Harper, 608 pages, $28.99
“Moonflower Murders” follows along the same path as its predecessor, “Magpie Murders.” Anthony Horowitz gives his readers a whole lot of words and a multiplicity of pages. The enveloping, contemporary story stars the ex-book editor, Susan Ryeland, and the novel-within-a-novel stars private detective Atticus Pünd, the creation of the late author, Alan Conway. Alan died in “Magpie Murders” and Susan solved the murder. So why is the 50-year-old ex-book editor, ex-Londoner Susan set to solve another murder?
After Alan’s murder and the subsequent conflagration which destroyed Susan’s place of work, Susan felt a change was in order. She moved to Crete with her partner, Andreas, to open up a small hotel by the enduring, wine-dark Greek sea. Susan is happy. Sort of. There is not enough money to keep the hotel in repair and there is too much work to go around. But, opa!, it is Crete! Susan is much too English to relax and go with the flow, and she misses working with books and authors.
When the shadow of a mystery falls across Susan’s sunny table, she is powerless to resist. Perhaps another challenge will help her define what she wants out of life. She bolts back to England, away from Andreas and his desire for a stronger commitment, the failing hotel, the different culture, and a life so far from what she used to enjoy in hectic London.
This is what ensnares her. Pauline and Lawrence Treherne were vacationing in Greece when their adult daughter Cecily disappeared from the hotel they own in the English coastal town of Tawleigh-on-the-Water. Branlow Hall is a luxury hotel, and it is has been lucrative. The Trehernes and their daughters, Lisa and Cecily, and Cecily’s husband, Aiden, all work there. So what’s the mystery?
A guest named Frank Parris was murdered in one of Branlow Hall’s rooms eight years ago. His head was viciously bludgeoned with a hammer. The hotel’s handyman, Stefan Codrescu, was arrested, he confessed, and he is now in prison. But Cecily never thought he had committed the murder. What happened to give Cecily more confidence she was right?
A few days ago, Cecily called her parents in Greece and said she knew who the real murderer was. She disappeared shortly after.
The Trehernes want Susan to investigate because she was Alan Conway’s editor. What does that have to do with the price of tea? Cecily had been reading one of the books in the Atticus Pünd series, “Atticus Pünd Takes the Case,” when she had her aha! moment. She called her parents shortly afterwards. Because Susan had edited that book, the Trehernes believe she may have insight into what triggered Cecily’s revelation. Plus, they will give her ten thousand pounds for trying.
So Susan whisks off to the jolly old. Wot.
Susan has learned that the Trehernes and several other people believe Conway’s book’s characters were based on members of the hotel staff. However, the murders in the book do not resemble the murder at Branlow, and the characters do not resemble their real-life counterparts to any depth. Or so it seems.
Susan’s investigation consists of going around and interviewing people who are not eager to be interviewed about something that happened eight years ago, even given the urgency of finding Cecily. Besides a police report, there doesn’t seem to be any hurrying and scurrying by anyone to locate good old Cecily. Even Cecily's sister — especially her sister — is overtly hostile to Susan. In turn, Susan herself is reluctant to talk to the police. Her old nemesis, Detective Superintendent Locke, was in charge of Frank Parris’ murder investigation and looks to have made a hash of it, having taken the easy way out with Stefan’s “confession.”
Looks as though Susan will have to re-read “Atticus Pünd Takes the Case.” And we get to read right along with her.
I’m not going to go into details of that inner book. Let that be a treat for you. Suffice it to say there actually is a clue which relates to Frank Parris’ death, and a discerning reader might — might — unearth it.
The bloom is off the rose somewhat with this book. The extraordinary effort of Anthony Horowitz to develop two separate mysteries was astounding to me in “The Magpie Murders.” If Horowitz had done anything less in “Moonflower Murders,” I would have been disappointed, but it is no longer a surprise.
Susan is a little blander in this book. There isn’t the urgency or personal connection as there was when she was solving the murder of her client. However, Horowitz does make neat mysteries in the cozy vein with a few un-cozy, contemporary elements.
Anthony Horowitz has had a long history of entertaining us with televised British mysteries and histories (“Foyle’s War,” “Midsomer Murders”), and other books for adults and young readers. He understands the mystery genre very well and, I would hazard to say, is a steadfast fan. Horowitz inserts many cute references to classic authors for his fellow steadfast fans.
The development of both the murder mysteries and Susan’s personal journey was satisfying. (But I could have done without the man-to-the-rescue element.)
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