Magpie Murders
Alan Conway is a bestselling crime writer. His editor, Susan Ryeland, has worked with him for years, and she's intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. Alan's traditional formula pays homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. It's proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.
When Susan receives Alan's latest manuscript, in which Atticus Pünd investigates a murder at Pye Hall, an English manor house, she has no reason to think it will be any different from the others. There will be dead bodies, a cast of intriguing suspects, and plenty of red herrings and clues. But the more Susan reads, the more she’s realizes that there's another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript—one of ambition, jealousy, and greed—and that soon it will lead to murder.
Masterful, clever, and ruthlessly suspenseful, Magpie Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage crime fiction.
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Anthony Horowitz
Long before Alex Rider became a teenage icon or Sherlock Holmes returned to the page with fresh intrigue, Anthony Horowitz was crafting mysteries of his own—first in his imagination, then on the page. Born in 1955 in Middlesex, England, Horowitz grew up surrounded by stories, both real and invented. He discovered early that fiction was more than escape; it was a place to find order in chaos, to solve puzzles that real life couldn’t.
What sets Horowitz apart in the world of crime and thriller fiction is not just the breadth of his work, but the way he reinvents the familiar. Whether he’s breathing new life into Conan Doyle’s beloved detective or twisting timelines in Magpie Murders, Horowitz writes with a sleight of hand that keeps readers constantly guessing—and always a step behind. His novels don’t simply offer whodunits; they explore the act of storytelling itself, often blurring the line between author and character, fiction and reality.
Susan Ryeland
In the world of modern mysteries, few characters blend suspense, intrigue, and clever literary twists as seamlessly as Susan Ryeland. Anthony Horowitz's Susan Ryeland series brings a refreshing, meta approach to the genre, where the boundary between fiction and reality is constantly shifting. At its heart, the series follows Susan, a savvy editor caught up in mysteries that force her to unravel more than just the stories she's editing.
Susan Ryeland consists of three books — considered a complete series. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
