Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

This is the second mystery in a series, the first was Magpie Murders.

And again, there is the book, and the PBS Masterpiece adaptation.

And once again, I found myself enjoying the PBS version more than the book.

I know, heresy. I make it a firm rule, to read the book before I watch any film or television adaptation. And in the past, I almost always prefer the book, but once again with this author — not in this case.

First the book:

I eagerly awaited Moonflower Murders despite being a hefty 608 pages. I very much enjoyed the cleverness and humor in Horowitz’s Magpie Murders.

Susan Ryeland, introduced in the first book, has returned to solve another mystery. She is now retired from publishing, living with her fiancée, Andreas, on a Greek Island, owning and managing a small hotel.

Being in a financial bind, Susan accepts an offer from the Treharnes to travel to London to analyze a murder mystery book, one written by her former client, Alan Conway. They hope it will provide clues about the recent disappearance of their adult daughter. They claim the idea for the book ‘Moonflower Murders’ had been modeled from a murder that occurred at their hotel eight years ago. The Trehearnes believe Susan’s knowledge of the book and her ties to the now deceased Alan will shed light on Cecily’s disappearance.

Susan just so happens to have edited the book that inspired by this murder (Alan Conway’s Atticus Pünd Takes the Case). The Trehearnes’ daughter, Cecily, disappeared after telling them that Alan’s novel holds the truth behind the 2008 murder.

Similar to Magpie Murders the novel is divided between Susan’s narrative and Alan’s novel. And just like before the book-within-a-book is peppered with obtuse anagrams, puzzles within puzzles, lots of clues, and many, many, characters to keep straight. I ended up spending so much time trying to connect the characters in the inner mystery to those in the outer that it I found it difficult to stay immersed in the story.

Full disclosure, I ended up not finishing the book, knowing that I had recorded the PBS series.

Now the PBS Masterpiece Series:

Just like with the television version of Magpie Murders, Moonflower Murders crosses back and forth in time allowing for a reprieve from the more classically-paced 1950’s mystery manuscript.

Atticus Pünd, the fictional detective from Alan Conway’s book in question, appears to her in the modern day mystery to advise and counsel Susan as she tries to solve Cecily’s disappearance.

And again, wonderfully, the same actors play dual characters in the manuscript and current day.The back and forth between fiction and reality is expertly done so much cleaner than the written book. I found the series so much less confusing and even liked the on screen characters better than in the book. (Leslie Manville is perfectly cast as Susan Ryeland.) As an added bonus, because I hadn’t finished the book – the ending was a complete surprise.

I eagerly watched, and fully enjoyed, every episode of the television series, and donated the book to my neighborhood little free library.

You can watch Moonflower Murders on PBS (on demand or stream HERE)

Here’s a taste

One final note, the book portrays the gay characters as predators and as perverts, not just in this book, but also in Magpie Murders. It’s predictable, offensive, and out of date. The PBS series avoids all of that.