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Saturday, January 27, 2018

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

I read a lot of murder mysteries, but you would not know it from my blog.  I keep that part of my life secret, more or less.  Only my librarian knows for sure.  I occasionally highlight a particularly good writer, but not often.  For example, I think both Tara French and Louise Penny are some of the very best authors of the genre, but I do not review either of their books.  I think the Charles Todd series highlight the experience of WWI for Britain, and are consistently enjoyable, but I do not write about them either.  So why this one?  It is a bit of a unique set up, clever and well written, so I am openly acknowledging my enjoyment of it.
It is a book within a book, and I think it helps to know that up front.  The first to start and the last to finish is a straight ahead Agatha Christie inspired cozy mystery, where there is murder and mayhem at the manor house in a sleepy English village.  Horowitz reportedly likes to emulate British mystery writers, with his first book an ode to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and his second in the style of Ian Fleming.  The second is a murder related directly to the book, and they are different and both are enjoyable.  I won't say more because, you know, it is a murder mystery and picking out the killer is half the attraction, so no clues will be dropped here.

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