(1950s English Manor House)

Truth be told, I became familiar with Anthony Horowitz’s novel MAGPIE MURDERS by watching PBS Passport’s Masterpiece Mysteries.  I was familiar with Mr. Horowitz’s work through his screenplays of “Foyles’ War” and “Collision.”  After watching his impressive writing for television, I became a fan and began watching the “Magpie Murders” series on Masterpiece.  In the past I had purchased a number of Horowitz’s mysteries and decided it was about time I read MAGPIE MURDERS while I was binging the series with my wife on television, particularly when Horowitz stated the novel was about a “whodunnit writer who is murdered while he is writing his latest whodunnit.”

At the outset we are introduced to Susan Reyland, the editor for mystery writer Alan Conway.  She has just received his last novel in his Atticus Pund detective series and as she read on  she found herself reading a novel within a novel.  Horowitz’s approach in MAGPIE MURDERS is unique as Conway’s work is presented in detail centered around the death of Mary Blakiston, the maid/house cleaner for Sir Magnus Pye.  Soon, Pye will also be murdered, and the number of possible murderers is long – including Robert Blakiston, Mary’s son who stated in public that he wished she was dead; Johnny Whitehead, a career burglar who ran an antique shop with his wife, Gemma who felt Mary’s commentary was slandering him; Joy Sanderling, a nurse for Dr. Emelia Redwing whose marriage to Robert was blocked by Mary.  There are also a number of suspects for the Pye killing – Magnus’ wife, Francis despised her husband and was locked in a loveless marriage and was having an affair with Jack Dartford, her financial advisor in London; Clarissa Pye, Magnus’ sister who he treated horribly and robbed her of wealth; and Neville Brent, the Gardner at the Pye residence who was fired by Magnus.

( Atticus Pünd is the beguiling and clever 1950s detective featured in Alan Conway’s fictional novels. He’s a compassionate  gentleman; a German refugee of Greek-Jewish descent who survived the concentration camps)

Horowitz creates a number of subplots to go along with his main focus.  For example, Mary’s death; the development of Dingle Dell, a large tract of land part the Pye estate was being sold off to developers angering the locals who loved its beauty and did not want “citified” people from London into their village.  Further, the relationship between Magnus and his sister where Magnus lorded over his wealth to his sibling, when in fact they were twins and she emerged from the womb first, but Dr. Edgar Rennard, on his deathbed announced he had switched the twins at birth assuring the male child would be the heir to the Pye family holdings.

The other major story involves the death of Alan Conway.  A cantankerous and nasty man, who could be friendly when it was called for, was engaged in writing his last Atticus Pund detective novel when he learned he was dying of cancer.  He submitted his last manuscript and when Susan Reyland, his editor read it she learned the last chapter was missing.  This allows Susan to don the cap of a detective as she hunts for the missing chapter which holds the key to many aspects of the novel.  In addition, she is obsessed with investigating the death of Conway.  In effect, after years of editing Conway’s mysteries, Susan found herself in the middle of one.  The police ruled that Conway had committed suicide, but Susan was convinced he was murdered.

( AlanConway is the author of popular mystery novels featuring private eye Atticus Pünd. The writer is a prickly fellow who’s not above turning people from his real life into caricatures of themselves in his stories.)

As was the case with Mart Blakiston and Magnus Pye’s deaths, Conway’s possible suicide/murder offers many suspects.  For example, James Taylor, Conway’s young lover who was removed from Conway’s will; John White, Conway’s hedge fund neighbor who engaged in multiple disputes; Conway’s ex-wife Melissa; Donald Leigh, a waiter and mystery author who believed that Conway stole his ideas for a previous book; Jeffery Weaver, who did odd jobs for Conway, Claire Jenkins, Conway’s sister who was treated poorly by her brother; Vicar Robin Osborne and his spouse both naturalists, and any number of people who were angry over the sale of Dingle Dell to developers.  Apart from these suspects there are other important characters, chief among them is Charles Clover, the CEO of Clover books which published the Atticus Pund series, and  Andreas Patakis, Susan Ryeland’s boyfriend, a Greek classics teacher.

Horowitz structures the novel carefully.  The first ten pages introduce us to Conway and Reyland, then he shifts the focus to the plot in MAGPIE MYSTERIES focusing on the investigative work of Atticus Pund.  A little over halfway through the novel, Horowitz zeroes in on the death of Alan Conway and Susan Reland’s investigation with the appearance of Atticus Pund periodically.  As mentioned previously, this is a unique approach and to his credit Horowitz, who has created a complex whodunit with multiple characters offers the reader assistance as it is clear many will become confused.  Periodically, as the novel flows  Horowitz reviews aspects of the crimes and the role of important characters which refocuses the reader and makes the crime scenario easier to follow especially when characters from the Atticus Pund novel are similar to those in Susan Reyland’s investigation.

( Magpie Murders revolves around Manville’s character Susan Ryeland, a book editor who reluctantly takes on the role of amateur sleuth. Ryeland is unconventional, a free spirit who makes her own rules about living life.)

There are many shifts in each investigation as different suspects emerge and recede.  One gets the feeling that you are reading an Agatha Christie novel as Horowitz uses Conway’s talent to capture the “Golden Age” of British whodunits by including the country manor as a setting for a complicated murder, a cast of eccentric characters, and a detective who arrives as an outsider.  Horowitz writes with a deft hand and has created a tightly plotted murder mystery(s) with clever asides as it is clear the author is poking fun at the whodunit genre.  Despite some meandering on the author’s part, the reader will be entertained, and it will be worth the time invested in engaging the novel.  P.S.  The Masterpiece Mystery is as good as the novel!

(Bath, England Manor House)

Photos of characters are from the Masterpiece Mysteries series)