When three people in one week mention a book to me, I take notice. That was the case with Magpie Murders.
Author Anthony Horowitz was the screen writer for one of my all time favorite English mystery series - Foyle's War. So I had confidence I would enjoy Magpie Murders. It is a story within a story, a mystery within a mystery.
The story returns to Susan as she comes to the end of the manuscript to discover that the last few chapters are missing. (Quite a WTF? for both Susan and me.) There were many puzzles and clues along the way... but it is still unclear which of the five suspects committed the murder. The following Monday, she attempts to contact the author to get the last few chapters, only to discover he has died. The police call it a suicide, but Susan is quite sure it was murder. Now she has two murders to solve. Who was the murderer in the manuscript and what happened to the last chapters and who murdered her author, Alan Conway.
I found the manuscript mystery to be more intriguing than the mystery surrounding the murder of the author. However I was not disappointed. I had a long to do list for Sunday, but instead snuggled in with my dog, numerous cups of tea and spent most of the day reading Magpie Murders.
If you like puzzles, you will like this book. It is a fun read with eccentric English characters, a determined protagonist, country villages, twists and turns and even a bit of a love story.
