Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

This is the second mystery in a series, the first was Magpie Murders.

And again, there is the book, and the PBS Masterpiece adaptation.

And once again, I found myself enjoying the PBS version more than the book.

I know, heresy. I make it a firm rule, to read the book before I watch any film or television adaptation. And in the past, I almost always prefer the book, but once again with this author — not in this case.

First the book:

I eagerly awaited Moonflower Murders despite being a hefty 608 pages. I very much enjoyed the cleverness and humor in Horowitz’s Magpie Murders.

Susan Ryeland, introduced in the first book, has returned to solve another mystery. She is now retired from publishing, living with her fiancée, Andreas, on a Greek Island, owning and managing a small hotel.

Being in a financial bind, Susan accepts an offer from the Treharnes to travel to London to analyze a murder mystery book, one written by her former client, Alan Conway. They hope it will provide clues about the recent disappearance of their adult daughter. They claim the idea for the book ‘Moonflower Murders’ had been modeled from a murder that occurred at their hotel eight years ago. The Trehearnes believe Susan’s knowledge of the book and her ties to the now deceased Alan will shed light on Cecily’s disappearance.

Susan just so happens to have edited the book that inspired by this murder (Alan Conway’s Atticus Pünd Takes the Case). The Trehearnes’ daughter, Cecily, disappeared after telling them that Alan’s novel holds the truth behind the 2008 murder.

Similar to Magpie Murders the novel is divided between Susan’s narrative and Alan’s novel. And just like before the book-within-a-book is peppered with obtuse anagrams, puzzles within puzzles, lots of clues, and many, many, characters to keep straight. I ended up spending so much time trying to connect the characters in the inner mystery to those in the outer that it I found it difficult to stay immersed in the story.

Full disclosure, I ended up not finishing the book, knowing that I had recorded the PBS series.

Now the PBS Masterpiece Series:

Just like with the television version of Magpie Murders, Moonflower Murders crosses back and forth in time allowing for a reprieve from the more classically-paced 1950’s mystery manuscript.

Atticus Pünd, the fictional detective from Alan Conway’s book in question, appears to her in the modern day mystery to advise and counsel Susan as she tries to solve Cecily’s disappearance.

And again, wonderfully, the same actors play dual characters in the manuscript and current day.The back and forth between fiction and reality is expertly done so much cleaner than the written book. I found the series so much less confusing and even liked the on screen characters better than in the book. (Leslie Manville is perfectly cast as Susan Ryeland.) As an added bonus, because I hadn’t finished the book – the ending was a complete surprise.

I eagerly watched, and fully enjoyed, every episode of the television series, and donated the book to my neighborhood little free library.

You can watch Moonflower Murders on PBS (on demand or stream HERE)

Here’s a taste

One final note, the book portrays the gay characters as predators and as perverts, not just in this book, but also in Magpie Murders. It’s predictable, offensive, and out of date. The PBS series avoids all of that.

The Flavia de Luce Series

A good friend and book barmy follower asked if I had read any in this series by author Alan Bradley. It took me a minute, but I remembered that, yes I have. I’ve read the first four, but somehow forgot all about them.

This is not a reflection on the books, which I thoroughly enjoyed, just a reflection on my age and sometimes poor memory. I also realized I never wrote about them here.

Let me tell you a bit about the heroine – Flavia de Luce is an eleven year-old girl, mature beyond her years, with an interest in all things chemistry-related, but with a special passion for poisons.

Let’s join Flavia as she mounts her trusty bicycle, Gladys, to solve a murder in the first in the series The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

It is the summer of 1950, and at the once-grand estate of Buckshaw, situated in the English countryside, Flavia is drawn into a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, several hours later, she finds a man lying in the cucumber patch, as he takes his dying breath.

While she is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when this murder comes to Buckshaw. When her widowed father is suspected and arrested for the crime, Flavia is soon trying to untangle the knots surrounding the stranger, a rare stamp, her father’s old schoolmaster, and the dead man in the garden.

I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.

She has many allies in her adventures with a variety of unlikely helpers and protectors. Flavia has to deal with her annoying older sisters, the dotty old housekeeper, her largely detached father and the intriguing and obviously inferior police inspector Hewitt. My favorite character (aside from Flavia) was the gardener and handyman, Dogger, who suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome and just wants to live a quite life but he has a special connection to the youngest De Luce.

The book (and the series that I’ve read) is filled witty intelligent writing.

It is not unknown for fathers with a brace of daughters to reel off their names in order of birth when summoning the youngest, and I had long ago become accustomed to being called ‘Ophelia Daphne Flavia, damn it.

Flavia is funny, and as I said earlier, quite mature for her age.

If there is a thing I truly despise, it is being addressed as ‘dearie.’ When I write my magnum opus, A Treatise Upon All Poisons, and come to Cyanide, I am going to put under “Uses” the phrase “Particularly efficacious in the cure of those who call one ‘Dearie.’

