Magpie Murders: A Novel

"Magpie Murders is a double puzzle for puzzle fans, who don’t often get the classicism they want from contemporary thrillers." --Janet Maslin, The 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, 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.

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Published Jun 6, 2017

501 pages

Average rating: 7.28

276 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

boyleschris
Mar 16, 2025
Chris's recommendation.
Anonymous
Jul 05, 2024
8/10 stars
This was a fun read, a mystery within a mystery. The resolution was less than satisfying and didn't make a lot of sense to me, but it was still an enjoyable ride to the end.
Dramaqueen65
May 15, 2025
Some mixed reviews, with a few of us falling into the DNF category.
Harrietaspy
May 04, 2025
8/10 stars
I loved how creative this book was but at the end it dragged on a little bit. I was hoping to love it too the very end but I'll take almost to the very end. ;)

For me, there was too much writing within writing. The book was obviously needed and I enjoyed that but then a lot of it became tedious. I didn't need the comparison of the two writings in such detail and The Slide could easily have been described rather than such a large sample put in the book. I didn't enjoy that part and I think that's what made it drag for me.

Otherwise I liked the stories woven together and the voice of the narrator. A good complicated whodunnit.
allmimsyweretheborogoves
Jan 21, 2025
10/10 stars
This was a really good book, I really liked the book-in-a-book thing it had going on, where it actually let you read the entirety of the book that the main character was reading so you really could get the entire experience of trying to solve the mystery yourself.

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