Book Review: Moonflower Murders

What could be more exciting than reading two separate works of crime fiction in one single book? Anthony Horowitz follows Magpie Murders with yet another intricately etched murder mystery, while embracing the same yet unique format: A whodunit nests inside a second whodunit, with Horowitz crafting a beautifully executed throwback that revels in its meta nods to the Golden Age of detective fiction. Susan Ryeland, the former editor of now-deceased author Alan Conway, has retired to Crete with her lover-fiance Andreas to run a small hotel. It's the life she has always wanted, but it's not all hunky-dory, what with cash shortages threatening to sink their two-year-old business. Thus when the Trehearnes come to stay and seek her help to trace their inexplicably disappeared daughter Cecily, Ryeland seizes the opportunity to investigate the case — not least because of the generous monetary proposition offered by the couple but also to buy time to rethink her future with Andreas — forcing her to plunge headlong into Conway's classic detective novel Atticus Pünd Takes the Case to look for clues and read between the lines to unscramble the mystery. A masterly sequel littered with anagrams, red herrings, and dead bodies, Horowitz subverts the genre to fantastic effect, building a modern meta-puzzle against the framework of an old-fashioned whodunit (a full second novel that comes with its own title page, dedication, author's bio, and favourable reviews from the likes of authors such as Lee Child and Peter James!), paving the way for a jigsaw of information that forms a shocking picture just in time for the superbly rendered climax. Labyrinthine and yet thrilling, Moonflower Murders is excellent fun.