nightrise (based on The Silver Citadel ), and was released on 2 April 2007. The fourth book Necropolis (based on Day of the Dragon ) was released in October 2008. The fifth and final book,
1600-520: A sinister Mr Todd. As Martin befriends a mysterious stranger called Pedro, they end up getting caught up with precognitions, ancient secrets, artificial satellites , and the mysterious Nazca Lines in the Nazca Desert . Dave Langford reviewed The Night of the Scorpion for White Dwarf #80, and stated that "it seems a pretty feeble Ultimate Evil of the Universe which, as here, can be sent packing by
1700-446: A six-part television series written and directed by Horowitz himself, was broadcast on ITV . The series is based on the book South by South East , which Horowitz claimed he wrote after he had written the television series, effectively making South by South East a novelisation of the television series rather than the novel acting as the primary source of inspiration. Both McLinden and Dale reprised their respective film roles, which makes
1800-512: Is an image of Britannia surrounded by the motto, with the words "For Meritorious Service" at the bottom; on the reverse is George V's Imperial and Royal Cypher, with the words "Instituted by King George V" at the bottom. The name of the recipient is engraved on the rim. This medal is nicknamed "the Gong", and comes in both full-sized and miniature versions – the latter for formal white-tie and semi-formal black-tie occasions. A lapel pin for everyday wear
1900-931: Is not a member of the College of Arms , as are many other heraldic officers; and the Lady Usher of the Purple Rod does not – unlike the Order of the Garter equivalent, the Lady Usher of the Black Rod – perform any duties related to the House of Lords . Since the Second World War, several Commonwealth realms have established their own national system of honours and awards and have created their own unique orders, decorations and medals. A number, though, continue to make recommendations for appointments to
2000-521: The 2010 United Kingdom general election , Horowitz stated he would vote for the Conservative Party in response to the policies of the governing Labour Party , but "with little enthusiasm." In 2017, Horowitz expressed criticism of the notion of cultural appropriation after a publisher had allegedly tried to dissuade him from creating a black character as a central figure in one of his novels, and supported fellow author Lionel Shriver 's critiques on
2100-584: The British Empire Medal , and the following year its recipients were granted the right to use the postnominal letters BEM. During the war, the BEM came to be used to recognise acts of bravery which did not merit the award of a George Cross or George Medal , a use which continued until the introduction of the Queen's Gallantry Medal in 1974. The designs of insignia of the order and medal were altered in 1937, prior to
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#17328517353012200-573: The Empire Gallantry Medal , were given permission to use the postnominal letters EGM (and at the same time to add a laurel branch emblem to the ribbon of the medal); however, in 1940, awards of the EGM ceased and all holders of the medal were instructed to exchange it for a new and more prestigious gallantry award: the George Cross . In 1941, the medal of the order 'for meritorious service' was renamed
2300-484: The Order of Canada . On the other hand, the Australian Honours System unilaterally created in 1975 did not achieve bi-partisan support until 1992, which was when Australian federal and state governments agreed to cease Australian recommendations for British honours; the last Australian recommended Order of the British Empire appointments were in the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours . New Zealand continued to use
2400-472: The River Torridge . He also had a stuffed monkey named Benjamin (which was later eaten by his dog). Horowitz attended Orley Farm School . He started writing at the age of eight or nine and he instantly knew he would be a professional writer. This was because he was an underachiever in school and was not physically fit, and found his escape in books and telling stories. In a 2006 interview, Horowitz stated "I
2500-444: The coronation of King George VI , 'in commemoration of the reign of King George V and Queen Mary, during which the Order was founded'. The figure of Britannia at the centre of the badge of the order was replaced with an image of the crowned heads of the late King and Queen Mary, and the words 'Instituted by King George V' were added to the reverse of the medal. The colour of the riband was also changed: twenty years earlier, prior to
2600-462: The new millennium , Horowitz attempted to reach out to an adult audience with a novel called Poisoned Pen. The novel is based around Martin Holland, who is a childhood friend of a 21st century incarnation of William Shakespeare . In the novel, William Shakespeare is reimagined as a Hollywood screenwriter who is murdered in a set of circumstances that Martin Holland finds rather odd, despite attempts from
2700-878: The 2009 ITV crime drama Collision and co-wrote the screenplay with Michael A. Walker . Horowitz adapted his novel Magpie Murders into a television miniseries, which aired on BritBox and later BBC One in the UK and on the PBS series Masterpiece Mystery! in the US. Filming commenced on the Canary Islands in the spring of 2024 on his television series Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue . Horowitz lives in Central London ( Clerkenwell ) with his wife Jill Green; they eloped to be married in Hong Kong on 15 April 1988. Green produced Foyle's War ,
