Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Susan Ryeland is an editor at a small publishing house in London. When she receives a manuscript, a new murder mystery, entitled Magpie Murders, by their most successful author, Alan Conway, she settles down to read it with great anticipation. Magpie Murders takes place in a small English town and begins with the death of the housekeeper at Pye Hall, the stately home of Sir Magnus Pye. The housekeeper had apparently tripped on the cord of her vacuum cleaner and tumbled down a flight of stairs, certainly a tragic accident. But a few days later, an intruder enters Pye Hall and, using an antique but still highly functional sword that accompanies a historic suit of armor, decapitates Sir Magnus. Who is responsible for the brutal murder? Alan Conway’s veteran German detective, Atticus Pünd, arrives from London to solve the case.
On investigation, it turns out that many people in the town disliked Sir Magnus, generating large numbers of suspects. In addition, the nosy, hypercritical housekeeper proves to have her own list of detractors. Was her death really an accident? Or was she pushed? Was her death related to Sir Magnus’s murder? Suspense builds as Atticus Pünd sifts through clues, and just as he is about to reveal the identity of the murderer or murderers, Susan reaches the end of the manuscript. It is incomplete!
Before Susan can reach Conway to ask where the end of the manuscript is, the author falls to his death from the lofty tower attached to his home, named Abbey Grange (a nod to Sherlock Holmes). The presumption is that he has committed suicide. When Susan heads to Abbey Grange to search for the end of the manuscript, she learns that there are many parallels between the plot and characters of Magpie Murders and of Alan Conway’s real life. Like Sir Magnus, Conway has created many enemies over time. Furthermore, there are those who would benefit from his death. Susan comes to believe that Conway was murdered. She assumes the mantle of detective and works tirelessly to solve the mystery of Conway’s death and find the concluding pages of Magpie Murders. The shocking solution to all of the deaths is revealed in a dramatic climax that almost costs Susan her life. This is a marvelous book, an intriguing whodunit within a whodunit. 5 of 5 stars!