I was overwhelmed by the number of pages required to write a book within a book and overwhelmed by the number of characters that I needed to remember to understand the mystery and the clues. I finally wrote out character maps for both books and settled in to enjoy the ride. It was a unique Agatha Christyesque mystery and while I’m not quick to reach for a book in that genre, I was completely entertained by this one. Perfect quarantine reading.

Anthony Horowitz is a creative and imaginative author of complex mysteries. This book follows on his earlier novel, The Magpie Murders that also featured Susan Ryeland and the story within a story detective, Atticus Pund. I liked this title more than that first title in the series.

When the story starts, Susan has left England to run a hotel on a Greek island. It seems that venture is beginning to pale so when the opportunity comes to return to England, Susan is on her way. Susan is asked to investigate the disappearance of a hotelier’s daughter. Cecily was not seen again after calling her parents to tell them that, based on an Atticus Pund novel, she believes that a guest murdered at the hotel a number of years previously, was not killed by the accused and then convicted hotel worker. Does this sound a bit confusing and convoluted? Well, it just may be.

Susan investigates the case and, as part of her research, rereads the Atticus Pund book. That novel is very cleverly inserted in the middle of the book. I found this to be so appealing. There was the book cover, the blurbs, the copyright, everything one would expect but, again, it is a novel within the novel.

Will Susan solve the case? What happened to the missing daughter? Who committed the murder at the hotel and that is then fictionalized in the Pund book? There are many characters and there is lots to solve here.

This book is original and intriguing. I very much enjoyed it. It is long at over 600 pages so settle in for a long read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

What if you suspected a man has been convicted of a crime he didn’t commit? And what if a popular novelist confirmed your suspicions in a novel based on the same case? You can’t get more meta than that, can you?

But Anthony Horowitz gives the screw another turn in his latest release, MOONFLOWER MURDERS.

The novel opens two years after the events of last year’s Magpie Murders to find former editor Susan Ryeland running a struggling bed and breakfast in Greece. That is, until the Trehernes come to stay and offer Susan a generous fee to help search for their missing daughter, whose disappearance might be connected to one of Susan’s authors. It seems the late writer Alan Conway may have left clues buried in one of his novels about a crime that happened in the Trehernes’ business (another hotel, coincidently), and the Trehernes’ daughter disappeared just after reading Conway’s book.

The full article is available in the November edition of The Big Thrill

"Moonflower Murders" was just so-so--Anthony Horowitz is a hit or miss author for me. I thought the first in the series, "Magpie Murders" was good, but then his other series ("The Word is Murder", "The Sentence is Death") I dislike. Maybe he just isn't my kind of writer.

Anthony Horowitz once again delivers another brilliant murder mystery with “Moonflower Murders.”

Continuing his book-within-a-book format, “Moonflower Murders” features two novels — the present day story of former book editor Susan Ryeland and “Atticus Pund Takes the Case,” one of the novels she edited for author Alan Conway.

When the daughter of hoteliers Lawrence and Cecily goes missing, they reach out to Susan as they fear her disappearance relates to a murder from eight years ago that occurred at their hotel — and is also loosely featured in the third Atticus Pund novel. As Susan reacquaints herself with the novel, she digs into the murder at the hotel, trying to decipher if the wrong man was convicted of the crime, and what that has to do with the disappearance of daughter Cecily.

“Moonflower Murders” contains a very strong Agatha Christie vibe. Horowitz sprinkles several Christie-esque Easter eggs throughout the story. Atticus Pund, the detective in the fictional novel featured in the middle of this book, is very reminiscent of Christie’s Hercule Poirot.

Horowitz does an incredible job of weaving together two different plots that also tie into each other. He builds two sets of incredible characters, and is amazing at delivering enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing — for two different mysteries!

Fans of Christie and other classic whodunnits will love this book. Disclaimers: it does contain some crass language and also references sexual circumstances.

Five stars out of five.

HarperCollins Publishers provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for this copy of Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz.

What is there it to say about a near-perfect book? Actually, it's two near-perfect books, as we readers are lucky enough to get a book within a book in Moonflower Murders. This is the story of Susan Ryeland, former editor of the late Alan Conway, author of the fictional Atticus Pünd detective series. Susan is pulled into a murder-mystery with the hopes that she can use her knowledge of Conway to discover hidden clues in one the Atticus Pünd novels. She has to read the book to find the hidden clues and we get to read along with her.

