“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 TimesNew York Times bestseller | Nominee for the Anthony Award for Best Novel | Nominee for the Barry Award for Best Novel | Winner of the Macavity Award for Best Novel | #1 Indie Next Pick | NPR best book of 2017 | Amazon best book of 2017 | … Winner of the Macavity Award for Best Novel | #1 Indie Next Pick | NPR best book of 2017 | Amazon best book of 2017 | Washington Post best book of 2017 | Esquire best book of 2017
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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If one is a fan of Agatha Christie, this book is in the same vein as her mysteries. The author, Anthony Horowitz, is no stranger to the mystery genre as he was the first individual to be authorized by the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate to write a new Sherlock Holmes novel. He also is the creative force behind several BBC television series – Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War.
It is a mystery within a mystery and is essentially two books in one. In fact, the pages are numbered so that you realize you are reading two different books. It features a detective similar to Christie’s Hercule Poirot, Atticus Pund, but the real mystery is what happened to the author of the nine Pund mysteries with the Magpie Murders being the last in this series of novels.
This is a great book if you have a free weekend to just sit and read.
I’m not a fast reader but wanted to get thru the book quickly to find out how it would turn out. I forgot the introduction so when it went from the novel within a novel it surprised me temporarily. Then I was anxious to figure out how it finished. So I guess I should have added “page turner” to the description. I found myself picking up the book as often as possible to get to the end.
Great book.
A nice, long mystery.
Interesting. Lots of twists. Really different plot twists. I really enjoyed it.
Interesting plot
This is a whodunit inside a whodunit inside a …well, it’s complicated. Maybe too much so but I struggled to finish all of it because I wanted to know WHO KILLED WHO…there were several murders and one maybe murder with an entire small English village full of murder suspects. And the last pages were missing…in that part of the book…again, it got complicated.
At the end, I laughed, mostly with the author as his writing methodology were different…and that’s a good thing, especially if you like Agatha Christie.
This book was a fairly good read, but way too long. I almost abandon it a couple of times, but it was good enough to pick back up and finish. The ending was totally unexpected and could not have ever been figured out by the story itself.
Two mysteries for the price of one!
Terrific genre-bender, with surprises at every turn.
Terrific book! Couldn’t put it down until I’d finished it. I read it on a 16 hour translatlantic flight. It had an amazing plot line, with a gradual build-up of tension, an original but believeable ending, absolutely riveting!
I just didn’t like the story but I think it was very well written. it came at a time when I was dealing with traumatic problems and I just need escape and a better ending.
Did not like the VERY LONG ENDING. Not planning on reading this author again.
Interesting premise- a story of real life intertwined with a mystery novel
This is a good old fashioned whodunit and has enough twists and turns to keep it entertaining. Hard to put down.
Very good. Ending did surprise me. Kept me reading late !
I didn’t find this book as enjoyable as others did. For me it was a good read but not great.
It is a modern Agatha Christie, characters have to be more selfish and shallow now and these people are, but also very clever people. The puzzle grows and the ending is definitely a surprise.
The interwoven double plot–or is it a triple plot?–and complex characters kept me interested; it was hard to put down
Excellent plotting
This is a multilayered whodunit. It is a little complex, but it is highly readable. It is actually two whodunits tied together. I enjoyed it.