2800-464: The 21st century quotas were introduced to ensure consistent representation among recipients across nine categories of eligibility: with the largest proportion of awards being reserved for community, voluntary and local service. Non-military awards of the British Empire Medal resumed in 2012, starting with 293 BEMs awarded for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee . In 2017 the centenary of
2900-788: The British Empire . Rather than using this chapel, the Order now holds its great services upstairs in the nave of the cathedral. In addition to the Chapel of the Order of the British Empire, St Paul's Cathedral also houses the Chapel of the Order of St Michael and St George . Religious services for the whole Order are held every four years; new Knights and Dames Grand Cross are installed at these services. Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander prefix Sir , and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commander prefix Dame , to their forenames. Wives of Knights may prefix Lady to their surnames, but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Knights or spouses of Dames. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when
3000-443: The British Empire for Gallantry. Any individual made a member of the order for gallantry after 14 January 1958 wears an emblem of two crossed silver oak leaves on the same ribbon as the badge, with a miniature version on the ribbon bar when worn alone. When the ribbon only is worn the emblem is worn in miniature. It could not be awarded posthumously , and was replaced in 1974 with the Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM). If recipients of
3100-631: The Magician and the Mysterious Amulet was published and he moved to Paris to write his third book. In 1983, the first novel in the Pentagram series was released. Entitled The Devil's Door-Bell , the story saw thirteen-year-old Martin Hopkins trying to adjust to a new life with a foster mother on a Yorkshire farm, but it quickly becomes a nightmare when he ends up having to battle an ancient evil that threatens
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3200-800: The Military Division of the order from the UK and across the Empire. Recommendations for all appointments to the Order of the British Empire were originally made on the nomination of the King's United Kingdom ministers (recommendations for overseas awards were made by the Foreign Office , the Colonial Office , the India Office and the Dominions Office ); but in the early 1940s the system was changed to enable
3300-436: The Order of the British Empire for Gallantry received promotion within the order, whether for gallantry or otherwise, they continued to wear also the insignia of the lower grade with the oak leaves; however, they used only the post-nominal letters of the higher grade. When the order was founded in 1917, badges, ribands and stars were appointed for wear by recipients. In 1929 mantles, hats and collars were added for recipients of
3400-513: The Order of the British Empire. In 2024 appointments to the order were made by the governments of: Most members of the order are citizens of the United Kingdom or Commonwealth realms that use the UK system of honours and awards. In addition, honorary awards may be made to citizens of nations where the monarch is not head of state ; these permit use of post-nominal letters, but not the title of Sir or Dame . Honorary appointees who later become
3500-404: The Order, however, are not assigned any special precedence. As a general rule, only wives and children of male recipients are afforded privileges. Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also entitled to be granted heraldic supporters . They may, furthermore, encircle their arms with a depiction of the circlet (a circle bearing the motto) and the collar; the former is shown either outside or on top of
3600-600: The Scorpion The Night of the Scorpion is the second book in the Pentagram series by British author Anthony Horowitz . It was published and released in the United Kingdom on 4 January 1985 by Patrick Hardy Books and 1 November 1988 in the United States by Putnam Pub Group. Initially envisioned as a pentalogy , only the first four books in the series were ever written and published. Between 2005 and 2012, Horowitz released an updated and re-imagined version of each of
3700-486: The UK continue to make appointments to the order. Honorary awards may be made to citizens of other nations of which the order's sovereign is not the head of state. The five classes of appointment to the Order are, from highest grade to lowest grade: The senior two ranks of Knight or Dame Grand Cross and Knight or Dame Commander entitle their members to use the titles Sir for men and Dame for women before their forenames, except with honorary awards. King George V founded
3800-460: The United Kingdom; those who would formerly have met the criteria for the medal were instead made eligible for the MBE. In 2004, a report entitled A Matter of Honour: Reforming Our Honours System by a Commons select committee recommended phasing out the Order of the British Empire, as its title was "now considered to be unacceptable, being thought to embody values that are no longer shared by many of