I really, really enjoyed this book. Two classicly styled murder-mystery stories in one book. This is the second of a series, although I haven't read the first book and I didn't feel like I was missing anything. All of the characters are well-developed, the mystery is complex and the endings of both stories are satisfying.

Bravo, Anthony Horowitz! I'm looking forward to the next installment in the series.

Moonflower Murders is the second novel featuring Susan Ryeland, a former book editor who has ridden off into the sunset with her partner Andreas. However, things have gotten a little rocky in paradise, so when Susan is approached by a couple whose daughter has gone missing in connection with a novel from one of Susan's former authors she agrees to head back to England to look into the matter. As she gets pulled back into the sordid universe of Alan Conway and the damage he caused, she begins to wonder whether taking this case may have been a huge mistake.

This book is a well-written and well-plotted mystery that will appeal to readers who appreciate a complex story. The novel within a novel adds a unique element and demonstrates the author's skill. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it in closer proximity to the first book in the series, because I didn't remember enough about it to fully appreciate and understand all the references to the events from it in this book. It was still interesting to read, and kept me guessing until the end!

I attended a virtual author event earlier this year. The author stated “ it is easy to create a likable character, but creating an interesting character is the real challenge.” When the author made this statement, the first author that came to mind was Liz Nugent. Nugent brilliantly creates characters readers will despise, but undoubtedly remember for some time. With Little Cruelties, Nugent continues this wonderfully captivating trend.

William, Brian, and Luke Drumm are brothers, each no more than a year and a half apart in age. Despite their familial connection they could not be more different. William, a successful film producer, Luke, a well-known pop star, and Brian a teacher, turned waiter, turned talent manager. Growing up in the same household they have many shared experiences; the death of their father and navigating their self-absorbed mother. Although the three brothers experienced most events together, the effect on each was different. Nugent takes us through each life changing event in the lives of William, Brian, and Luke. Expertly illustrating how years of incorrect perceptions, secrets, and lies can destroy a family.

Little Cruelties opens with a funeral making the story an immediate page turner. Who is in the casket? Who is narrating the story? Is the person who caused the death at the funeral? Are they the narrator? Starting a story with a funeral poses so many questions, capturing the reader's full attention making it impossible to put down the book until all their questions are answered.

The Drumm brothers are truly awful. They each have polarizing character flaws which outweigh any positive attributes. Selfish, arrogant, judgmental just to name a few. Although I did not like any of the main characters, I found each brother extremely interesting. Nugent does an awesome job exposing readers to each brother fully; giving each brother a perspective and taking readers through the same event three times but from each brother's point of view.

Alternating timelines feature heavily in Little Cruelties. Alternating timelines are an excellent way to create mini cliff hangers and keep readers engaged. However, in Little Cruelties, the timelines shift many times; sometimes making it difficult to keep up with the plot. I found this issue obvious when the book began but, midway through I became more familiar with events in the Drumm brother’s lives. At the midway point the story flowed, and the shifting timelines became easier to follow.

Little Cruelties is the story of a murder; however, the murder is secondary to the familial dramas which play out through the entire book. Readers looking for an action filled, suspenseful, and thrilling read may be disappointed with Little Cruelties. Unraveling Oliver, one of Nugent’s previous releases, is similar to Little Cruelties. I absolutely loved Unraveling Oliver. Both stories could be categorized as psychological character studies rather than crime fiction.

Although Little Cruelties is not what I would consider traditional crime fiction, I found the story no less compelling. With each page I was further drawn into the world of the Drumm brothers. Shocked and sometimes disgusted by their actions, but eager to see how events would play out. While Little Cruelties lacks action and thrills, the story more than makes up for it with twists and jaw dropping reveals.



Murder and Moore Rating:

4.5 out of 5 Stars

This was a fun book with an Agatha Christie feel to it. We will definitely have this on our shelves for our patrons to enjoy.

3.5 stars

Anthony Horowitz is wildly popular and his books are certainly readable. If you have a lot of time and really like complex plots and puzzles, this might be perfect. I enjoyed it, but I found its structure and 600-page length frustrating.

