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    Magpie Murders: A Novel
    Magpie Murders: A Novel
    Magpie Murders: A Novel
    Audiobook15 hoursSusan Ryeland Series

    Magpie Murders: A Novel

    Written by Anthony Horowitz

    Narrated by Samantha Bond and Allan Corduner

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Narrated by Samantha Bond

    Don’t miss Magpie Murders on PBS's MASTERPIECE Mystery!

    ""A double puzzle for puzzle fans, who don’t often get the classicism they want from contemporary thrillers."" —Janet Maslin, New York Times

    New York Times Bestseller | Winner of the Macavity Award for Best Novel | NPR Best Book of the Year | Washington Post Best Book of the Year | Esquire Best Book of the Year

    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 Pünd, 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 Pünd 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.

    Editor's Note

    Whodunit within a whodunit…

    What’s better than a good, classic whodunit? A whodunit within a whodunit, that’s what. Horowitz’s ability to jump back and forth between classic and modern mystery styles so effortlessly might feel like showboating, if it weren’t so enjoyable. With fine literary writing and a twisty, engrossing tale, “Magpie Murders” is a cut above the competition.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 6, 2017
    ISBN9780062676894
    Magpie Murders: A Novel
    Author

    Anthony Horowitz

    Anthony Horowitz is one of the UK’s most prolific and successful writers, unique in being active in both adult and YA fiction, TV, theater, and journalism. Several of his previous novels were instant New York Times bestsellers. His bestselling Alex Rider series for young adults has sold more than nineteen million copies worldwide and has become a hugely successful show on Amazon Prime Video. His breakthrough Magpie Murders mystery series has been adapted into miniseries for PBS. He lives in London and was recently awarded the CBE for services to literature.  

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    Reviews for Magpie Murders

    4/5

    2,224 ratings185 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a clever and unique murder mystery with intriguing twists and turns. The concept of a mystery within a mystery is interesting, although some readers found it confusing and felt that the second half of the book dragged. However, many enjoyed the plot twists and found the book to be a fun and enjoyable read. Overall, this book offers a clever and engaging whodunit experience, perfect for fans of the genre.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      He disfrutado mucho con este audio libro. Un misterio dentro de un misterio. El ritmo es bueno, no aburre. El autor conoce su oficio, es un misterio clásico tipo puzzle pero es a la vez mucho más y los narradores, sobretodo el hombre de lo mejor que he escuchado.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5

      Jan 11, 2024

      What an enjoyable read. So creative how the story unfolds.
    • 4/5

      Dec 17, 2023

      Magpie Murders is an entertaining book-within-a-book, a double murder mystery in the Agatha Christie vein. In both murders there are suspects galore, all with plenty of motive and opportunity. I tried to solve them both but alas, I was wrong. (I will never attempt a career as a detective!)

      This book is perfect for fall/winter reading. Sit down by the fire, if you have one, with your favorite beverage at hand, and have fun!
    • 5/5

