“Everything in life has a pattern and a coincidence is simply the moment when the pattern becomes briefly visible.”

First of all a big thank you to the author, Netgalley and the publishers for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. Another cosy mystery. This time with a book inside a book. This was an interesting concept and an enjoyable read. This book is over 600 pages and it felt like it could have been a little shorter. It took me a while to get through however this had intriguing characters and I enjoyed unravelling the mystery.

Horowitz does not mess around with his mystery books, this is another book with a story inside the story where we have another outing for Atticus Pund.

This series is so much fun with getting to figure out the mystery in both the main novel and the included Atticus Pund novel. I love the book within a book idea and had so much fun trying to solve both.

I would highly recommend this book for those who love puzzles and cozy mysteries.

The second book in this series didn't disappoint. The cleverness of having a book within a book never fails to impress me and when you have two mysteries to solve, it's twice the fun. As ever I had no idea how the end would turn out, but what a bombshell it was when it was finally revealed and in true Poirot style, it was so satisfying.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

A very worthy sequel to Magpie Murders (Now a TV adaptation).
It is, however, a little long and the 'book within a book' style, whilst engaging can be off putting at times.
Still thoroughly enjoyed this though and let's face it, Mr Horowitz has the pedigree as an author which almost guarantees that.
Many thanks.

I very much enjoyed this sequel to Magpie Murders. It follows on from the events of the first novel, as Susan Ryeland finds herself caught up in another mystery involving the novelist Alan Conway, creator of the fictional detective Atticus Pünd. Susan remains an engaging character, who retains our sympathies despite her sometimes frustrating choices. Her involvement in the case requires a certain suspension of disbelief, but we are rewarded with a range of well-drawn characters both in the contemporary world and within the pages of another Atticus Pünd novel.

I started reading this pretty much straight after book one, Magpie Murders, and I’m happy to report I enjoyed it just as much, maybe more.

I was wondering how Horowitz was going to pull off another mystery for Susan to solve, considering the way the two in Magpie Murders were presented and resolved. This time, our heroine Susan is hired by the Trehearnes, the parents of a missing woman. The Trehearnes own the Moonflower Motel where a brutal murder occurred about eight years previous. A man was arrested for the crime but, right before she went missing, Cecily Trehearne read an Atticus Pund novel and realised the authorities had arrested the wrong man. So Susan agrees to assist the family by using her inner knowledge of the Atticus Pund novel, which she had edited, to hopefully find Cecily and discover who really committed the Moonflower murder.

I thought the placement of the Atticus Pund book within the book was better this time. In Magpie Murders you read the Pund mystery almost from the start, go to the present day mystery with Susan, before finding the resolution of both mystery plots towards the end. This time Susan investigates quite a bit of the present day mystery before Pund’s story is interjected into the novel.

There were lots of twists in both the historical Pund mystery and the present day one. I puffed my chest out when I realised I’d worked out one part of the mystery but then came thudding back to earth when Horowitz revealed the multiple riddles and clues I’d missed throughout.

I think Horowitz could write more for this series and, frankly, I hope he does. They’re a lot of fun. 5 out of 5

I adored Magpie Murders and gleefully returned to Atticus Puns in this follow-up. I wish there were more!

Six hundred and eight pages for a murder mystery. That's two (average) books, which is exactly what this is: A book within a book. I've never read anything like it. I haven't quite decided whether it appeals. I don't read two books at a time: it gets messy, I can't remember who's who in what. In this, each 'book' has quite a number of characters, and by the time I'd reached the end of the inner book, I'd almost forgotten who was in the shell story. Different, original, but I'm on the fence.

It's a complex murder mystery. Cecily MacNeil is missing and her parents believe her disappearance is connected to a murder that took place in the hotel they own some years previously. They believe that after reading a book, a detective novel loosely based on that event, Cecily realised that the wrong man has been imprisoned for the crime. As the author is deceased, her parents invite Susan Ryeland, the editor and publisher of the book, to investigate. As she can't remember the book, she reads it again. And so must we, the readers: and that's the second book.

