"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

A New York Times Bestseller - #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 P nd, 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 P nd 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.

Item Information Item Information

Format: TradePaperback
Author: Horowitz, Anthony
ISBN: 9780063036673
Condition: Used
Dimensions: 7.10 x 1.70
Number Of Pages: 592
Publication Year: 2020

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5 ★ 67%

4 ★ 33%

3 ★ 0%

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4.7

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Book within a book, published book about a publisher publishing a book,..... and murder?

Max M. - 3 years 10 months ago

What if you were reading a book, and all of a sudden your life was changed forever? In Anthony Horowitz's novel, "Magpie Murders", this change falls on publisher Susan Reyland as she reads the newest Alan Conway Mystery manuscript, also titled, "Magpie Murders". With an Agatha Christie atmosphere within a modern murder mystery, its twists and turns will lead to a great read and leave you with a new standard for murder mysteries.
HPB Staff Review
A Riddle Inside a Murder Inside a Mystery

Adriana H. - 4 years 2 months ago

This mystery was an unexpected delight. I have been familiar with Anthony Horowitz as the prolific writer of children's books (Alex Ryder series) and knew that he was responsible for one of my favorite television mysteries (Foyle's War). But I hadn't realized that his adult fiction would be so immersive in every way. Magpie Murders hooks you from the first page and reels you into what is ostensibly a modern day mystery: a crime novelist is murdered and the clues to his demise might be hidden in the unfinished draft of his last book. His agent, Susan Ryland, begins reading this draft and it is plopped intact into the larger mystery. Clues abound in the Christie-esque setting of a 1950's country manor, but with an obfuscation also associated with Christie. Sure, there are lots of clues but which ones really matter? I felt lucky at the end to get one of the two answers correct, guessing the modern day killer of the crime novelist but I did not come close to solving the murder in the 1950's unfinished draft. Completely surprised. I was sorry to come to the end- twice.
HPB Staff Review
Mystery within a mystery

Jill W. - 7 years 11 months ago

If you are a Midsomer Murders fan, or an Agatha Christie fan, or just a lover of mystery novels, this book is for you. Anthony Horowitz is the creator of Midsomer Murders and Foyles War, and he doesnt disappoint with this mystery within a mystery. Turns out that the Magpie Murders refers to a novel that the main character of this novel is editing. One thing leads to another, and the editor finds herself becoming like Miss Marple in pursuit of a killer. This is a two-for-one book; Horowitz gives us a Christie-like cozy inside a more modern tale. Lovers of traditional mysteries should pick this one up!
HPB Staff Review

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Book within a book, published book about a publisher publishing a book,..... and murder?

A Riddle Inside a Murder Inside a Mystery

Mystery within a mystery