Welcome to our Book of the Day section, where we’ll recommend a different book each day, keeping all those titles listed below.Happy reading!
January 27, 2024
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
From the New York Times bestselling author of Moriarty, this fiendishly brilliant, riveting thriller weaves a classic whodunit worthy of Agatha Christie into a chilling, ingeniously original modern-day mystery.
When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.
Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder.
Masterful, clever, and relentlessly suspenseful, Magpie Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction in which the reader becomes the detective.
From TRBS: This British cozy mystery is not to be missed. In many ways, Magpie Murders is two books in one, and the premise set forth by Horowitz is absolutely genius. The story opens with Susan Ryeland, a publishing executive who has just received the latest manuscript from major bestselling author Alan Conway. Susan, who has served as the editor for Conway’s internationally bestselling Atticus Pünd series for more than a decade, is stunned when she finds out that Conway is dead only a couple of days after turning in his manuscript. He left a suicide note, revealing that he was terminally ill and didn’t want to wait around for the inevitable. With his final book done, he was at peace with things. Except, as Susan quickly realizes, Conway’s final book—Magpie Murders—is not done. The final chapter is missing, and as any reader knows, a whodunit without the ending (where the detective always reveals the killer and their motive) is useless. So, Susan goes searching for Conway’s final chapter and, in the process, discovers that Alan had fictionalized much of his actual life in the story. Then, she finds evidence suggesting that Conway didn’t take his own life. The clues to who actually killed him are in his unfinished work . . . and as Horwitz alternates between Susan’s investigation and the actual ages of Magpie Murders, readers are treated to two whodunits at once. Seriously, do not miss this book. It starts a little slow, but once it gets going, you won’t find a better mystery than this.
January 26, 2024.
Read the series that inspired Three Pines on Prime Video.
In Still Life, bestselling author Louise Penny introduces Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec.
Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces—and this series—with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented new writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny.
From TRBS: The Golden Age of Mysteries, back when Agatha Christie was still churning out Hercule Poirot books, was a special for the genre. I’m not sure we’ll ever see anything quite like that again, but even so, mystery fans are lucky to have some really great authors working today. The modern whodunit is a tough nut to crack for a writer. Think about it. These days, with CCTV and Ring/Blink cameras everywhere, the likelihood that nobody would bear witness to a crime that also wasn’t picked up on a video/camera feed somewhere seems low. There are just too many eyeballs and too many camera lenses. It’s interesting to wonder how Christie might deal with such technology today, and even fair to question if the character of Hercule Poirot would stand out in 2024. No one can say for sure. In any event, there is a modern-day investigator taking on complex and unsolvable murder cases, and his name is Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec. Penny’s protagonist differs from Poirot in many ways, but the most obvious is his demeanor and thoughtfulness. Poirot, at times, can be almost unlikable. That is never the case with Gamache, who has a tenderness to him. He’s built of compassion and grace and exhibits patience, even when most everyone else would snap. Gamache sees the best in people, especially the victims he works so hard to secure justice for, but also with his “projects” or colleagues who are put under his command to learn proper training and temperament. But don’t let his soft side fool you, Gamache is a brilliant detective, and he thrives in Penny’s capable hands. If you love a good mystery, you have to read this series. It’s one of my favorites in print today and perfect for fans of Christie and Anthony Horowitz. Still Life is the first in the series, which at the time of this write-up, is currently nineteen books long.