Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (2016)
I first came across Anthony Horowitz as the author of the Alex Rider books, which I read to my children as they grew up.
Noting that he had written a lot of TV scripts as well, I was drawn to watching Magpie Murders in 2022 and, subsequently, its follow-up, Moonflower Murders, last year.
Both use a novel within a novel device, contrasting a modern-day mystery with a traditional detective story set in the 1950s and weaving the two together, to the extent of the protagonists in the two stories having imaginary conversations with each other.
I was then given the books for Christmas. Initially, I wasn’t sure what the point was – I knew whodunnit, so to speak – but reading them has been entertaining on two counts: it is intriguing to read a whodunnit knowing the end and seeing more closely where the clues are and how the character ‘whodunnit’ presents throughout the story; and it is an education in how the novel within a novel device works on the written page.
In contrast to the TV version, the books really do have novels within the novel, so you get two for the price of one, but you don’t get the interaction between the two that TV can play with. Still, there is good fun to be had enjoying all the stories and the way they are drawn together in both genres.
Roll on the next instalment, Marble Hall Murders, due out in April (which I shall look to read first this time).
By Chris Awre