This brilliant, multi-layered novel centers on a (fictional) whodunit entitled Magpie Murders, the latest in the wildly popular Atticus Pünd detective series by author Alan Conway. After flying through the thrilling manuscript, Susan Ryeland, Alan's editor, is dismayed to find the story incomplete. But before she can ask Alan about the missing pages, the author turns up dead of an apparent suicide. As Susan searches for the ending to Magpie Murders, she finds herself—along with the reader—playing the part of detective: The evidence piles up to suggest Alan was actually murdered, and the key to solving the crime may be hidden within the pages of his last book. In the hands of a lesser author, this mystery-within-a-mystery conceit might become messy or tedious, but Anthony Horowitz masterfully pulls off this absolutely riveting modern tribute to the golden age of detective fiction. (In fact, the Atticus Pünd story within this novel is itself worthy of Dame Agatha!) Thrillingly inventive and fiendishly clever, Magpie Murders is required reading for mystery fans.

(AG)

This title is part of our 2018 Mysteries Book a Month Package.