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Magpie Murders: A Novel Paperback – March 27, 2018

by Anthony Horowitz (Author)

1,039 customer reviews

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"Magpie Murders is a double puzzle for puzzle fans, who don’t often get the classicism they want from contemporary thrillers." --Janet Maslin, The New York Times

From the New York Times bestselling author of Moriarty and Trigger Mortis, this fiendishly brilliant, riveting thriller weaves a classic whodunit worthy of Agatha Christie into a chilling, ingeniously original modern-day mystery.

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.

Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder.

Masterful, clever, and relentlessly suspenseful, Magpie Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction in which the reader becomes the detective.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Each of the narratives in Magpie Murders is engaging and fluid, each with its own charm, though Horowitz’s joyful act of Christie ventriloquism is, in particular, spectacularly impressive.” (Washington Post)

“Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders is catnip for classic mystery lovers… With its elegant yet playful plotting, Magpie Murders is the thinking mystery fan’s ideal summer thriller.” (Time Magazine)

“An ingenious funhouse mirror of a novel sets a vintage ‘cozy’ mystery inside a modern frame.” (Wall Street Journal)

“Brilliant. Really, really brilliant. I loved it.” (Sophie Hannah, author of The Monogram Murders)

“An extravagant circus of a novel, part high-wire act, part funhouse mirror. Intricate, bold, stone-cold clever— both comfortably old-fashioned and thrillingly new.” (A.J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window)

“Doubly Devilish.” (People)

“Horowitz..has devised an ingenious whodunit within a whodunit, a metamystery with Agatha Christie roots.” (O, the Oprah Magazine)

“A treat for fans of golden age mysteries…. [A] tour de force …. Horowitz throws in several wicked twists…. Highly satisfying.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

“Magpie Murders is an ingenious, twisting tribute to the sleepy English countryside murder and will thoroughly entertain readers of old fashioned detective thrillers.” (New York Journal of Books)

“Fans who still mourn the passing of Agatha Christie…will welcome this wildly inventive homage…as the most fiendishly clever puzzle—make that two puzzles—of the year.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred))

From the Back Cover

From the Globe and Mail–bestselling author of Moriarty, this “spectacularly impressive” (Washington Post) and riveting thriller weaves a classic whodunit worthy of Agatha Christie into a chilling, ingeniously original modern-day mystery.

Editor Susan Ryeland has worked with bestselling crime writer Alan Conway for years, so she has no reason to think his latest novel will be much different from his others. Readers love his detective, Atticus Pünd, a celebrated solver of crimes in the sleepy English villages of the 1950s.

But Conway’s latest tale of murder at Pye Hall is not quite what it seems. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but hidden in the pages of the manuscript lies another story: a tale written between the very words on the page, telling of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition and murder.

Masterful, clever and relentlessly suspenseful, Magpie Murders is a “doubly devilish” (People) take on vintage English crime fiction, in which the reader becomes the detective.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (March 27, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062645234
ISBN-13: 978-0062645234
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.2 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 1,039 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #102 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Traditional Detectives
- #439 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Crime > Murder
- #824 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

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Old fashioned who-done-it with a twist

June 25, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I thought this was a really fun, really intriguing mystery--or rather, two mysteries in one. This was the first time I had read anything by Anthony Horowitz and it won't be my last.

We have an old-fashioned, well-written who-done-it manuscript dropped off by a famous writer, only the last chapters are missing. So then we need to find out what happened to the chapters and solve the mystery in the book, but while doing that the main character becomes convinced that the author was murdered.

I thought both mysteries were well-thought out and very clever. I'm not sure why some reviewers disliked it--I thought it was a great read.

47 people found this helpful

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Wow - inside out...

November 7, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Picture a book as a Russian Matryoshka doll. The plot is layered; take one part away and another springs into sight. The reader might never get down to the core - or the smallest doll - of the book. And that's a perfect way to describe British author Anthony Horowitz's mystery novel, "Magpie Murders". Horowitz is a prolific writer but he mostly seems to write fantasy and adventure novels, which are not what I read. With "Magpie Murders", he writes a perfect murder mystery which kept me entertained for the three days it took to read.

"Magpie Murders" is set in both current-day and 1955 London, as well as a small town near Bath. Two murders occur in the small town and famous detective Atticus Pund becomes involved in figuring out the case. He comes to the village and begins his investigation. THIS is the plot in a book written by author Alan Conway. The book is the ninth in the "Pund" series and Susan Ryeland, Conway's editor at his London publisher, Cloverleaf Books. The reader begins the journey into the Russian dolls by reading Alan Conway's novel. But the ending of the book is literally missing and when Ryeland tries to piece together the novel, the other dolls begin to show themselves. Anthony Horowitz writes ALL his voices with a firm, yet clever hand. For some reason, the reader keeps the places, plot points, and characters separate, even as the book turns into another book, and turns yet again. Horowitz has the last word in his novel.

I've read very few novels as cleverly plotted as this one. It's a delightful book and I can heartily recommend it.

49 people found this helpful

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Matt Mansfield

Wicked Good Games

October 14, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

It is almost impossible to discuss this ingenious combination of puzzles without creating spoilers. Out of necessity, therefore, this review will be brief.

Anthony Horowitz’s 2017 book, “Magpie Murders,” is really like an onion: you peel back one layer to discover another. And there are some other games dropped like golden apples to amuse and distract along the way.

The introduction sets up a tale within a tale format: a Cloverleaf Publishing House editor, Susan Ryeland, lets us know she is reviewing a manuscript for a mystery with the eponymous title. And that the book has changed her life… significantly by hinting she is no longer employed at Cloverleaf.

At that point we are plunged into a mid-1950’s setting for a traditional English murder mystery, replete with multiple characters and motives, a private detective with his own eccentricities and assistant and lovely detailing of a Cotswold village and environs.

All seems to be progressing along familiar lines until Ms. Ryeland comes back into the narrative with the jarring detail that the last chapter telling “who done it” has gone missing. This revelation sets off an entirely different sequence of events further complicated by the fact that the mystery author has died under curious circumstances. Hmmm…

Stop the presses! We now have two mysteries. It seems that the second one will interfere with resolving the first, especially as there were a lot of reasons for the author to be done dirty. An added tidbit is the author’s penchant for puzzles and thin disguises borrowing from those around him for characters, locations and maybe motives used in his works.

And the fun gets romping as various clues and enigmas are exposed. They are entertaining; some may even cause you to laugh out loud. Shocking!

The author’s writing is rich in detail and description making the read engaging and comfortable. Horowitz offers some entertaining asides about popular British detective personas such as Morse and the Midsommer Murders folks but strictly as references since the framework of the book is set in today’s publishing world.

You may or may not want to match wits with the plotting. I, for one, was quite happy to go along for the ride. Such a pleasure to discover a writer well grounded in the tradition of his genre!

9 people found this helpful

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