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    Moonflower Murders: A Novel
    Moonflower Murders: A Novel
    Moonflower Murders: A Novel
    Audiobook18 hours

    Moonflower Murders: A Novel

    Written by Anthony Horowitz

    Narrated by Lesley Manville and Allan Corduner

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Narrated by Lesley Manville

    New York Times Bestseller • Soon to be a MASTERPIECE mystery series on PBS!

    Bestselling author Anthony Horowitz brings back his famous literary detective Atticus Pund and Susan Ryeland, hero of Magpie Murders, in an inventive, labyrinthine story that is “catnip for classic mystery lovers” (Time magazine).

    Retired publisher Susan Ryeland is living the good life. She is running a small hotel on a Greek island with her long-term boyfriend Andreas. It should be everything she's always wanted. But is it? She's exhausted with the responsibilities of making everything work on an island where nothing ever does, and truth be told she's beginning to miss London.

    And then the Trehearnes come to stay. The strange and mysterious story they tell, about an unfortunate murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married—a picturesque inn on the Suffolk coast named Farlingaye Hall—fascinates Susan and piques her editor’s instincts. 

    One of her former writers, the late Alan Conway, author of the fictional Magpie Murders, knew the murder victim—an advertising executive named Frank Parris—and once visited Farlingaye Hall. Conway based the third book in his detective series, Atticus Pund Takes the Cake, on that very crime. 

    The Trehearne’s, daughter, Cecily, read Conway’s mystery and believed the book proves that the man convicted of Parris’s murder—a Romanian immigrant who was the hotel’s handyman—is innocent. When the Trehearnes reveal that Cecily is now missing, Susan knows that she must return to England and find out what really happened.

    Brilliantly clever, relentlessly suspenseful, full of twists that will keep readers guessing with each revelation and clue, Moonflower Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction from one of its greatest masterminds.  

    Editor's Note

    Literary connections…

    “Magpie Murders” author Anthony Horowitz has done it again with his latest crime thriller. Retired publisher Susan Ryeland now operates a small hotel on a Greek island, where her patience for island life is wearing thin. When the Trehearne family books a stay, Ryeland learns of their mysterious past, involving a murder that took place on the same day and in the same Suffolk hotel in which their daughter was married. Now, she’s missing. A series of literary connections convince Ryeland that there’s more to the story, and she returns to England to find out the truth.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateNov 10, 2020
    ISBN9780062955487
    Moonflower Murders: A Novel
    Author

    Anthony Horowitz

    Anthony Horowitz is one of the UK’s most prolific and successful writers, unique in being active in both adult and YA fiction, TV, theater, and journalism. Several of his previous novels were instant New York Times bestsellers. His bestselling Alex Rider series for young adults has sold more than nineteen million copies worldwide and has become a hugely successful show on Amazon Prime TV. His breakthrough murder mystery, Magpie Murders, was adapted into a miniseries for PBS. He lives in London with his wife and dog.

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    Reviews for Moonflower Murders

