While Alan Conway is a pain to work with, the hype and popularity generated by his books makes him invaluable for the publishing house.

One part is about the fictitious detective novels of the Atticus Pund series, a hugely successful franchise. ‘Magpie Murders’ is a book within a book. Given time, they will wither and die of their own volition.” They cannot be cut back, even with the sword of truth. “Rumours and malicious gossip are like bindweed. Now she is chasing after two murder mysteries. Alan was a difficult person to work with but still the more Susan searches for the missing chapters, the more she doubts suicide to be the true nature of Alan’s death. Matters complicate when Susan learns that Alan Conway, the author, has been found dead, an apparent suicide. The usual hall marks are present but just as the culprit is about to be named, the narrative abruptly stops. Set in Saxby-on-Avon, a quiet English village, an apparent murder takes place in Pye Hall. On a rainy night, she sits down to read the manuscript for the ninth and latest installment, Magpie Murders. Susan Ryeland is the editor for the popular detective series Atticus Pund. 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.īook Review: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.Ĭonway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. 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.Īn homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. 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. And the frame story is told from the first person point of view of Susan.īook Summary: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz Narration: Third person point of view of an omniscient narrator. Theme: Village Life versus City Life Corruption of Small Towns Setting Place: London, England Saxby-on-Avon, Somerset, 1955 (UK) Framlingham, Somerset, England Major Characters: Susan Ryeland, Alan Conway, Atticus Pünd, James Fraser, Mary Blakiston, Inspector Raymond Chubb, Sir Magnus Pye

Magpie murders novel