Part of the thrill of a murder mystery is guessing whodunnit, and you either revel in getting it right or even getting it wrong because of a clever twist or two. Although brilliantly written…Horowitz is an amazing writer…it's all a tad too convoluted and complex and took all the pleasure out of making and inclination to hazard a guess.

Despite this being a bit too long (I did have a few 'oh, do get on with it' moments) and poor editing (why did Lisa become Linda and why don't editors know the difference between lay and lie?), Horowitz's authorial skill really is something to admire.

I discovered shortly after starting this that it's a sequel to Magpie Murders, a previous Susan Ryeland adventure. Moonflower Murders is more or less standalone, but the references to Magpie Murders were rather tantalising. A bit back to front, but I'm sorely tempted to read it!

Great thriller that kept me turning the pages. Great story, great writing and characters. Really enjoyable and would read this author again.

I thought this was quite good; I can see how some readers disliked the 'book within a book' but I didn't mind it, although it did make the book seem quite long. I was a little frustrated how long it took the main protagonist to get round to reading the book, but I found it a quite satisfying read. I had not read the previous book but it didn't seem to affect my enjoyment of this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. After reading Magpie murders and being equal parts intrigued and confounded, I wondered if knowing what I was going in for would help me enjoy this whodunnit-within-a-whodunnit more. After two of these, I’m just not sure the set-up of two stories within one the way Horowitz presents it is my cup of tea. The Atticus story is so thickly blocked in the middle of Susan Ryeland’s that by the time we’re back to reality I have lost all interest or memory of her investigations. I still like the wit and humour of Horowitz’ writing but perhaps I’m better off trying a singular work of his as I find these combination murder mysteries too convoluted to fully follow and engage with.

‘Moonflower Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz is a sandwiching together of two mysteries – one murder, one disappearance – that take place eight years apart in the same place. Second in Horowitz’s crime series featuring literary agent Susan Ryeland and Atticus Pünd, the fictional hero of her client Alan Conway’s 1950s detective books – are you keeping up? – this is at the same time a page-turning read and a mystifying Rubik’s Cube challenge. Definitely a book that will reward re-reading.
Susan’s, now deceased, author Conway loved word play and riddled his short novels with in-jokes, complicated clues and witticisms. Many of these only make sense at the very end of Horowitz’s book. Susan, now living in Crete with boyfriend Andreas, running the just-surviving Hotel Polydorus, is asked by the owners of Branlow Hall hotel in Suffolk to investigate the disappearance of their daughter Cecily. Eight years earlier, one of the hotel’s staff was convicted of murdering a guest, Frank Parris. Shortly after the trial, Conway visited the hotel after which he wrote, ‘Atticus Pünd Takes the Case’. The book was edited by Susan who knew nothing about the links to the real-life crime.
Cecily, who manages Branlow Hall with her sister, reads Conway’s novel and is certain the wrong man was convicted of the crime. And then she disappears. How did Conway use the real crime in his fictional Atticus Pünd mystery to reveal the true murderer? What did Cecily see in the book that convinced her of the convict’s innocence? How can Susan unravel the clues and fit together two completely separate stories? And what has happened to Cecily?
The story is littered with clues, everyone has something to hide and it seems everyone is lying. Alongside the detecting we have the continuing story of Susan’s life – did she do the right thing in moving from London to Crete, should she marry Andreas or leave him, can she really be happy running a hotel and not editing books? And like the first in the series, ‘Magpie Murders’, there is also a book-within-a-book; we also get to read ‘Atticus Pünd Takes the Case’.
Layer upon layer, at times there are so many twists and turns it seems tortuous. Yes, there are coincidences and convenient secrets but if you enjoy Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot you will enjoy spotting the Christie links. If you go-with-the-flow and don’t get caught up on keeping track of the details, this is a fun read.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

Wickedly playful Horowitz; spiteful Alan Conway; thoroughly decent Susan Ryeland

I adore Horowitz’s clever, entertaining writing. I never see the surprises a-springing – or if I do, can’t tease out why till Horowitz does it for me. I adore his clever plotting, brilliant writing, and the deft sleight of hand tricks he dazzles with.

