Moonflower Murders

Novel by Anthony Horowitz

For the television series, see Moonflower Murders (TV series).

Moonflower Murders

First edition

Author| Anthony Horowitz
Language| English
Series| Susan Ryeland
Genre| Mystery fiction
Published| 2020
Publisher| Harper
Publication place| United Kingdom
Media type| Print (hardback, paperback)
ebook, audiobook
Pages| 608 pages
ISBN| 978-0-06-295545-6
Preceded by| Magpie Murders

Moonflower Murders[1] is a 2020 mystery novel by British author Anthony Horowitz and the second novel in the Susan Ryeland series. The story focuses on the disappearance of a hotel employee and uses a story within a story format.

The novel received strong positive reviews for its many-layered plot and brisk pace of the prose, “meaning that what we are reading can literally be described as a mystery wrapped in an enigma”.[2] It was termed “a flawless update of classic golden age whodunits”.[3]

## Plot summary

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Susan Ryeland, running a struggling hotel in Crete with her fiancé Andreas, is approached by Lawrence and Pauline Treherne, owners of Branlow Hall, a hotel in England. The Trehernes explain that a murder occurred eight years earlier at their hotel. Susan's former client, author Alan Conway, used the events as the basis for his mystery novel Atticus Pünd Takes the Case.

The Trehernes' daughter Cecily called her parents after reading the book, telling them that the book proves that the man in jail for the murder, Stefan Codrescu, is innocent. Shortly after that phone call, Cecily disappeared. Susan accepts an offer of ten thousand pounds to return to England, stay at their hotel, and use any insight she may have gained by editing the book to find Cecily and the true killer of Frank Parris.

Susan analyzes the novel closely and uncovers both the true killer of eight years earlier and where Cecily is. In a meeting at Branlow Hall Hotel, with the Treherne family and the police detective, Susan reveals the murderer as Cecily's husband, Aiden. Aiden had previously been a sex worker and had left this life after meeting Cecily, whom he had married not out of love but because of their home and his job at the hotel. When Frank Parris stayed at the hotel, he attempted to blackmail Aiden about his past. Aiden murdered Parris and, when Cecily discovered what Aiden had done, he murdered her as well.

Soon after confessing every detail, Aiden escapes the police detective and commits suicide by jumping in front of a train.

The novel also contains the complete text of Atticus Pünd Takes the Case, and readers can see where the fictional author Conway left clues throughout pointing to the "real-life" crime.

## Reception

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Michael Dirda writing in The Washington Post calls this novel one of the “metafictional mysteries” by Horowitz. The plot is complex while the writing moves at a brisk pace. The structure of this literal “novel within a novel” is presented clearly in the review, indicating one aspect of complexity of the plot.[4]

Publishers Weekly considered it “a flawless update of classic golden age whodunits.”[3]

Kirkus Reviews noted all the same features of the complex plot and clear prose, yet felt it was “over the top”: “The novel within a novel is so extensive and absorbing on its own, in fact, that all but the brainiest armchair detectives are likely to find it a serious distraction from the mystery to which it’s supposed to offer the key.“ Thus does Kirkus Reviews limit the audience of this novel to only the brainiest readers.[5]

Sarah Lyall writing in The New York Times remarked it as a classic golden-age mystery novel, with a modern or postmodern take, and was impressed by the continual flow of high quality writing from the author. This novel was “a richly plotted, head-spinning novel about a present-day disappearance, a murder eight years earlier and a fictional murder that may be relevant to both.”[2]

## Television adaptation

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Main article: Moonflower Murders (TV series)

In 2023, BBC began filming a series based on Moonflower Murders that was released in 2024. Lesley Manville and Timothy McMullan reprised their roles as Susan and Atticus from the previous Magpie Murders series.[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Moonflower Murders - Anthony Horowitz | Author | Alex Rider | Sherlock Holmes | James Bond". AnthonyHorowitz.com. 9 July 2020.
2. ^ a b Lyall, Sarah (2 December 2020). "One Whodunit Nests Inside Another in 'Moonflower Murders'". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
3. ^ a b "Mystery/Thriller Book Review: Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz". Publishers Weekly. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
4. ^ Dirda, Michael (11 November 2020). "Moonflower Murders, by Anthony Horowitz book review". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
5. ^ "Moonflower Murders". Kirkus Reviews. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
6. ^ Magpie Murders season 2

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Anthony Horowitz

Alex Rider|

* Stormbreaker (2000)
* Point Blanc (2001)
* Skeleton Key (2002)
* Eagle Strike (2003)
* Scorpia (2004)
* Ark Angel (2005)
* Snakehead (2007)
* Crocodile Tears (2009)
* Scorpia Rising (2011)
* Russian Roulette (2013)
* Never Say Die (2017)
* Secret Weapon (2019)
* Nightshade (2020)

The Diamond Brothers|

* The Falcon's Malteser (1986)
* Public Enemy Number Two (1987)
* South By South East (1991)
* The Greek Who Stole Christmas (2007)

The Power of Five|

* Raven's Gate (2005)
* Evil Star (2006)
* Nightrise (2007)
* Necropolis (2008)
* Oblivion (2012)

James Bond|

* Trigger Mortis (2015)
* Forever and a Day (2018)

Sherlock Holmes|

* The House of Silk (2011)
* Moriarty (2014)

Susan Ryeland|

* Magpie Murders (2016)
* Moonflower Murders (2020)

Hawthorne and Horowitz|

* The Word Is Murder (2017)
* The Sentence Is Death (2019)
* A Line to Kill (2021)
* The Twist of a Knife (2023)
* Close to Death (2024)

Other novels|

* The Devil and His Boy (1998)
* The Killing Joke (2004)

Plays|

* Mindgame (1999)

Screenplays|

* Just Ask for Diamond (1988)
* The Gathering (2003)
* Stormbreaker (2006)

Television series created|

* Crossbow (1987–89)
* Crime Traveller (1997)
* Murder in Mind (2001–03)
* Foyle's War (2002–15)
* Collision (2009)
* Injustice (2011)
* New Blood (2016)
* Magpie Murders (2022)
* Moonflower Murders (2024)
* Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue (2025)

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