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    Magpie Murders: A Novel
    Magpie Murders: A Novel
    Magpie Murders: A Novel
    Audiobook15 hours

    Magpie Murders: A Novel

    Written by Anthony Horowitz

    Narrated by Samantha Bond and Allan Corduner

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Narrated by Samantha Bond

    Don’t miss Magpie Murders on PBS's MASTERPIECE Mystery!

    ""A double puzzle for puzzle fans, who don’t often get the classicism they want from contemporary thrillers."" —Janet Maslin, New York Times

    New York Times Bestseller | Winner of the Macavity Award for Best Novel | NPR Best Book of the Year | Washington Post Best Book of the Year | Esquire Best Book of the Year

    From the New York Times bestselling author of Moriarty and Trigger Mortis, this fiendishly brilliant, riveting thriller weaves a classic whodunit worthy of Agatha Christie into a chilling, ingeniously original modern-day mystery.

    When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.

    Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder.

    Masterful, clever, and relentlessly suspenseful, Magpie Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction in which the reader becomes the detective.

    Editor's Note

    Whodunit within a whodunit…

    What’s better than a good, classic whodunit? A whodunit within a whodunit, that’s what. Horowitz’s ability to jump back and forth between classic and modern mystery styles so effortlessly might feel like showboating, if it weren’t so enjoyable. With fine literary writing and a twisty, engrossing tale, “Magpie Murders” is a cut above the competition.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJun 6, 2017
    ISBN9780062676894
    Magpie Murders: A Novel
    Author

    Anthony Horowitz

    Anthony Horowitz is a prolific writer for film, theatre and television, but he is best loved for his brilliant children's stories, which include the internationally bestselling series about teenage MI6 agent Alex Rider which began with Stormbreaker. He lives in London and has two teenage sons.

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    Reviews for Magpie Murders

    4/5

    1,962 ratings168 reviews

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    • 5/5
      He disfrutado mucho con este audio libro. Un misterio dentro de un misterio. El ritmo es bueno, no aburre. El autor conoce su oficio, es un misterio clásico tipo puzzle pero es a la vez mucho más y los narradores, sobretodo el hombre de lo mejor que he escuchado.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      What an enjoyable read. So creative how the story unfolds.
    • 4/5
      Very interesting murder mystery with one murder mystery resides inside another murder mystery. I saw the TV series and purchased the books. Really enjoyed both.
    • 3/5
      The frame was interesting and so were all of the allusions to Agatha Christie, but this book just kept GOING ON AND ON. For all of the focus on the central character being an editor, this book certainly needed one. I've been reading a lot of female characters lately and perhaps that is why this one stood out as particularly wooden and somewhat hollow. Her concern over appearances? Really?
    • 4/5
      I mostly enjoyed this book - small section that I thought unnecessary, but still very much worth the read. Gave it 4 stars because I thought it was pretty clever despite the bit I didn't like.
    • 4/5
      This is a traditional, old fashioned murder mystery. It is also a story within a story, both involving murder. Frankly once I got into the main mystery, I found the frame or outer story distracting and a bit of a nuisance. Either story is good and both stories have a surprise ending.
    • 4/5
      Magpie Murders is an entertaining book-within-a-book, a double murder mystery in the Agatha Christie vein. In both murders there are suspects galore, all with plenty of motive and opportunity. I tried to solve them both but alas, I was wrong. (I will never attempt a career as a detective!)