And Moonflower Murders was no exception. Firstly, I was very pleased indeed to meet Susan Ryeland again. A very likeable book editor, she was Alan Conway’s literary agent. Conway, a not particularly pleasant man, wrote a series of books (very clever ones) featuring his detective Atticus Pund. We met both Ryeland and Conway in Magpie Murders, and earlier novel by Horowitz. Things got more than a little difficult for Ryeland, so I was pleased to find her doing well, if a little bored, in Crete, with her life, and now business partner Andreas, a man as decent as she is.

Ryeland gets contacted by a couple who owned a country house hotel. Eight years ago, a horrific murder happened there. Conway inveigled his way into the hotel, and wrote a lightly disguised Atticus Pund mystery around the events. Jump forward to the present time, and the visiting couple have contacted Ryeland because their married daughter has vanished. What has any of this to do with a retired literary editor, now hotel manager, living in Crete? Simply that their daughter discovered some secret in Conway’s disguised ‘fiction’ of the murder, which put her in danger. She made a phone call to her parents, clearly scared, and has now vanished. Ryeland, who knows Conway’s work and methods better than anyone, is asked to unravel the mystery and hopefully find the daughter. For which services a fairly hefty sum is offered.

Confused? Don’t be – a marvellous read awaits. In fact, two marvellous reads. The opening and closing sections belong to Ryeland, first person narrative. The middle section is the book she re-reads to try and spot what was the dangerous realisation the missing woman spotted, the revelation of who the original real murderer, disguised in Conway’s ‘Atticus Pund Takes The Case’ was – or is.

Horowitz is an absolute dab hand, a crafted master at writing in many different voices, so Conway’s book is completely different in style and tone from Ryeland’s account.

Magical! A perfect ‘Golden Age Crime’ type murder mystery, wrapped up in another. Two for the price of one.

Unfortunately I found the dated format of this story somewhat tedious and when it becomes a two novel format it sadly lost me.

I read Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz with great interest and would happily give it three stars.

Thank to netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Anthony Horowitz writes in 3D. All his series are masterfully done. If you want a novel with meat on it then you will not be disappointed.

Moonflower Murders impressed me far more than the predecessor, The Magpie Murders, did and part of this is going to be down to the formatting. Whereas in the first novel, you only got a single chapter of the current day before being thrown into the novel within a novel, here you get several hundred pages of the current day mystery first. This allowed me to become invested in the main mystery, so when I got into the secondary novel it didn't completely steal the show.

I admit, I still probably enjoyed the Atticus Pund novel more than the modern day mystery that it is supposed to hold hints to, but I was still drawn into the modern day mystery as well. My enjoyment of the Atticus Pund aspects of the novel have however drawn me to finally get around to reading the classic Christie works on which it is based though, which is an added bonus. I liked the differences in the two writing styles and found them far more noticeable here as you get more of an even spread between the two narratives.

The parallels between the two situations are well drawn, even as the Pund mystery seems to have little in common with the violent murder eight years ago at first glance. I enjoyed the twists and turns and whilst I saw several of the revelations coming, others managed to surprise me and the final chapters with Susan Ryeland trying to tease all the hints and clues out of the manuscript after events have resolved were particularly well done. All in all a clever format that is well executed here; I found myself invested in both narratives and certainly enjoyed the ride.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another brilliant read from this fabulous author. Recommended.

Horowitz is by far one of my favourite crime writers at present. Like Magpie Murders, the sequel gives you two books for the price of one! Creativity is in abundance here, and, as an editor myself, it’s great to see Susan Ryeland back in the midst of crime-solving one more, as the legacy of her bestselling author continues to cast a shadow. It’s creative, suspenseful and fun. Highly recommend.