Magpie Murders is a 2016 mystery novel by Anthony Horowitz that uses a "story within a story" structure, featuring editor Susan Ryeland who discovers a real-life murder hidden within a manuscript for a classic-style detective novel by author Alan Conway. The book is a homage to Golden Age British crime fiction, with the inner story following detective Atticus Pünd in the 1950s, while the outer story follows Ryeland as she tries to solve the real-life mystery connected to the manuscript. It is the first book in the Susan Ryeland series and was adapted into a TV series for PBS Masterpiece. 

Key aspects

• Structure:

  A "book within a book," with a modern-day mystery surrounding the manuscript and a classic 1950s-style whodunit inside it. 
• Characters:

  • Susan Ryeland: The editor who becomes a detective in the real world. 
  • Alan Conway: The bestselling but difficult author of the manuscript. 
  • Atticus Pünd: The fictional detective from Conway's novels. 
• Plot:

  Ryeland realizes that Conway's manuscript, which features Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, contains clues to a real-life murder, leading her to investigate both stories simultaneously. 
• Genre:

  A meta-mystery that pays tribute to classic crime fiction while being a modern thriller. 
• Series:

  It is the first book in the Susan Ryeland series, followed by Moonflower Murders and Marble Hall Murders. 
• Adaptation:

  A six-part TV series starring Lesley Manville aired on PBS Masterpiece in the US.