      This book is perfect for fall/winter reading. Sit down by the fire, if you have one, with your favorite beverage at hand, and have fun!
    • 5/5
      This checked all the boxes for me... I enjoyed every single page of this classic British mystery with a twist. I am now a true fan of Anthony Horowitz.
    • 5/5
      Great book. Interesting characters. Plot a little convoluted but needed to be to go the distance. Enjoyed the first person dialogue of the editor and all her little snarky comments.
    • 5/5
      Delightfully nested stories. Horowitz is brilliant.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely mind-blowing fun! Seriously. This is everything I could have wanted & more in a mystery.
    • 3/5
      I didn’t like the story within a story. I found it quite annoying
    • 5/5
      Great characters and Marple vibes from the setting of the embedded story. Managed to guess the murderers of both stories but the story is by no means predictable. I read moonflower first then magpie... It may be better to read in proper order.
    • 4/5
      This was a phenomenal book! It was my first to re enter into the habit of reading, and I'll admit the book-in-a-book thing was confusing at first, but the story developed quite well. A meta-whodunnit if you will!
    • 5/5
      Loved this book so very much. Smart, funny and wth a great bow to the Queen of murder misteries Agatha Christie. A whodunnit within a whodunnit. Brilliant!
    • 2/5
      It was all going absolutely great, and then the secobd story starts ans completely ruins it.
      The second part is long, boring, uninteresting. The effort to connect the plot to the first part is a stretch.
      I almost gave up but I was so curious about the first mystery I made the effort. I shouldn't have. The end was disappointing.
    • 4/5
      It's really two books in one, which made it pretty confusing to follow as it bounced to one and Bach to the other story line but, it's essential reading if you intend to read Moonflower Murder, unfortunately!
    • 5/5
      A very clever Who done it book. It's well written and well read. Really enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      Terrific book and I never guessed the ending of either murder story. This is a book about a book. At first I kept wondering where the editor was going to show up, but trust me, she does. I enjoyed the story about the little town and the murder of Sir Magnus more than the story about the murder of Alan Conway. This is an entertaining read and it was very enjoyable. Also, very little if no cursing and except for the part about the dog Bella, there is no animal harm.
    • 1/5
      Awful. Painful and incredibly dull. I made myself finish it.
    • 5/5
      A murder mystery lover’s mystery! And the narration is so very well done. Pure enjoyment.
    • 4/5
      Interesting story. A little confusing; there is the main story, the story from the novel, and the two stotries from the manuscripts. It’s not like this the whole time. The beginning 50 chapters or so are excellent, but it quickly gets complicated. I almost wish he finished it there. It’s almost like he was trying to make the most complicated mystery ever.
    • 2/5
      Buildup is inadequate. Pause at the climax is very annoying
    • 5/5
      Wow! That was plot twisty and incredible. You need to listen !
    • 4/5
      What a clever book this is. "Clever" seems like such an inane word but Horowitz dazzles with not one murder mystery but two. Bodies are mounting up, the clues seem rather "Little England" to be realistic, and everyone has a motive for at least one murder... (The use of different narrative voice was also clever; I was occasionally infuriated with the tone of the book-within-a-book until I realised this wasn't Horowitz's narrative style, but Alan Conway's.)

      Standing somewhere between homage, loving parody, and reinvention, Horowitz uses his crime fiction pedigree to great effect. Highly enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      if u are the one who likes to solve the mystery much before .. you are going to have one hell of a time trying to guess this one .
    • 4/5
      Good read, clever
    • 5/5
      There are layered books, and then there’s this one. Horowitz has created a book with as many layers as a chocolate torte. There’s the frame: book editor Susan Ryeland gets a new manuscript by her major author, Alan Conway. She settles down on a Friday to read and enjoy it.And there’s the manuscript itself, also titled Magpie Murders. It’s an intriguing puzzle in which Conway plays some subtle games with the reader.Using this meta fiction setup, Horowitz constructs a complicated tale that convincingly weaves reality and fiction together. There are stories within stories, lives colliding with lives, puns, and tricks galore. I can’t say much more about the book without giving away major plot points. Horowitz, the creator and writer of, among many other works, the marvelous Foyle’s War tv series, does an outstanding job with a structure that would have defeated many an author. I loved the book and highly recommend it to fans of literary mysteries and/or meta fiction. A half star off for a repeated grammar error—this wouldn’t have been relevant if the main character hadn’t emphasized that she was an editor—and some phrases that were used too often. Oh, and for some overblown descriptive writing here and there.
    • 5/5
      First words after it ended, (spoken aloud to a houseful of pets:) “WOW, that /was/ pretty great.”
    • 4/5
      Something different. A bit of a wrench to switch in the middle, but turned out worth it.