Many reviewers mention his homage to Golden Age mysteries, and yes, I see that in some of the elements. But I have read a lot of vintage mysteries, and rarely were they sooooo long.

This is a follow up to Magpie Murders and features Susan Ryeland, a former book editor now retired from the publishing industry after the bizarre events of the last book. This book can be confusing with its many characters and novel within a novel style, but if you hadn't read Magpie, you might be really lost.

Susan and her partner Andreas have moved to Greece to run a hotel. Susan loves Andreas, but is feeling beleaguered by the total culture change and the hectic requirements of the hospitality industry. She misses her literary world.

In a quite unbelievable start, a couple shows up at the Greek hotel to ask Susan to investigate the disappearance of their daughter in England. There is a strange tie-in to a previous crime involving the author who was the main focus of Magpie Murders. Their daughter talked about finding information in a book Susan edited before she disappeared which is supposed to be why they go to great expense and trouble to find Susan, rather than say, a private detective.

Susan goes to England and starts interviewing people. Then, somewhere toward the middle of the book, the author inserts a WHOLE OTHER BOOK into the plot. When that book is finished, we resume our original story. If that sounds confusing, it certainly was to me.

If you like complicated devious plots, this will be right up your alley. But after several deaths, two completely different plots and sets of characters, and several murderers, mostly I was just relieved to get to the end. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In Moonflower Murders, readers will soon learn that Anthony Horowitz does indeed have a devious mind. This book is all about solving puzzles, and there are lots of them. If you wonder why the book weighs in at 608 pages, it's because you get two books for the price of one. Like Susan Ryeland, you have to read the Alan Conway mystery that Susan edited, Atticus Pünd Takes the Case, in order to figure out what's going on and who did what.

I did get tired of Susan procrastinating about reading the book, but I think Susan procrastinated in order to have readers become hopelessly tangled in the story. This is a marvelously twisted bit of plotting. The only problem I had with it is that I think I overdosed on puzzle-solving-- there are just too many. But it is fun, so if you're in the mood to decipher an ingenious tale full of twists, turns, and red herrings, Moonflower Murders may be just the book for you.

Susan Ryeland has left the publishing world and moved to Crete, where she and her partner/fiancé own and operate a hotel. After two years and a lot of hard work, Susan is beginning to miss England and the life she used to lead. So, when Lawrence and Pauline Treherne offer her the job of finding out what has happened to their daughter, she finds the challenge hard to resist – especially since it will also mean an infusion of cash that the hotel could desperately use.

This paltry explanation doesn’t even begin to describe this book. Moonflower Murders is a book within a book. It is an English Manor (in the form of a hotel) mystery the spans eight years and involves a murder as well as a disappearance. Moreover, these two events that could very well be related.

I have read several books by Anthony Horowitz and have enjoyed every one of them. His latest book is no exception. it is filled with twists, interesting and varied characters, and a unique plot within a plot that creates a well-developed and constantly changing tale. Moonflower Murders is not to be missed. I highly recommend it for mystery fans who enjoy a well-conceived story that is as entertaining as it is clever.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

"Moonflower Murders," by Anthony Horowitz, Harper, 608 pages, Nov. 10, 2020.

This is the sequel to "Magpie Murders" featuring publisher Susan Ryeland as the amateur detective.

"Magpie Murders" was also the title of the last novel Susan worked on. The novel led to the death of the author, Alan Conway, and the collapse of Susan's publishing company, Cloverleaf Books.

Susan and her partner, Andreas Patakis, have owned a small hotel on Crete for two years. She's exhausted with all the work that's involved and the difficulty of hiring staff and repairmen. She is thinking of leaving.

Then Lawrence and Pauline Treherne arrive at the hotel. Sajid Kahn, a lawyer who was a friend of Conway, suggested they speak to Susan. Eight years earlier, there was a murder at Branlow Hall, a hotel on the Suffolk, England coast that the Trehernes then owned. Their daughters, Cecily and Lisa, own it now.

Frank Parris, an advertising executive, was murdered at the hotel the weekend that Cecily married Aiden MacNeil. Conway knew Parris and stayed at Branlow Hall six weeks after the murder.

