Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
Moonflower Murders is the second in the Magpie Murders series featuring Susan Ryeland and Atticus Pünd. Like its predecessor it's a book within a book. Susan Ryeland is a retired publisher now living in Greece running a hotel with her partner. An English couple tell her about a murder that took place at their hotel and how their daughter Cecily went missing a short time after reading the novel "Atticus Pünd Takes The Case" a novel she edited. There is reason to belive that clues to the murder are to be found in the pages of the novel that was written by the late Alan Conway.
It's a very clever book. Within the pages of the present day story featuring Susan Ryeland we have the complete novel of Atticus Pünd takes the case, which is set in the 1940s and contains clues as who committed the murder Susan is looking into. So we have two whodunit books one.
There are similarities and differences. Both are a homage to the whodunit novel with lots of red herrings and diversions along the way. "Atticus Pünd takes the case is a deliberate Agatha Christe pastiche, there is no sex or swearing within it unlike the book that contains it, and there is obvious melodrama and quite ridiculous set pieces, these are all referenced in the main body of the story.
It can be confusing sometimes remembering who has done what in which story and the characters in the Atticus Pünd story are all taken by the (fictional) Alan Conway from people we have met in the main story often as caricatures.
Susan Ryeland takes it upon herself to reread the book she edited to try and work out how they point to the murder of Frank Parris. What did Cecily see when she read the book that caused her to disappear?
This is a great concept and Anthony Horowitz pulls it off again. It's really well plotted with some fascinating characters and plenty of clues fiendishly laid throughout both stories.
It's a very clever book. Within the pages of the present day story featuring Susan Ryeland we have the complete novel of Atticus Pünd takes the case, which is set in the 1940s and contains clues as who committed the murder Susan is looking into. So we have two whodunit books one.
There are similarities and differences. Both are a homage to the whodunit novel with lots of red herrings and diversions along the way. "Atticus Pünd takes the case is a deliberate Agatha Christe pastiche, there is no sex or swearing within it unlike the book that contains it, and there is obvious melodrama and quite ridiculous set pieces, these are all referenced in the main body of the story.
It can be confusing sometimes remembering who has done what in which story and the characters in the Atticus Pünd story are all taken by the (fictional) Alan Conway from people we have met in the main story often as caricatures.
Susan Ryeland takes it upon herself to reread the book she edited to try and work out how they point to the murder of Frank Parris. What did Cecily see when she read the book that caused her to disappear?
This is a great concept and Anthony Horowitz pulls it off again. It's really well plotted with some fascinating characters and plenty of clues fiendishly laid throughout both stories.
Wow does this series have an awful lot of characters who say things like "obviously I have no problem with homosexuality, but"
A few things to know about me:
1) I grew up reading Agatha Christie, and thus she is the standard by which I judge all mysteries/thrillers;
2) I also judge most books, but especially mysteries/thrillers, by how predictable they are or how easy to guess whodunnit/the big twist. That’s not to say that if I can figure it out it’s necessarily bad, it depends how carefully the clues are laid.
3) I also really like word puzzles.
4) The more I read/watch Anthony Horowitz’s work the more I like it.
So. With all these things in mind, the Susan Ryeland series is, in my opinion, brilliant. It’s my favorite of all his series. I enjoy the conceit of the story within the story, the Christie homage is excellent, the word games are entertaining, and best of all, the clues are notable enough to pick up on, but not in your face. I look forward to more in this series.
1) I grew up reading Agatha Christie, and thus she is the standard by which I judge all mysteries/thrillers;
2) I also judge most books, but especially mysteries/thrillers, by how predictable they are or how easy to guess whodunnit/the big twist. That’s not to say that if I can figure it out it’s necessarily bad, it depends how carefully the clues are laid.
3) I also really like word puzzles.
4) The more I read/watch Anthony Horowitz’s work the more I like it.
So. With all these things in mind, the Susan Ryeland series is, in my opinion, brilliant. It’s my favorite of all his series. I enjoy the conceit of the story within the story, the Christie homage is excellent, the word games are entertaining, and best of all, the clues are notable enough to pick up on, but not in your face. I look forward to more in this series.
I can give this book my favorite rating: I didn’t want it to end. Just a tremendous book by a great author. A fun read.
This is a very well crafted murder mystery. It wasn't perfect as there were a few answers that I felt the characters arrived at through supposition rather than through actual evidence, but these weren't enough to take me out of the story.
I do want to note that although the story is good, this book did have some very questionable portrayals of LGBTQ+ characters that personally gave me a bit of an icky feeling. If there had been some good LGBTQ+ characters mixed in to even things out, I'd be a little more comfortable with what Horowitz has done in these stories, but because all of the gay characters are portrayed in this way, it suggests a pattern that I'm not sure I'm okay with. I believe there's going to be one more book in this series so I'll definitely be reading it as I really like the old school whodunnit detective format of these books, but I'm not particularly inclined to pick up any more of Horowitz's books.
I do want to note that although the story is good, this book did have some very questionable portrayals of LGBTQ+ characters that personally gave me a bit of an icky feeling.
Spoiler
All of the LGBTQ+ characters are extremely morally gray and are somehow tied up in the sex industry either as a buyer or a seller. The two older gay characters are also both into young boys (not underage, but close enough that I got a little grossed out).
I find myself intrigued by the plot device Horowitz has employed twice - the former editor of a deceased mystery writer solves a real life mystery that the dead writer had apparently left clues about in his novels. There's a finite number of these stories that can employ this story format (the dead novelist wrote a defined number of books, though I don't recall that number just now), and perhaps Horowitz has a roadmap for the remaining potential tales. The first two have been quite enjoyable, so I'd like to think so.
The pacing can be disorienting. We follow Susan Ryeland through much of the book before she (and we) finally get to the novel within the novel, which is produced as a whole for our consumption before returning to the - I hesitate to call it a frame story, or the main story - but Ryeland's story. But the disorientation *fits*. I definitely look forward to the next volume.
The pacing can be disorienting. We follow Susan Ryeland through much of the book before she (and we) finally get to the novel within the novel, which is produced as a whole for our consumption before returning to the - I hesitate to call it a frame story, or the main story - but Ryeland's story. But the disorientation *fits*. I definitely look forward to the next volume.
Absolutely love these stories and I hope there's more.
Meh. More contrived than the first one and difficult to willfully suspend my disbelief that a family would hire a FORMER book editor to find a missing woman rather than, oh I don't know... a private investigator!?!?
This book deserves 5 stars for characters and character development. But the book-in-a-book plot line is tough for me to love. It feels like a cop out, though in practice I’m guessing it is tough for the author to pull off.
Fun book, I like the book-within-a-book format and the quaint English mystery feel. The ending wasn’t completely satisfactory (especially the letter from the murderer which was wildly unbelievable) but I still enjoyed it about 3.75 stars-worth.