3900-403: The arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service . It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or a dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal , whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of,
4000-402: The award of medal of the order to Lizzie Robinson, a munitions worker. The order had been established primarily as a civilian award; in August 1918, however, not long after its foundation, a number of awards were made to serving naval and military personnel. Four months later, a 'Military Division' was added to the order, to which serving personnel would in future be appointed. The classes were
4100-560: The book, Skeleton Key , part of Alex Rider , whilst getting a nomination in 2007. He has also won Lancashire Book of the Year in 2006. For Foyle's War , there was a BAFTA Lew Grade Award in 2003 with an additional two nominations for Best Drama Series and Best Production Design won, and he got nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 2016 for the episode: Elise, The Final Mystery. In 2005, Anthony Horowitz, for Stormbreaker , received
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4200-468: The cathedral. That year, Commonwealth awards made up 40% of all OBEs and MBEs awarded (and 35% of all living recipients of the higher awards). Gradually that proportion reduced as independent states within the Commonwealth established their own systems of honours . The last Canadian recommendation for the Order of the British Empire was an MBE for gallantry gazetted in 1966, a year before the creation of
4300-402: The centre for awards in the military division). From time to time the order was expanded: there was an increase in the maximum permitted number of recipients in 1933, and a further increase in 1937. During the Second World War, as had been the case during and after World War I, the number of military awards was greatly increased; between 1939 and 1946 there were more than 33,000 appointments to
4400-418: The circlet. In 1929, to bring the order into line with the other orders of chivalry, members of the first class of the order (GBE) were provided with mantles, hats and collars. Only Knights/Dames Grand Cross wear these elaborate vestments; the hat is now rarely, if ever, worn. Use of the mantle is limited to important occasions (such as quadrennial services and coronations ). The mantle is always worn with
4500-488: The civil division were to be divided equally between UK and overseas awards. With regard to the Medal of the Order (but not the order itself), a distinction was made in 1922 between awards 'for gallantry' and awards 'for meritorious service' (each being appropriately inscribed, and the former having laurel leaves decorating the clasp, the latter oak leaves). In 1933 holders of the medal 'for gallantry', which had come to be known as
4600-444: The collar. Although the mantle was introduced in 1929, very few mantles would have been produced prior to the 1937 design changes, as there were few occasions for wearing them in the intervening years. On certain days designated by the sovereign, known as " collar days ", members attending formal events may wear the order's collar over their military uniform, formal day dress, evening wear or robes of office. Collars are returned upon
4700-479: The country's population". The committee further suggested changing the name of the award to the Order of British Excellence, and changing the rank of Commander to Companion (as the former was said to have a "militaristic ring"), as well as advocating for the abolition of knighthoods and damehoods; the government, however, was not of the opinion that a case for change had been made, and the aforementioned suggestions and recommendations were not, therefore, pursued. In
4800-403: The death of their owners, but other insignia may be retained. The six office-holders of the order wear pearl-grey mantles lined with rose-pink, having on the right side a purple shield charged with the roundel from the badge. Each of these office-holders wears a unique badge of office, suspended from a gold chain worn around the neck. The British Empire Medal is made of silver. On the obverse
4900-607: The distinction between ranks in military operational gallantry awards will cease'. The reforms affected the order at various levels: for example the automatic award each year of a GBE to the Lord Mayor of London ceased; the OBE replaced the Imperial Service Order as an award for civil servants and the number of MBEs awarded each year was significantly increased. As part of these reforms the British Empire Medal stopped being awarded by
5000-545: The first four books in the series, along with a fifth book to conclude the series. This series was marketed instead as The Power of Five (re-titled as The Gatekeepers in the US). The book which The Night of the Scorpion forms the basis of was released in 2006 under the name Evil Star . After the events of the previous novel, The Night of the Scorpion follows Martin Hopkins and journalist Richard Cole as they travel together to Peru, only to immediately get separated and chased by
5100-515: The former was to be responsible for recording all proceedings connected with the order, issuing warrants under the seal of the order and making arrangements for investitures, while the latter (at that time the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury ) was responsible for collecting and tabulating the names of those who were to receive an award. The office of Dean was added in 1957. The King of Arms
