Moonflower Murders is a fun and fulfilling read. I love the clues that are scattered throughout (take note of the missing Mont Blanc pen, and of the dog who barked in the night!), and even the denouement, which is classic Christie, with everyone- suspects and otherwise - gathered together for the big reveal. Recently, Cecily read a mystery book by the late author, Alan Conway. The book titled 'Atticus Pund Takes the Case' was one of his best selling series set in the early 1950s. The book was loosely based on the murder that disrupted Cecily's wedding, along with the hotel staff and members of the wedding party. Conway's series, featuring Detective Atticus Pund, contains hidden clues, anagrams and other word puzzles. Cecily told her parents that she knew who committed the murder of Frank Parris from clues embedded within the story and that the wrong man had been convicted. She vanished before revealing what she had discovered. Her disappearance was probably connected to her figuring out who committed the murder. This put her life in danger. Her parents want to hire Susan to find out their daughter's fate. Because she edited all of Conway's detective series, they feel Susan is the person to figure out what clues Cecily found in the book that identified the true killer. In The Sentence is Death, Hawthorne and Horowitz are together again, this time attempting to solve the murder of a celebrity divorce lawyer. Along with the central mystery, we also see little bits of the “Hawthorne mystery” starting to unfold – though Horowitz has said it will take quite a few books before we really find out what drives the eccentric detective. Lesley Manville and Tim McMullan I’m very happy that Magpie Murders is going to be shown on BBC – its natural home. I had such fun writing the scripts and they’ve been brought to life by a brilliant director and cast. — Anthony Horowitz Sue Deeks, Head of BBC Programme Acquisition, says: "I’m delighted that BBC viewers will have the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful Magpie Murders, and its highly anticipated follow-up, Moonflower Murders. With their stellar cast and ingenious storylines, they are a truly distinctive and entertaining take on the murder mystery genre."

With Susan, we meet quite a company of characters, some still present, and some who have come and gone. And then, we move into Conway’s “Atticus Pünd Takes the Case”, which casts different people in similar roles, such that we have to match couples and rivals with their ‘real’ counterparts. Of course, Conway uses artistic licence to change things around. And then the Trehernes come to stay. The strange and mysterious story they tell, about an unfortunate murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married—a picturesque inn on the Suffolk coast named Branlow Hall—fascinates Susan and piques her editor’s instincts. As do we. The next 45% is a book from Conway’s series set in 1950’s England & featuring investigator Atticus Pünd. It’s a true homage to golden age mysteries & you can’t help but think of Pünd as a German Poirot. He’s an intelligent, fastidious man who ends up staying at The Moonflower Hotel while investigating the murder of a famous actress. Every writer is different,” I said. “But they don't steal, exactly. They absorb. It's such a strange profession, really, living in a sort of twilight between the world they belong to and the world they create.”Robert jumped during the funeral when the Reverend said "We must remember what she [Mary Blakiston] left behind". Robert tried to find that letter at Pye mansion after his mother died. He broke in, but could not retrieve the letter. He took some ancient silver items and then tossed them in the lake for the appearance of burglary. These items were later retrieved by police divers.

The couple explain that they own an upscale hotel in Suffolk called Branlow Hall, run by their daughters Lisa and Cecily. Eight years ago, Cecily's wedding at Branlow Hall was interrupted by the murder of a hotel guest named Frank Parris. Onto the problematic gay rep: this is the third book by him (the other ones being Magpie Murders and The House of Silk) in which gay men are portrayed as morally corrupt (they are sadistic, pedophiles, liars, manipulative). Which...what gives Horowitz? Throughout Moonflower Murders characters make comments about 'what can and what can't be said' nowadays, which suggests some sort of awareness towards 'modern' sensibilities'. While I do not except, nor desire, for characters to be models of virtue, it seems odd to make your 3 gay characters either horrible, such as with Alan and Frank, or a former prostitute who leads an unhealthy and unfulfilling existence. Great representation...not. While there aren't any extremely likeable characters, Alan and Frank are perhaps the worst of the whole lot. When talking about Alan and Frank, other characters conflate their sexual orientation with their morally reprehensible behaviour. They will say 'I have nothing against gay men' and go on to say something that equates being gay with perversion. This is the second novel by Horowitz in which his main character doesn't challenge other characters' homophobic remarks (Susan...you've let me down). MAGPIE MURDERS: Creator and executive producers on new PBS series – Exclusive Interview". Assignment X. 16 October 2022 . Retrieved 31 October 2022. This was far from a 'bad' whodunnit. While I was disappointed by the way gay characters were portrayed, Horowitz's writing is nevertheless engaging (and his quintessentially British humour gets to me). Atticus Pünd Takes the Case on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired.Thus Susan is intrigued when she's approached by Pauline and Lawrence Treherne, who've come from England to see her.

This book was entertaining and engrossing. In the same way that I enjoyed Horowitz’s writing about creating tv shows in The Word is Murder, I loved Susan’s discussion of the editing process here. While it’s long, I couldn’t think of any part that could have been edited out. There’s a reason for everything. As the saying goes, if there’s a gun in act one, someone will be shot in act two. I enjoy cryptic crosswords and anagrams, although I don’t pretend to be an expert, so I expected to enjoy the attempt to figure this out. Sadly, I didn’t. But Horowitz is a good writer – meaning he puts words together and sets scenes and draws characters and creates plots well – but this one didn’t do it for me.There are layers upon layers here. Don’t go into this if you want a light mystery. Here, both stories are convoluted in the extreme. Horowitz writes in the style of the old masters, giving us loads of suspects, gobs of red herrings and even the big reveal with everyone gathered together. And then a couple - the Trehernes - come to stay, and the story they tell about an unfortunate murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married, is such a strange and mysterious one that Susan finds herself increasingly fascinated by it. And when the Trehernes tell her that their daughter is now missing, Susan knows that she must return to London and find out what really happened ...

MAGPIE MURDERS by Anthony Horowitz Read by Allan Corduner Samantha Bond | Audiobook Review". AudioFile Magazine . Retrieved 7 October 2020. This film has now been adapted for television, and though it's already premiered in the UK, American fans can look forward to it on PBS Masterpiece beginning October 16th, 2022.

Moonflower Murders

But that makes no sense at all, Pauline. If he knew the killer and there was an innocent man in prison, surely Alan would have gone straight to the police! Why would he turn it into a work of fiction?' Made by Eleventh Hour Films, Magpie Murders was acquired from Sony Pictures, who distribute the series. Pünd writes a letter to James Fraser explaining his plans. Using the poison from Clarissa Pye, Pünd plans to kill himself, in view of his dire medical prognosis.