Cecily recently read one of Conway's novels, "Atticus Pünd Takes the Case." She believes the book proves that the man who pleaded guilty to the murder, Stefan Codrescu, a Romanian immigrant who was the hotel’s handyman, is innocent. She calls her parents.

Lawrence and Pauline read the book but can't see any connection to the murder. Then Cecily takes a walk and disappears. When they go to speak with Susan, Cecily has been missing for five days and her parents are afraid it's because of what she read. The Trehernes offer to pay Susan to return to England to help in the investigation.

This is also a novel within a novel, meaning "Atticus Pünd Takes the Case," which is about the murder of an actress, is in "Moonflower Murders."

"Moonflower Murders" is complex. While it is unusual to have a publisher as an investigator, she does understand Conway's writing better than most people.

This is a fun novel, with clues and red herrings alike. People who like mysteries, particularly fans of Agatha Christie, will especially enjoy this. I have to admit, I didn't guess the ending of either the main novel or the novel within. I do recommend that you first read "Magpie Murders."

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley and Edelweiss in exchange for a review.

“Over the top” and “mindboggling” are two excellent description of this latest Horowitz mystery. It was almost too much for me, I struggled through to the end, but made it but I’m not sure I’m ready for another convoluted tale.

Oh my gosh...there is a city full of characters in this novel...or actually, novels. Once again the who-done-it portion of Moonflower Murders is tied to an earlier novel which is fully included in the middle of this book. Confused? It is a bit since both stories are so similar in plot, characters, and structure. But the author pulls together a great many clues that the reader would be hard-pressed to do, to solve the mystery. Enjoyable!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC to read and review.

Moonflower Murders is the brilliant follow up to Magpie Murders, with events taking place two years since the events in the first novel. Susan has since moved to Crete and is running a hotel, a lifelong dream of her boyfriend's however things are far from ideal. The work seems never ending and she finds herself thinking of her life in England constantly. When Susan is approached by the Trehernes with an interesting story and an even more intriguing job offer, she jumps at the chance to return to England and investigate this strange series of events. The Trehernes' daughter, Cecily, has gone missing and just before her disappearance she had contacted her parents to let them know that a man convicted of a murder years ago that took place on Cecily's wedding day, is actually innocent. And she can prove it. Her evidence stems from reading the late Alan Conway's novel featuring detective Atticus Pun. The crime detailed in his novel is eerily similar to the murder that took place on Cecily's wedding day, and the evidence used to uncover the murderer in his story can be used to prove the innocence of the wrongfully convicted Stefan Codrescu. However before she gets the chance to present her case to her parents in more detail, she disappears. Susan returns to London intent on finding out not only what happened to Cecily but also to follow the same trail of evidence Cecily revealed to her parent's to prove the innocence of Stefan Codrescu.
Moonflower Murders is an expertly crafted mystery within a mystery with plenty of literary references, codes, caricatures and other elements of classic crime techniques fans of the late Agatha Christie will enjoy. Horowitz expertly weaves the two mysteries together, one from the past and one taking place in present time, to construct a thoroughly enjoyable thriller. The story moves at a leisurely pace with plenty clues hidden throughout both mysteries. The author's clever use of the classic reveal known as a denouement, the gathering of all individuals to reveal the killer at the end, serves as a real treat for fan's of golden age mysteries. I highly recommend this book to thriller readers.

As with its predecessor, Magpie Murders, this is constructed as a book within a book. A contemporary mystery featuring Susan Ryeland, who edited the Atticus Pünd mystery series, bookends an Atticus Pünd novel. The Atticus Pünd novels were also written in the current day, but they mimic the Golden Age of mystery style.

Because of the events in Magpie Murders, Susan is out of the book business and is now working her fingers to the bone with her lover, Andreas, running a hotel in Crete. She is asked by the parents of a missing young woman to return with them to England to stay at their hotel, Branlow Hall, and try to help them find their daughter Cecily. Why Susan? Well, it’s a bit of a stretch, frankly, but they believe the key to their daughter’s disappearance may be in the third Atticus Pünd book, Atticus Pünd Takes the Case, and they figure since the author, Alan Conway, is dead, the book’s editor is best placed to help. They explain to Susan that shortly before Cecily disappeared, she called them and said that the book made her see who really murdered a hotel guest years earlier, on the day of Cecily’s wedding on the hotel grounds. Susan and Andreas are strapped for cash, so Susan takes the case.