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#17328517353015200-401: The governments of overseas dominions to make their own nominations; Canada and South Africa began doing so in 1942, followed by Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth realms. In May 1957, forty years after the foundation of the order, it was announced that St Paul's Cathedral was to serve as the church of the order, and in 1960 a chapel was dedicated for its use within the crypt of
5300-450: The highest class of the order (GBE). The designs of all these items underwent major changes in 1937. The badge is worn by all members of the order; the size, colour and design depends on the class of award. The badge for all classes is in the form of a cross patonce (having the arms growing broader and floriated toward the end) with a medallion in the centre, the obverse of which bears a crowned image of George V and Queen Mary within
5400-561: The honours system, calling it "a preposterous charade". The order has attracted some criticism for its naming having connection with the idea of the now-extinct British Empire . Benjamin Zephaniah , a British poet of Jamaican and Barbadian descent, publicly rejected appointment as an Officer in 2003 because, he asserted, it reminded him of "thousands of years of brutality". He also said that "it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised". The Night of
5500-446: The insignia to Buckingham Palace and by ceasing to make reference to their honour, but they still hold the honour unless and until annulled by the monarch. In 2003, The Sunday Times published a list of the people who had rejected the Order of the British Empire, including David Bowie , John Cleese , Nigella Lawson , Elgar Howarth , L. S. Lowry , George Melly , and J. G. Ballard . In addition, Ballard voiced his opposition to
5600-455: The introduction to Three of Diamonds claimed that Horowitz had travelled to Australia to research a new Diamond Brothers book, entitled Radius of the Lost Shark . This claim was further backed up when a new Diamond Brothers novella entitled The Greek who Stole Christmas! was released in 2007, where it is hinted at the end that Radius of the Lost Shark may turn out to be the eighth entry in
5700-624: The junior post-nominal letters. The British sovereign is the sovereign of the order and appoints all other officers of the order (by convention, on the advice of the governments of the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth realms ). The second-most senior officer is the Grand Master (a 'Prince of the Blood Royal, or other exalted personage' appointed by the sovereign, who, by virtue of their appointment, becomes 'the First or Principal Knight Grand Cross of
5800-519: The latter. Knights and Dames Commander and Commanders may display the circlet, but not the collar, surrounding their arms. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet. See List of current honorary knights and dames of the Order of the British Empire Only the monarch can annul an honour. The Honours Forfeiture Committee considers cases and makes recommendations for forfeiture. An individual can renounce their honour by returning
5900-463: The left breast, by Knights and Dames Grand Cross; Knights and Dames Commander wear a smaller star composed of 'four equal points and four lesser'. The star is not worn by the more junior classes. Prior to 1937 each star had in the centre a gold medallion with a figure of Britannia, surrounded by a crimson circlet inscribed with the motto of the order ('For God and the Empire'); since 1937 the effigies of King George V and Queen Mary have been shown within
6000-469: The names of the former are written out in their fullest forms. Male clergy of the Church of England or the Church of Scotland do not use the title Sir (unless they were knighted before being ordained) as they do not receive the accolade (they are not dubbed "knight" with a sword), although they do append the post-nominal letters ; dames do not receive the accolade, and therefore female clergy are free to use
6100-772: The novel republished. Horowitz began his most famous and successful series in the new millennium with the Alex Rider novels. These books are about a 14-year-old boy becoming a spy , a member of the British Secret Service branch MI6. As of 2024, there are eleven books where Alex Rider is the protagonist, and another connected to the Alex Rider series: Stormbreaker (2000), Point Blanc (2001), Skeleton Key (2002), Eagle Strike (2003), Scorpia (2004) Ark Angel (2005), Snakehead (2007), Crocodile Tears (2009), Scorpia Rising (2011), plus Russian Roulette (2013). Horowitz had stated that Scorpia Rising
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#17328517353016200-585: The novels of Caroline Graham , including the first three episodes. He was the creator and writer of the ITV series Foyle's War , Collision and Injustice , and the BBC series Crime Traveller and New Blood . Horowitz was born in Stanmore , Middlesex , into a Jewish family, and in his early years lived an upper middle class lifestyle. As a child, Horowitz used to go to Instow , where his nanny took him boating on
