magic of Anthony Horowitz books: ‘Magpie Murders’ and ‘Moonflower Murders’

Titles: ‘Magpie Murders’ and ‘Moonflower Murders’

Author: Anthony Horowitz

My Rating: 5/5

Anthony Horowitz creates a maze: story within the story

I am mesmerized by the magic of Anthony Horowitz books. The third book of the Susan Ryland (or should I say Atticus Pünd?) series has come out, I am dying to get hold of it. But before I read the new one, I wanted to re-read the previous two of the series. Believe me it was worth the effort! A story within the story, with complex twists and turns is a speciality of Anthony Horowitz, and I believe that no one can do this better than him. The Daily telegraph says “The computer isn’t born that can out-plot Horowitz . . . Glorious fun”

Magpie Murders

The first one of the Anthony Horowitz book of the series is ‘Magpie Murders’. It introduces two detectives. One, a German private detective ‘Atticus Pünd’, of the novel written by Alan Conway and the other, Susan Ryland, editor of Alan Conway novels.

The story starts with Susan reading Alan’s novel. The novel is based in a small English village of 1950’s. Two deaths happen, one of which is a gruesome murder. As she reaches toward the end of novel, Susan finds that the last chapters of the whodunit are missing. And the writer, Alan, is dead by suicide. What started as a simple quest to find the missing chapters, led Susan to find the truth about Alan’s death and much more. Of course the missing chapters were found and why they went missing also makes for a good twist. What was not very convincing to me was the motive for murder of Alan. he did not die of suicide after all!)….

Moonflower Murders

The second of the Susan Ryland series is another story within a story, with enough twists and turns to keep you hooked. The play of words is amazing! It all starts when Susan is asked by Lawrence and Pauline Treherne to find out their missing daughter Cecily. The reason they contacted Susan is the novelist Alan Conway and his Atticus Pünd novel again.

A murder had happened 8 years previously at the hotel run by Trehernes and the murderer was in jail. But just before her disappearance, Cecily had called her parents. She told them that after reading a novel by Alan Conway, she is sure that the man in jail for the murder is not the real culprit. Alan had visited the hotel after the murder. Typical of his ruthless ways, he had based many of the characters of his novel on the people he met there. Trehernes and Susan are convinced that the real identity of the killer is hidden in the novel. Susan agrees to reread the novel and piece together what happened 8 years ago and where Cecily was.

Curious to know the end and felt sad that it was over…

The novels remind me of Agatha Christie’s work. Engrossed by the twists and turns of the plot, one would just read pages after pages to know the end. But after knowing the end a void fells in, and one feels sad that it is over. Although there is no point in rereading detective stories, particularly murder mysteries, but I confess, I have read Agatha Christie’s novels multiple times. And I am sure I am going to revisit Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders.

After finishing these too, looking forward the read the third one of the series “Marble hall Murders”.

“Quote-Unquote”

In the novels there are a lot of anagrams, references to various authors, and the immortal detectives they created. In addtion, there are many wonderful quotes about life and relationships that makes one pause and ponder. Of the many here are a few of them:

From Magpie Murders

“The only way that book was going to change someone’s life was if it fell on them.”

“Our lives continue along the straight lines that have been set out for us. Fiction merely allows us a glimpse of the alternative. May be that’s one reason we enjoy it.”

“I’ve lived my whole life in a city where roads actually go somewhere because, frankly. They can’t afford not to.”

“Cities are anonymous but in a small, rural community everyone knows everyone, making it so much easier to create suspects and, for that matter, people to suspect the.”

“The stories mimic our experience in the world. We are surrounded by tensions and ambiguities, which we spend half our life trying to resolve and we’ll probably be on our own deathbed when we reach that moment when everything makes sense. Just about every whodunit provides that pleasure. It is the reason for their existence.”

“There are some relationships that succeed only because they are impossible, that actually need unhappiness to continue.”

From Moonflower Murders

“If you stand too close to the sun you can’t complain when you become noting more than a silhouette”.

“Clemency and forgiveness are not the same thing.”

“The greatest evil occurs when people, no matter what their aims or motives, becomes utterly convinced that they are right.”

“Everything in life has a pattern and a coincidence is simply the moment when that pattern becomes briefly visible.”