When the brilliant yet mean-spirited author Alan Conway is found to have jumped off of his tower, there is no evidence to suggest that it could have been anything more than suicide. In fact, no one cares to look into it too much, since there were more people who detested Alan Conway the person than who loved Alan Conway the mystery novelist. However, his editor, Susan Ryeland, has her suspicions.

After all, Conway had just submitted to her the manuscript of Magpie Murders, his latest and final novel in his world-famous Atticus Pünd series, but the last chapter is mysteriously missing from the pages. As Susan searches for the missing pages, she comes to the realization that, perhaps, the supposedly “fictional” novel is actually based on real events, and that maybe, just maybe, the murderer in reality caught wind of Conway’s tactics to expose them and took matters into their own hands…

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz is an interesting read because of its story-within-a-story format. On the outside, there is Susan Ryeland’s investigation into Alan Conway’s life, the missing pages, and the murder the novel was based on. Within this framework, however, is the actual Magpie Murders, an Atticus Pünd detective novel written by Alan Conway (without the ending, of course). I enjoyed this format because it almost felt like a two-for-one read, where there were two well written mysteries in the span of one book. 

I would recommend this novel to any fans of Agatha Christie, since there are obviously a lot of similarities between her books and those of “Alan Conway” (compare Hercule Poirot to Atticus Pünd, for starters). However, any and all fans of mystery and adventure will enjoy this novel too.

– Mahak M.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.