6300-449: The numbers restricted to the order as full members do. Although the Order of the British Empire has by far the highest number of members of the British orders of chivalry, with more than 100,000 living members worldwide, there are fewer appointments to knighthoods than in other orders. From time to time, individuals may be promoted to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of
6400-631: The only one not based on an earlier Pentagram novel, was released in October 2012 and is called Oblivion . Horowitz describes this series as "Alex Rider with devils and witches". In October 2008, Anthony Horowitz's play Mindgame opened Off Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse in New York City. Mindgame starred Keith Carradine , Lee Godart, and Kathleen McNenny. The production was the New York stage directorial debut for Ken Russell . In March 2009 he
6500-605: The order alongside its own honours until the establishment of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1996. Other Commonwealth realms have continued to use the Order of the British Empire alongside their own honours. In 1993 the Prime Minister, John Major , instituted a reform of the honours system with the aim 'that exceptional service or achievement will be more widely recognised; that greater importance will be given to voluntary service; that automatic honours will end; that
6600-569: The order to fill gaps in the British honours system : In particular, George V wished to create an order to honour the many thousands of individuals from across the Empire who had served in a variety of non-combat roles during the First World War . From its foundation the order consisted of five classes (GBE, KBE/DBE, CBE, OBE and MBE) and was open to both women and men; provision was also made for conferring honorary awards on foreign recipients. At
6700-409: The order was celebrated with a service at St Paul's Cathedral. The order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the total number of members of the fourth and fifth classes, but no more than 858 officers and 1,464 members may be appointed per year. Foreign appointees, as honorary members, do not contribute to
6800-410: The order's establishment, Queen Mary had made it known that pink would be her preferred colour for the riband of the proposed new order, but, in the event, purple was chosen. Following her appointment as Grand Master of the order in 1936 a change was duly made and since 9 March 1937 the riband of the order has been 'rose pink edged with pearl grey’ (with the addition of a vertical pearl grey stripe in
6900-402: The order. The order was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V , who created the order to recognise 'such persons, male or female, as may have rendered or shall hereafter render important services to Our Empire'. Equal recognition was to be given for services rendered in the UK and overseas. Today the majority of recipients are UK citizens, though a number of Commonwealth realms outside
7000-464: The pair had gotten into a joke dispute over O'Shaughnessy's use of Horowitz's name for an objectionable character (Antoine Horwitzer) in Wolf Island . In retaliation, Horowitz chose to plot a gruesome literary revenge in the short story The Man Who Killed Darren Shan. In 2004, Horowitz again attempted to branch out to an adult audience with The Killing Joke , a comedy about a man who tries to track
7100-461: The play Mindgame (2001); two Sherlock Holmes novels, The House of Silk (2011) and Moriarty (2014); two novels featuring his own detective Susan Ryeland, Magpie Murders (2016) and Moonflower Murders (2020); five novels featuring a fictionalised version of himself as a companion and chronicler to private investigator Daniel Hawthorne: The Word Is Murder (2017), The Sentence Is Death (2018), A Line to Kill (2021), The Twist of
7200-586: The same Order'). The position of Grand Master has been held by the following people: In addition to the sovereign and the grand master , the order has six further officers: At its foundation the order was served by three officers: the King of Arms, the Registrar & Secretary and the Gentleman Usher of the Purple Rod. In 1922 the Prelate was added, and the office of Registrar was separated from that of Secretary:
7300-459: The same as for the Civil Division (as it was now termed), but military awards were distinguished by the addition of a central vertical red stripe to the purple riband of the civil awards. In 1920 appointment as an MBE 'for an act of gallantry' was granted for the first time, to Sydney Frank Blanck Esq, who had rescued an injured man from a burning building containing explosives. In December 1922
7400-463: The same issue. He also criticised the social phenomenon of cancel culture and "mobbing" of figures for expressing diverse opinions, stating "There is a rigidity in the way we have begun to think and speak. If we step outside certain lines on certain issues, we find not just people disagreeing, but disagreeing to the extent of death threats. When somebody says something untoward in the press, and I am not saying this about myself, people don't just say that
7500-556: The same time, alongside the order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. The first investiture took place at Ibrox Stadium , as part of a royal visit to the Glasgow shipyards, with the appointment of Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde as a GBE (in recognition of his role as chairman of the Scottish War Savings Committee) and