      Nov 16, 2023

      Great book. Interesting characters. Plot a little convoluted but needed to be to go the distance. Enjoyed the first person dialogue of the editor and all her little snarky comments.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Absolutely mind-blowing fun! Seriously. This is everything I could have wanted & more in a mystery.
    • 3/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      I didn’t like the story within a story. I found it quite annoying
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Great characters and Marple vibes from the setting of the embedded story. Managed to guess the murderers of both stories but the story is by no means predictable. I read moonflower first then magpie... It may be better to read in proper order.
    • 4/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      This was a phenomenal book! It was my first to re enter into the habit of reading, and I'll admit the book-in-a-book thing was confusing at first, but the story developed quite well. A meta-whodunnit if you will!
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Loved this book so very much. Smart, funny and wth a great bow to the Queen of murder misteries Agatha Christie. A whodunnit within a whodunnit. Brilliant!
    • 2/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      It was all going absolutely great, and then the secobd story starts ans completely ruins it.
      The second part is long, boring, uninteresting. The effort to connect the plot to the first part is a stretch.
      I almost gave up but I was so curious about the first mystery I made the effort. I shouldn't have. The end was disappointing.
    • 4/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      It's really two books in one, which made it pretty confusing to follow as it bounced to one and Bach to the other story line but, it's essential reading if you intend to read Moonflower Murder, unfortunately!
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      A very clever Who done it book. It's well written and well read. Really enjoyed it.
    • 1/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Awful. Painful and incredibly dull. I made myself finish it.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      A murder mystery lover’s mystery! And the narration is so very well done. Pure enjoyment.
    • 4/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Interesting story. A little confusing; there is the main story, the story from the novel, and the two stotries from the manuscripts. It’s not like this the whole time. The beginning 50 chapters or so are excellent, but it quickly gets complicated. I almost wish he finished it there. It’s almost like he was trying to make the most complicated mystery ever.
    • 2/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Buildup is inadequate. Pause at the climax is very annoying
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Wow! That was plot twisty and incredible. You need to listen !
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      if u are the one who likes to solve the mystery much before .. you are going to have one hell of a time trying to guess this one .
    • 4/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Good read, clever
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      There are layered books, and then there’s this one. Horowitz has created a book with as many layers as a chocolate torte. There’s the frame: book editor Susan Ryeland gets a new manuscript by her major author, Alan Conway. She settles down on a Friday to read and enjoy it.And there’s the manuscript itself, also titled Magpie Murders. It’s an intriguing puzzle in which Conway plays some subtle games with the reader.Using this meta fiction setup, Horowitz constructs a complicated tale that convincingly weaves reality and fiction together. There are stories within stories, lives colliding with lives, puns, and tricks galore. I can’t say much more about the book without giving away major plot points. Horowitz, the creator and writer of, among many other works, the marvelous Foyle’s War tv series, does an outstanding job with a structure that would have defeated many an author. I loved the book and highly recommend it to fans of literary mysteries and/or meta fiction. A half star off for a repeated grammar error—this wouldn’t have been relevant if the main character hadn’t emphasized that she was an editor—and some phrases that were used too often. Oh, and for some overblown descriptive writing here and there.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      First words after it ended, (spoken aloud to a houseful of pets:) “WOW, that /was/ pretty great.”
    • 4/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Something different. A bit of a wrench to switch in the middle, but turned out worth it.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      This was really good...and odd. Lots of twists and turns make it NOT the classic British mystery, though it clearly tries to be! Guaranteed fun. Excellent readers.
    • 2/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      It's not believable. Too melodramatic. The whodunnit book was great. The second whodunnit, not so much.
    • 2/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      The concept of a mystery within a mystery was interesting initially but I just couldn’t get into the overarching story. I got bored, and the second half of the book just dragged.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Best book I have listened to in a long while. Has all the charm of the classic whodunit with a surprising twist!
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      This was great. Clever concept, engaging characters and two great stories.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Magpie Murders has almost 500 pages,and readers get a two-fer in the bargain. The contemporary story with which the book starts is narrated by Susan Ryeland, a book editor with a small British firm that publishes the immensely successful Atticus Pünd historical mysteries by Alan Conway. Susan is reading a manuscript containing the latest and last Pünd mystery, “Magpie Murders,” when she discovers that the last chapters – containing the denouement -- are missing. That’s the second book in the two-fer … the entire Atticus Pünd mystery is contained within Magpie Murders. Susan sets off to find the missing pages and finds, instead, a murder – which she is determined to solve. Soon the two stories are interweaving in a delightful fashion. With a story within a story, things could have gotten hopelessly muddled. But in the skillful hands of Anthony Horowitz, that’s not happening. Here is an author clearly at the top of his game – one who’s not averse to showing off a little. Or a lot. I loved this book!
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Eine richtig gute altmodisch, englische „whodonit“ Geschichte; alles da was dazu gehört, tolle Charaktere, interessanter Detektiv.Super.
    • 4/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Very well written, lots of fun with two stories intertwined.