Book Review-Magpie Murders By Anthony Horowitz

A book review on the NYT Book Review page had me intrigued. Two stories told in an interwoven fashion could be looked upon as a writing gimmick, but I liked that device; especially if the author is someone who is very good at relating disparate details and pulling them together.

Anthony Horowitz is fantastic at this device. There are so many Easter eggs, puns, and intended word plays that I will admit to missing some of them early on in my reading.

Contrary to what I had envisioned, the authors decided to use two large chunks of the book to tell the two stories, I had expected a constant back and forth between the two stories and was a little annoyed that I had to wait for the second story to commence. As it turned out he had a very good reason for doing it this way, and much more sensible.

The first story is that of a murder mystery, a la Agatha Christie. Set in the lovely Somerset countryside and populated by the usual suspects that would feel at home in a Hercule Poirot novel. The main detective is Atticus Pünd, a crime solver who is cut from the same clothes as so many others in crime fiction. He is a loner, a man of deep and complex thought, a man who is quite nonlinear, a survivor of Auschwitz, and very keen. The story takes off when a housekeeper in service to landed gentry is killed in what is seemingly a simple household accident. This is where all the pertinent characters begin to appear in the story. In very traditional fashion, the back stories of each of the suspects are explained and told by the omniscient narrator. The author methodically advances the story as he builds the suspense. Soon a second murder occurs, and this time there is no doubt as to whether it is an accident or not.

So far so good. It is what we expect and we are giddy with anticipation of what will come next. The story crescendos and then, the author abruptly switch gear quite suddenly as the denouement for the first story is postponed indefinitely until the second story is started. For a time there I was quite annoyed with this change of events, and naturally angry with Mr. Horowitz.

As it turns out, and this is where the genius of Mr. Horowitz rears its head, the coupling and inter connectedness of the fiction within the fiction comes to the fore. The second story revolves around the editor of a publisher, Cloverleaf Books, the publisher of the Atticus Pünd series of murder mysteries. The author of the series, the cash cow of Cloverleaf Books, Alan Conway had just died, apparently of a suicide, right after he’d delivered his latest book in the series to the publisher, except he delivered it without an ending. The main protagonist of the modern day story, Susan Ryeland, is the editor for the publisher, it is through her eyes that we observe the complex interactions of crime solving once again, except now, instead of look at it through the familiar styles of the great British mystery writers, it is through the eyes of an editor, someone who is not omniscient and decidedly not a practiced crime solver.

As the second story unfold, we are treated to a second trip through the investigation and fact finding process of fictional crime solving. The brilliance of this book is that it is telling two stories in two different ways, two different styles, and in two different epochs. Even more impressively, the aforementioned Easter eggs, puns, and intended word plays really make their presence known as Susan Ryeland unravels the writing style and tricks that Alan Conway employs to tell his story. Just like in the first half of the book, Mr. Horowitz advances his plot patiently and builds up the suspense in a masterful manner. For the second time in the same book, he drew me into the swirl of intrigue methodically until I was completely trapped in Magpie Murders.

The beauty of the plotting of this book is that the denouement of the Susan Ryeland/Alan Conway part of the book is completely dependent on the denouement of the Atticus Pünd mystery. And Mr. Horowitz does not disappoint, all the pieces are brought together and there is a large amount of: “Why didn’t I see this!” as I wound down my reading experience, which is always a large part of the satisfaction of reading a good mystery.

In short, this was a brilliant book, by its complex plotting and development of the characters, it accomplished the main thing: it entertained me.

I must admit that I had no idea who Anthony Horowitz is prior to reading this particular book but now I will keep that name in the back of my head for future reading enjoyments.