Magpie Murders

 By Anthony Horowitz

Harper  2017

496 pages     Mystery

I finally got around to reading Magpie Murders, which has been on my Kindle for the last five years, and I am so glad that I did, even though it took me nearly two weeks to get through the book. When you read a book on a Kindle, you have no idea how long the book is—the major disadvantage of a Kindle. However, I kept reading and loving every moment. I wanted to get it read before it becomes a series on PBS Masterpiece in October.

Agatha Christie was the queen of mystery novels, and Horowitz follows in her path with his first murder mystery novel, after having written many mysteries for television. The NY Times says, “Mr. Horowitz makes gleeful use of the Christie format by creating a 1950s mystery within a mystery set in contemporary London.” You may want to read the rest of the newspaper’s interview with Horowitz.

Here is a brief summary from Time magazine.  “Why is it that we have such a need for murder mystery,” asks Susan Ryeland, the narrator of British author Anthony Horowitz’s new novel, Magpie Murders, “and what is it that attracts us — the crime or the solution? Do we have some primal need of bloodshed because our own lives are so safe, so comfortable?”

If anyone should be able to answer these questions, it’s Susan. As an editor at a publishing house, she works with the massively successful Alan Conway, a writer of Agatha Christie-style whodunits. Magpie Murders is one mystery novel wrapped in another: we peruse Alan’s latest manuscript alongside his editor, while another crime plays out in Susan’s life. Evidence mounts that finding the guilty party in the book will shed light on the case in real life.”

All of the characters are very firmly drawn—in the novel and in Susan’s life. I had a bit of trouble remembering characters from the back and forth between the two settings, especially when Susan began investigating the characters in Alan Conway’s life and how they compared to the characters in his novel. I did a lot of “Oh, Yeah! That’s the vicar! Or, “Oh Yeah! That’s the doctor’s secretary!” Did I figure out who was the killer in each of the cases? Nope! It was all just so much fun!

I particularly loved how Susan wades through the information on her way to solving each of the crimes. I can’t wait to see how her character is played by Leslie Manville when the PBS series comes out.  I had read the second book in the series, Moonflower Murders early in 2021. Not sure why I didn’t go right back and read Magpie Murders. I love Susan. She wades into this mystery with little hesitation. She is a bit surprised at herself, but she knows she has to solve this crime!

So, if you get a longing for traditional murder mysteries with a modern twist, check out these two masterpieces.