Having worked in the children's department at Waterstones for many years, Anthony Horowitz was more famous to me for the bestselling 'Alex Rider' series of spy books (recommended highly for ages 10+). However, in the adult world, he has also written two Sherlock Holmes novels ('The House of Silk' and 'Moriarty') and a James Bond novel ('Trigger Mortis'). He has written and created Foyle's War for television, and he writes newspaper columns.
Most interestingly for this book, he produced the first seven episodes of Midsomer Murders. I say interestingly because the murder story in this book could be taken straight out of a Midsomer Murder episode!
Susan Reynolds is a book editor at a small publishing house, Cloverleaf Books. Their main money-making author is crime writer Alan Conway, whose novels featuring the German detective Atticus Pund sell in their millions. He sends her the manuscript of his latest detective novel, 'Magpie Murders'. She spends the weekend reading it (as do we, as the novel is part of this book), but when she reaches the end, she realises frustratingly that there are pages missing - pages where Atticus Pund is just about to reveal the murderer. When she goes into the office Monday morning to tell her colleague about it, she is met with the news that the previous day Alan committed suicide. Susan decides to become detective herself - she doesn't understand why Alan would take his own life without finishing the book. She thinks he may have been murdered. As she delves into his past and his family and friends, she realises that perhaps this may be one instance where life imitates art, and clues may be hidden within his novel.
This is a very clever book - you get a novel within a novel. While I was reading the section of Alan's book, I forgot that it was part of another story, so when it came to an abrupt end, I too was surprised, just like Susan. Anthony manages to keep all the characters interesting, and importantly keeps them all under suspicion. It was like a book version of Cluedo! Booksellers will delight in all the references to authors, festivals, publishers, radio shows and publicity tours.
The only downside to the book was that I got confused between the names in Alan's novel, and those in his real life, there were so many characters to remember!
Other than that, I can recommend this book to those who love to read a good murder mystery, very much a la Agatha Christie.