    4/5

    759 ratings62 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be an excellent murder mystery with great details, interesting characters, and a well-woven plot. The book keeps readers engaged and entertained, with multiple storylines and twists and turns. While some reviewers found it too long or guessed the ending, overall it is a challenging and rewarding read. The narration is top quality, and fans of Anthony Horowitz will enjoy this installment. However, there were a few negative reviews mentioning that the book was sordid or that they didn't connect with the characters. Despite these criticisms, the majority of readers found it to be a fantastic and entertaining mystery.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      This is a very clever, complex, and well-written crime novel, and it is brilliantly narrated. I am impressed at how much thought and intricacy have gone into the conception of the plot.
    • 5/5
      A good listen with interesting, as always, characters., but a little too convoluted for my taste.
    • 5/5
      An excellent style of whodunit.
      Even more than a regular detective yarn where the reader attempts to solve the crime before it is revealed by the author, here one is in lockstep with the protagonist.
    • 5/5
      A brilliant read that's a murder mystery within a murder mystery.
    • 3/5
      Too long. Works too hard to be clever. Adds up to boring read.
    • 4/5
      This was great fun to listen to on these cold
      Winter days!
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed....clever idea of a book within a book, just made it a bit too long. I like his writing style, easy read and keeps it interesting. Recommend....
    • 2/5
      Unnecessarily long and I guessed the ending with 12 hours left in the audio book.
    • 5/5
      I loved all the twists and turns, and how the author kept my guessing. Great read! One of my favorite authors!
    • 5/5
      Mr. Horowitz makes his readers really work for the payoff in this novel as in its predecessor, Magpie Murders. A long, almost excruciatingly complex story, made even more challenging by the story-within-a-story, and not just a short one but a complex, tediously detailed one. I did enjoy the challenges of plot, obscure details, anagrams, and other tricks of the trade, but one drawback for me to Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders is that the “sideshow” of looking for the author’s admittedly clever devices still did not provide the connection with characters that is important to me. The people seem less important to their creator than his trickery, so I found them all a bit wooden, even Susan. I listened to the audiobook version, and while both readers were exceptional, I offer my deepest appreciation to Lesley Manville for a brilliant read! Bravo!
    • 5/5
      Ingenious! Brilliant! I am more keen on looking through s
      Susan Rylands glasses than Atticus Punts.
    • 4/5
      Loved the book. It's a book within a book with two different plots. Great details and storyline. Interesting characters .
    • 5/5
      The real suspense that builds throughout and the fact that there are many story lines going this way and that you are never really bored.
    • 5/5
      Well done. Complex. Requires commitment, coffee, a 10 hour rainy day alone. The novel is a super good procedural— and then, in the middle, ANOTHER Horowitz book appears, chapter by chapter [Atticus Pund Takes The Case] —- and Horowitz then weaves the whole thing together spectacularly. It was a teeny bit slow here and there but I quickly saw and felt the need for the rhythm. It was just a great, challenging, rewarding read—I both read it on my iPod AND listened on Scribd (another story, I’m afraid). Get this book and enjoy!!
    • 4/5
      I really hope there's another Susan Reyland novel. Very entertaining.
    • 3/5
      Too sordid. I didn’t engage with this one as much as the first.
    • 5/5
      Very entertaining... I can't wait for the next one. Kept me on the edge of my seat.
    • 5/5
      Well weaved plot. The whole story comes alive as you read on. And as always, top quality narration.
    • 4/5
      I don't usually read a lot of historical fiction, but something about a murder mystery set in the 1950s embedded in a detective story set in the 2010s works for me. I enjoyed the first book in the series a lot, and the second almost as much. I don't really consider the premise of a book editor as a private investigator all that plausible, but the book also doesn't take itself too seriously in that regard so I'll let it pass. A really fun read.
    • 5/5
      Nice book, great story, decent characters, I recommend it to murder mystery fans. Hope to see it on TV soon like Magpie Murders
    • 5/5
      I belatedly discovered Horowitz thanks to a review of Magpie Murders, which I loved. That started me on a Horowitz binge, and now I’m all caught up and impatiently awaiting the next— shouldn’t be long, as he puts out so much material. And it’s not just quantity— it’s quality! This was another book in a book, like Magpie Ms, and returning protagonist Susan Ryeland is persuaded to come from Crete to investigate in Sussex. Lots of suspects in both books, great characters, and a couple of deliciously labyrinthine plots. I listened to the audiobook— as in MMS, a woman read the “real” story, and a man read the Atticus Pund “book”. Both are splendid voice actors, and perfect fits for this assignment.
    • 5/5
      Great plot. Characters are all extremely credible and relatable. Narration is perfect
    • 5/5
      Excellent murder mysteries interwoven together and a sequel to Magpie murders.
    • 3/5
      By inserting an entire novel into this one, the story seemed to drag on forever. Susan, the former editor of the Atticus Pund novels, is hired to find a missing woman and solve a murder at a country hotel.
    • 5/5
      I’m a big fan of Anthony Horowitz. This new installment of the Susan Ryeland series is a fantastic mysteries that keeps you thinking and envelopes you from the beginning.
    • 3/5
      I'm a fan of Anthony Horowitz, so nothing against the book - but I couldn't get myself to get past the first few chapters of the audiobook thanks to the narrator. The way she sharply stressed on adjectives and certain words made Susan sound like a petulant snob and very much unlikeable. Which is unfortunate because I found Susan very likeable when I read The Magpie Murders.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Of all the Horowitz novels I've read, this one was the least engaging. I kept on reading hoping for some twist that would make it worth the effort. But sadly, that came too late. So it was just OK.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I enjoy These books, but it bothers me that I’m 2/3 way through the book and 3 women have fainted for different reasons. No men have fainted. When will Authors get it through their heads that women really don’t pass out so easily. I’ve never seen anyone pass out (except for honest medical reasons). Women deal with female issues, childhood illnesses and deaths , and medical emergencies frequently. We’re not shrinking violets.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Such a clever series….a book within a book! This is a very well executed mystery. Susan Ryeland is a former editor living in Greece and running a hotel with her boyfriend. She’s hired by a couple to find their missing daughter back in London. Alan Conway’s novel Magpie Murders plays a role in solving the disappearance and a murder that happened the couple’s hotel years past. Never a full moment with all of the characters and crimes to be solved. Super engaging!
    • 4/5
      This followup to [Magpie Murders] is just as complicated, but the inner Pund mystery feels like a big chunk of the book and I was frustrated wanting to get back to the present day story. Because of that, there was much less interaction (if any) between Susan Ryland and the fictional Pund. It went on a little too long for me.