This is a sequel to Magpie Murders, which I enjoyed immensely & highly recommend. And just like in that book, here we have two books in one. The main story & the mystery book written by Alan Parrish (the murder victim in Magpie Murders) that reveals secrets about the current crimes Susan is trying to solve. I hear a lot of authors being called “the modern day Agatha Christies” but to me Horowitz should be the winner! He is extremely talented & I find his stories insanely fun to read & a thrill to try & solve along the way. This book is amazing, I was hooked the whole way through. The first third is about Susan, the middle is the Atticus Pund novel & the last third is the ultimate conclusion. This could be dismaying for some readers as you go away from the main plot line for a couple hundred pages. I however loved it. I don’t know if there will be a third book in this series but I’ll be reading it for sure.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley,

I don't think I can succinctly summarize the plot, but the outer story concerns Susan investigating the disappearance of a woman called Cecily, which is linked to an eight year old murder. The secret to her disappearance is in a novel Susan once edited, and this is why Susan is asked to do the investigating. The logic of this didn't really convince, and nor did the lengths Susan seemed to go to to delay actually re-reading the novel, but I found that part of the plot entertaining and fast-moving.

Eventually Susan did re-read the novel in question, and it is embedded in this novel in its entirety. Things started to drag a bit for me at this point and I enjoyed this thread much less.

The solution to the main plot was logical and had been cleverly clued (although some of the clues were a bit of a stretch), but was lacking in emotional impact. The solution in the embedded novel was improbable in other ways, but was more emotionally satisfying. I liked the Susan/Andreas storyline.

I wish to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins Canada for the ingenious Moonflower Murders Arc by Anthony Horowitz. This book and the previous one, The Magpie Murders, feature amateur detective, Susan Ryeland. These books are a superb homage to the Golden Age of British mystery exemplified by the writings of Agatha Christie. Like the previous book, The Moonflower Murders is clever and original in its construction and it works well as a stand-alone. We get an old fashioned mystery set in the early 1950s within a modern mystery story. Who doesn't enjoy a two for one deal?!

Susan Ryeland was a book editor in England, but retired and moved with her boyfriend, Andreas, to Crete. They are running a seaside hotel which is not prospering. It is exhausting work and their debt is increasing. Susan is being to have doubts about their personal relationship and their stress keeping the hotel running. She is missing England and her previous work for a book publishing company.

She is approached by a wealthy British couple, the Treharnes, who own an exclusive Suffolk hotel. Eight years ago, a hotel guest named Frank Parris was brutally murdered in his room during the wedding of their daughter, Cecily. The handyman was convicted of the murder and imprisoned.

Recently, Cecily read a mystery book by the late author, Alan Conway. The book titled 'Atticus Pund Takes the Case' was one of his best selling series set in the early 1950s. The book was loosely based on the murder that disrupted Cecily's wedding, the hotel staff and members of the wedding party. Conway's series, featuring Detective Atticus Pund, contain hidden clues, anagrams and other word puzzles. Cecily told her parents that she knew who committed the murder of Frank Parris from clues embedded within the story and that the wrong man had been convicted. She vanished before revealing what she had discovered. Her disappearance was probably connected to her figuring out who committed the murder. This put her life in danger. Her parents want to hire Susan to find out their daughter's fate. Because she edited all of Conway's detective series, they feel Susan is the person to figure out what clues Cecily found in the book that identified the true killer.

Susan returns to England. She has been offered a large sum of money by the Treharnes and lodging at their luxury hotel. She has the eight-year-old murder to solve as well as Cecily's recent disappearance. She realizes there are many members of the wedding and hotel staff to interview. There were a number of suspects with reason to want Frank Parris dead.

At this point, Susan begins to reread 'Atticus Pund Takes the Case' searching for the hidden clues and having no luck. She smartly takes notes about each character, their relationships, their location and the timeline for the murder. I wish I had done the same. There were so many names of subjects in both storylines that it took much concentration to keep the characters straight. This added to the complexity of both stories. When the tangled relationships and motives were explained, everything made sense in a believable manner, proving how well the plots were planned and executed. I found the writing style and tone very similar in both stories except for the mention of modern technology in the present-day tale. Both Susan Ryeland in modern times and Atticus Pund, the 1950s detective, call all the relevant cast together in a room to explain their conclusions, a tribute to Christie and all.

Readers who enjoy traditional, old fashioned style mysteries should find this book enjoyable and a pleasure to read.