7600-479: The screenplay for Just Ask for Diamond , a 1989 film adaptation of his Diamond Brothers novel The Falcon's Malteser that had an all-star cast which included Bill Paterson , Jimmy Nail , Roy Kinnear , Susannah York , Michael Robbins and Patricia Hodge , and featured Colin Dale and Dursley McLinden as Nick and Tim Diamond respectively. Horowitz is the writer of a feature film screenplay, The Gathering , which
7700-458: The series Horowitz wrote for ITV , and other television shows he has written. They have two sons. Horowitz credits his family with much of his success in writing, as he says they help him with ideas and research. He is a patron of family support charity Home-Start in Suffolk and child protection charity Kidscape . Politically, Horowitz has described himself to be "vaguely conservative ". Ahead of
7800-606: The series. However, the next novel in the series was instead called Where Seagulls Dare , and is unrelated to the Australian-based adventure that was previously announced. Horowitz published the first six chapters unedited on his website throughout 2020, and the full, edited novel was published in 2022, with all profits going to support the NHS . Horowitz also published two sequels to his short horror story collection; More Horowitz Horror (2000) and More Bloody Horowitz (2009). Many of
7900-455: The standard of the George Medal (even though, as appointments to an order of chivalry, they were listed before it on the Order of Wear . In contrast to awards for meritorious service, which usually appear without a citation, there were often citations for gallantry awards, some detailed and graphic. From 14 January 1958, these awards were designated Commander, Officer or Member of the Order of
8000-416: The statutes of the order were amended; there having been a large number of awards for war work prior to this date, these amended statutes placed the order on more of a peacetime footing. For the first time numbers of appointments were limited, with the stipulation that senior awards in the Civil Division were to outnumber those in the Military Division by a proportion of six to one. Furthermore appointments in
8100-578: The stories in Horowitz Horror and More Horowitz Horror were later repackaged in twos or threes as the Pocket Horowitz series, while More Bloody Horowitz was later reissued as Scared to Death . One of the short stories in More Bloody Horowitz is notable for serving as Horowitz's opportunity to get even with fellow author Darren O'Shaughnessy , more commonly known as Darren Shan. In 2008,
8200-677: The television series act as a sequel to Just Ask for Diamond . From 1997, he wrote the majority of the episodes in the early series of Midsomer Murders . In 2001, he created a drama anthology series of his own for the BBC, Murder in Mind , an occasional series which deals with a different set of characters and a different murder every one-hour episode. He also created two short-lived science-fiction shows , Crime Traveller (1997) for BBC One and The Vanishing Man (pilot 1996, series 1998) for ITV . While Crime Traveller received favourable viewing figures it
8300-506: The title Dame . Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal GBE; Knights Commander, KBE; Dames Commander, DBE; Commanders, CBE; Officers, OBE; and Members, MBE. The post-nominal for the British Empire Medal is BEM. Members of all classes of the order are assigned positions in the order of precedence . Wives of male members of all classes also feature on the order of precedence, as do sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander; relatives of Ladies of
8400-489: The two books. In 2021, Horowitz revealed to a fan on Twitter that he had plans to write a third book, but was dissuaded after the success of the Harry Potter series . In the same year, Horowitz publishing a collection of several short horror stories aimed for children and young adults, entitled Horowitz Horror (1999). This was an opportunity for Horowitz to further explore a darker side of his writing. Some time before
8500-434: The whole world. Only three of the four remaining novels in the series were ever released: The Night of the Scorpion (1984), The Silver Citadel (1986) and Day of the Dragon (1986). In 1985, he released Myths and Legends , a collection of retold tales from around the world. He was also involved in writing scripts for the cult 1980s television series Robin of Sherwood and the spin-off novel. In 1988, Groosham Grange
8600-478: Was The Falcon's Malteser (1986). This book was the first in the successful Diamond Brothers series, and was followed in 1987 by Public Enemy Number Two , and by South by South East in 1991. Horowitz wrote many stand-alone novels in the 1990s. His 1994 novel Granny, a comedy thriller about an evil grandmother, was Horowitz's first book in three years, and it was the first of three books for an audience similar to that of Groosham Grange . The second of these
8700-458: Was The Switch , a body swap story, first published in 1996. The third was 1997's The Devil and His Boy , which is set in the Elizabethan era and explores the rumour of Elizabeth I 's secret son. In 1999, The Unholy Grail was published as a sequel to Groosham Grange . It was later renamed Return to Groosham Grange in 2003, possibly to help young readers understand the connection between
8800-403: Was 22, and the family was never able to track down the missing money despite years of trying. This left the family bankrupt, requiring the sale of the large family home. Anthony Horowitz's first book, The Sinister Secret of Frederick K Bower , was a humorous adventure for children that was published in 1979 and later reissued as Enter Frederick K Bower in 1985. In 1981 his second novel, Misha,
