Book Club: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

This crime novel was a much-acclaimed BBC TV series in 2022 (image above). It comes from Anthony Horowitz, a Sunday-Times bestselling author, also famed for many a TV script including “Midsomer Murders,” “Foyle’s War” and “New Blood.”

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the tattered manuscript of Alan Conway's latest novel, she has little idea it will change her life. She's worked with the revered crime writer for years and his detective, Atticus Pund, is renowned for solving crimes in the sleepy English villages of the 1950s. As Susan knows only too well, vintage crime sells handsomely. It's just a shame that it means dealing with an author like Alan Conway...

But Conway's latest tale of murder at Pye Hall is not quite what it seems. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but hidden in the pages of the manuscript there lies another story: a tale written between the very words on the page, telling of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition and murder.