She quickly sees that there really is a relationship between Atticus Pünd Takes the Case and Branlow Hall. Alan Conway borrowed many of the book’s characters from people he met at the Branlow Hall. Susan finds that they are all unhappy about their unflattering characterizations and many are hostile to Susan, assuming she was in on Alan Conway’s literary cruelty. Susan also comes to believe that there is a connection between Cecily’s disappearance and the earlier murder at Barnlow Hall.

After the setup (which takes 37% of the book, if you’re tracking on an e-reader), we switch to the text of Atticus Pünd Takes the Case (43%), then back to Susan to wrap everything up (20%).

As with Magpie Murders, I became thoroughly engrossed in the Atticus Pünd mystery; so much so that it was a jolt to return to the present. While reading the book-within-a-book, I did manage to pick up some clues, but I admit I didn’t quite put them together enough to solve either the murder or Cecily’s disappearance. But Susan manages the task, with plenty of intrigue and some danger along the way.

The start of the book was a little slow, in part because I don’t find Susan and her personal life compelling. But the Pünd novel is great entertainment, and Susan’s windup of the case is a clever, satisfying resolution.

Here’s what I can’t help thinking about. Anthony Horowitz has now written two books-within-books where the meat in the sandwich is an Atticus Pünd novel. The fictional Alan Conway is supposed to have written nine Atticus Pünd books, including Magpie Murders and Atticus Pünd Takes the Case. Does Anthony Horowitz plan to write seven more Susan Ryeland/Atticus Pünd books? I can’t imagine how he would manage seven more times to put Susan Ryeland in a position where she needs to read on of the books to solve a contemporary case, but I definitely want to see it. If not, I want to put in my request for Horowitz to write those other seven Pünd books as stand-alones. I’d be all over them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found the format very interesting. I've never read a book within a book before, and found it challenging to compare the books. This was one time I really wished I had the hard copy, not Kindle copy of this book, as I would have been paging back and forth between the two stories. The timing of the story, and the ending were quite precise. Surely a book for all to enjoy.

I am a huge fan of the Foyle’s War mystery series written by Anthony Horowitz so when I saw this title available for review I jumped at the chance. This was very different.

I did not care for the protagonist, She was judgmental and flighty. I did not care for the characters as they were just plain unlikable. The beginning was very slow. Just as the book finally started to move along, it jumped to the other novel that was enclosed within. That novel did not hold my interest at all and I ended up skipping ahead to where the original story resumed. I skimmed until the reveal occurred.

There were so many characters in this book and then when the second book began, it was based on the characters in the first book with different names, holy monkey I was done! Maybe it’s been too much doom scrolling, but I could not pay that close attention or remember who was who, nor did I care.

2.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for the eARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Is there anywhere else in the world, besides the books of Anthony Horowitz's 'Susan Ryeland' series, where you can get two whodunnits in one?

I read the first book, Magpie Murders, shortly after it came out. I was both intrigued and delighted by the way the book was set up, with an Atticus Pund novel smack dab in the middle of the "real" mystery. Moonflower Murders follows this same set up, with the fictional novel taking up just under half the length of the book.

Unique styling aside, these books give you everything you want from a murder mystery, Agatha Christie-esque in style, only slightly modernized in the main part of the story. Mysterious murders, a whole host of suspects, love triangles, buried secrets, scandalous pasts, backstabbing and double crosses, all join together for a great read that will keep you guessing right up til the case is solved...and even after!

Susan Ryeland is a relatable character, determined yet self-doubting, and the doubly fictional Atticus Pund is a less pretentious and slightly more likable version of that famous Christie character, Poirot. Even the arrogant and self-absorbed writer of the Pund books, Alan Conway, is a character you love to hate (not to mention...long dead at this point).

I have read four of Horowitz's books now, the two Hawthorne novels, "The Word is Murder" and "The Sentence is Death"; as well as the two Ryeland novels. All have been excellent detective stories, with the Hawthorne novels being more police procedural, and the Ryelands being a modern take on a cozy mystery. Horowitz knows how to create a good mystery and how to write it in an engaging way. I look forward to reading more from him.