Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

 "I was aware that I was dealing with a strange coincidence. A housekeeper falls to her death in what appears to be a straightforward domestic accident and then, not two weeks later, the man who employed her also dies and this time it is unmistakably a murder of the most gruesome sort. I say that it is a coincidence but what I mean it is in fact quite the opposite. There must be a reason why these two events have collided, so to speak, but what is it?

 -Atticus Pund, from the novel

This was a most unusual murder mystery---basically a novel within a novel, with murders in both. This made for two sets of suspects and MANY characters to keep up with. I appreciated the creativity of the author and the plot kept me turning pages, but I will admit I thought it was too long. I had to read in fits and starts and I feel I would have enjoyed it more if I could've read for longer stretches of time. I rated Magpie Murders a 4. 

Susan Ryeland is a book editor of mysteries for Cloverleaf Books who turns amateur detective when she finds pages missing from the latest manuscript. When the author, Alan Conway, is found murdered, Susan is convinced there is a link between the missing pages and the killing and is determined to solve both mysteries. Hence, the second plot thickens!

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The Page Turners met soon after I finished the book and, even though the reviews were mixed, we had a wonderful time talking about it! The group's average rating was 3.4, with five ratings of 2, pretty unusual for our group selections. 

There were differing opinions about characters with a few members feeling they didn't care much for any of them. Others thought the characters were well-developed. At least two of the murdered characters were meant to be unlikeable so there were many plausible suspects.

Many of us were a bit shocked when the novel with missing pages (the one quoted above) came to a complete halt without naming the killer and we were thrown into another crime more in "real time." (The one Susan investigates.)

There were certainly many twists and turns and red herrings, but no one claimed they solved the mystery before the end. We were surprised when one friend explained the significance of the title: Magpie Murders comes from the name of Alan Conway's murder victim, Magnus Pye. That was an aha moment for me!

Some in our group felt this novel was meant to be a satire on murder mysteries, poking fun at mystery writers and their favorite (?) sleuths. A few thought the ending was satisfactory while at least one, disliked it intensely. And, no, I will not be a spoiler!