8900-498: Was a guest on Private Passions , the biographical music discussion programme on BBC Radio 3 . On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled The House of Silk . It was both published, in November of 2011 and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. A follow-up novel, Moriarty ,
9000-483: Was a stupid thing to say. They say, Lose your job. They want you to never ever have an income again." Horowitz was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours , both for services to literature. He won an Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Television Episode Teleplay from Episode 1 of Magpie Murders . In 2003, he won Hampshire Book Award for
9100-402: Was first announced at the end of December 2006, and is available to recipients of all levels of the order, as well as to holders of the British Empire Medal . The pin design is not unique to any level. The pin features the badge of the order, enclosed in a circle of ribbon of its colours of pink and grey. Lapel pins must be purchased separately by a member of the order. The creation of such a pin
9200-469: Was made a substantive member and subsequently styled as Sir Terry Wogan). Although initially intended to recognise meritorious service, the order began to also be awarded for gallantry. There were an increased number of cases in the Second World War for service personnel and civilians including the merchant navy, police, emergency services and civil defence, mostly MBEs but with a small number of OBEs and CBEs. Such awards were for gallantry that did not reach
9300-485: Was not renewed for a second season, which Horowitz accounts to temporary personnel transitioning within the BBC. In 2002, Horowitz created the series Foyle's War , a historically-themed detective series set during and after the Second World War . The series became the longest-running among Horowitz's television projects, with a total of 28 episodes broadcast over eight series between 2002 and 2015. Horowitz devised
9400-532: Was published in 2014. In October 2014, the estate of Ian Fleming commissioned Horowitz to write a James Bond novel, Trigger Mortis , which was released in 2015. It was followed by a second novel, Forever and A Day , which came out on 31 May 2018. A third novel entitled With a Mind to Kill was released on 17 May 2022. Horowitz is the only author in recent years to have been invited by Ian Fleming Publications to write successive, official James Bond novels. In 2016, Horowitz's adult novel Magpie Murders
9500-504: Was published. Having previously spoken about the book in 2005, it was initially described as being about "a whodunit writer who is murdered while he's writing his latest whodunit". Horowitz finally finished it in late 2015, and it was published in October 2016. A follow-up novel, Moonflower Murders , was released in 2020. A third and final novel in the series is expected to be released as well, with Horowitz expressing hope that he'll start writing it sometime in 2023. In 2017, Horowitz began
9600-479: Was published. Its central character is a thirteen-year-old "witch", David Eliot, gifted as the seventh son of a seventh son . This book went on to win the 1989 Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award . Some similarities have been noted between this book and J K Rowling's later Harry Potter series, but Horowitz did not choose to take action because of this. The most important release of Horowitz's early career
9700-589: Was quite certain, from my earliest memory, that I would be a professional writer and nothing but." At age 13 he went to Rugby School , a public school , in Rugby, Warwickshire . He graduated from the University of York with a lower second class degree in English literature and art history in 1977, where he was in Vanbrugh College . Horowitz's mother introduced him to Frankenstein and Dracula . She gave him
9800-566: Was recommended in Sir Hayden Phillips ' review of the honours system in 2004. The Chapel of the Order of the British Empire is in St Paul's Cathedral . It occupies the far eastern end of the cathedral crypt and was dedicated in 1960. The only heraldic banners normally on display in the chapel are those of the Sovereign of the Order of the British Empire and of the Grand Master of the Order of
9900-413: Was released in 2003 and starred Christina Ricci . He wrote the screenplay for Alex Rider's first major motion picture, Stormbreaker . Horowitz began writing for television in the 1980s, contributing to the children's anthology series Dramarama , and also writing five episodes of the third season for the popular fantasy series Robin of Sherwood . He also novelised three of Carpenter's episodes as
10000-614: Was to be the last book in the Alex Rider series prior to writing Russian Roulette about the life of Yassen Gregorovich , but he has returned to the series with Never Say Die (2017), Nightshade (2020) and Nightshade Revenge (2023). In 2003, Horowitz also wrote three novellas featuring the Diamond Brothers: The Blurred Man , The French Confection and I Know What You Did Last Wednesday , which were republished together as Three of Diamonds in 2004. The author information page in early editions of Scorpia and
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