5 stars for Magpie Murders (Magpie Murders book 1) by Anthony Horowitz.
5 HUGE stars.
Magpie Murders is mystery crime novel at its finest.
Set in the countryside in the 1950s, in a small community where everyone knows everyone, there is an unexpected death. To quote "There was going to be a funeral." What follows after this opening sentence of Part One Chapter 1 is a cast of suitably eccentric characters, a tangle of suspects with different motives and an outsider detective.
The first 10% or so of the story is spent on introducing characters and their background. It takes some getting used to, but once that's over, we are well-versed and ready to take on whatever comes our way. The death of a housekeeper, Mrs Mary Blakiston, seems straightforward enough and no foul play is suspected. But as the story progresses, it seems that we cannot take things at face value. Is it really an accident that leads to her death or is it something more?
The amazing thing about this book, is that, there is a story within a story in the story. Sounds complicated, right? Let me put it in another way. Author Horowitz writes a story. In that story, there is an author writing a book, and in that book is another author writing another story. Maybe I have not read enough of mystery books, but this is the first time I come across such a complicated yet brilliant mystery crime story. To say that I am impressed by the author is an understatement. I am literally blown away by the workings of author's remarkable mind.
The story itself is not complicated but it seems to be next to impossible to predict the outcome. There are many suspects and all of them have sufficient motives to commit the crime. Just when I am thinking and still wondering who it can possibly be, the story takes an unexpected turn that makes my jaws dropped. And I think to myself "What?! What just happened?"
I read and swipe, and I read and swipe, until the number at the bottom right of my ereader turns from single to double digit and still, keeps on increasing. I want to slow down but yet I find myself reading hurriedly towards a conclusion I can hardly bear to discover. That is the power of this whodunnit. Whodunnits are all about truth, nothing more and nothing less. Nothing but the truth. Getting to the bottom of the truth in this story becomes my sole purpose when I am reading this book. When I finally reach the last page where every i is dotted and every t is crossed, I stare into space, then blink my eyes and give a satisfied sigh. There is so much pleasure and enjoyment from reading this story that I don't know where to start. I want to shout out to the world that this is a book not to be missed. It is a must-read.
This is surely not an easy story to write. For one, the facts and fiction have become inextricably intertwined. Real names, real people, real books, real places have been thrown in. I think merely keeping track of the characters and alphabets is headache enough, it is hard to imagine weaving more complicated connections and linking them all up together. Also, we need to bear in mind the time period is set in the 1950s where there is no forensic DNA analysis, no mobile phones, no computers, no instant information. Everything goes by evidence of prints and deductions. The way the author goes about questioning every suspect, verifying every statement, examining every movement and getting everything in its place.. it is incredible!
Here, I have a confession to make. I started reading right from the beginning but I made the mistake of thinking that is the preface. After the so-called preface, I quickly went through some pages and finally started paying good attention to my reading at Part One Chapter 1 Sorrow. It was only when I reached the halfway mark that I realised my mistake and promptly went back to the beginning to read it one more time. If you have not read this book and plan to do so, don't make the same mistake as me. I still find it hard to stomach, the thought that I, a seasoned reader, has made one such mistake. It is unthinkable.
Somewhere along the way, I actually did a search on Alan Conway. Because I will have liked to read his Atticus Pünd series. Though I am disappointed with the results of my search, I am glad that there is the Moonflower Murders that I can turn to next.
Finally, with my expanded interest on whodunnit, I think it is high time I check out Agatha Christie's books.
Publisher: Orion Books
Publication date: 1 Jan 2016
*** Favourite Quote 1 ***
..These had been his plans. But if there was one thing that life had taught him, it was the futility of making plans. Life had its own agenda.
*** Favourite Quote 2 ***
.. everything in life had a pattern and that a coincidence was simply the moment when that pattern became briefly visible.
*** Favourite Quote 3 ***
.. sometimes you can spend so much time chasing something that you lose everything else while you're about it.
~ Magpie Murders
Anthony Horowitz
@}--->>--->>-----
Editor Susan Ryland has worked with bestselling crime writer Alan Conway for years. Readers love his detective, Atticus Pünd, a celebrated solver of crimes in the sleepy English villages of the 1950s.
But Conway's latest tale of murder at Pye Hall is not quite what it seems. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but hidden in the pages of the manuscript lies another story: a tale written between the very words on the page, telling of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition and murder.
*Blurb from FantasticFiction*
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