Flavia is also fearless and unflappable Turns out she is is a natural sleuth and is soon bothering everyone in the village to gain insight into the murder and clear her father’s name.

People love to talk–especially when the talking involves answering the questions of others–because it makes them feel wanted. […] I had long ago discovered that the best way to obtain answers about anything was to walk up to the closest person and ask.

The series can be labeled as cozy as there is minimal blood and gore, but there’s lots of action, red herrings and intriguing twists. The characters are so well-written that if you’re like me, you may begin to think of them as real people. I found it refreshing to see that our heroine was thrown off direction as readily as the reader. And this is the bonus – what makes this series stand out — the reader is seeing the world through an eleven year-old’s eyes which makes the story lines come alive.

I love Flavia; her intelligence mixed with mischief, her pluckiness and resourcefulness, her composure when encountering the morbid, and ultimately, how she accomplishes remarkable things while whiling away the long, solitary hours at the crumbling estate.

Mr. Bradley has beautifully captured the foibles of Flavia’s young age — her indignant need to be considered (at least) as capable as the adults around her, then in a different way, how small and lonely she feels when she wants to return to being a child, and doesn’t exactly know how to do it.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie won The Crime Writer’s Association Debut Dagger award and the Agatha Award for best first novel. And Marilyn Stasio, who reviews crime novels for The New York Times Book Review, included it as one of the best mysteries of the year.

The story goes, that after completing only fifteen pages of Sweetness, Mr. Bradley (within eight days) had secured book deals in three countries, not withstanding, this was his first attempt at writing a novel at 70 years of age.

So, Book Barmy followers, if you enjoy reading English countryside mysteries, without excessive violence, but are looking for something more than a typical comfort read – how about a most unusual detective, great writing, humor, and a unruly amount of knowledge about poisons — treat yourself to this wonderful series. I’m putting number five on my list.

N.B. In case you’re wondering about the titles, Mr. Bradley frequently borrows lines from canonical English poems which he often quotes before the title page

Bibliomysteries

When we were in New York City a few years ago, I was able to talk Husband into venturing into Tribeca, home of the famous (at least to me) Mysterious Bookshop. It’s a wonderful shop run by the infamous Otto Penzler and devoted entirely to mysteries.

Most tempting was this section of Bibliomysteries.

Found only at this bookshop, these small volumes are short mysteries stories themed or set in bookstores, libraries, or just involving books. I purchased up a few, I mean, how could I resist – really? They are perfect to put in pocket, stash in the glove compartment or tucked into a carry-on – just in case you get caught without something to read (gasp!).

During our last trip I experienced such an occasion and lucky for me, had this in my purse:

Seven Years by Peter Robinson

Retired professor, Donald Aitcheson, spends his time driving through the English countryside, exploring small villages and dipping into whatever used bookstores he can find. (A man after my own heart.)

It is one of the greatest pleasures of my retirement to set out early on a fine morning for some ancient town or city renowned for the quantity and quality of its second-hand bookshops.

On one such outing, he finds a collection of Robert Browning’s poetry with an inscription that uses lines from “Porphyria’s Lover” to threaten the book’s original recipient. Perhaps this note was only a joke made in poor taste; still, something about its tone captivates Aitcheson’s otherwise unoccupied mind, and leads him to a remote boarding school to investigate. But when what starts as a harmless game of detective comes too close to a deadly truth, Aitcheson finds himself face-to-face with a killer, and learns that some pages are best left unturned…

A short read, but extremely well-plotted and with an unexpected ending –there’s substance in this novella.

Peter Robinson is best known for his Inspector Banks series (of which I’ve read a few) and remember admiring his writing style, his characters come alive, and the settings in Yorkshire were wonderfully rendered.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this short novel during my hour wait.

And, there’s so many more to choose from…

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

Thrillers are not my go-to reading genre, but I do like them when traveling. The tedious airplane trips especially call for a good page-turner. My only thriller requirement is that it has to be well written with good reviews.

I chose the The Kind Worth Killing because the Washington Post said “it should be a contender for crime fiction’s best first novel of 2014.” It has also been compared to Gone Girl, a thriller which I really admired (the film, not so much). This is a modern re-imagining of Patricia Highsmith’s 1950 classic thriller, Strangers on a Train, but trust me, with many different and unique twists.

The flight from London to Boston is delayed and Lily, a young beautiful woman sits down next to Ted and as alcohol loosens his tongue, he tells her about his cheating wife. It turns out they are on the same flight and arrange to sit next to each other. By the end of the flight and more discussion, Lily says:

Truthfully, I don’t think murder is necessarily as bad as people make it out to be. Everyone dies. What difference does it make if a few bad apples get pushed along a little sooner than God intended? And your wife, for example, seems like the kind worth killing.

At first, it is very, very similar to “Strangers on a Train” but about a third of the way through The Kind Worth Killing takes some jaw-dropping twists and turns, and things get more and more complicated. (turns out murder is really hard, you guys.)

The novel uses alternating narratives of the main characters, and it switches between past and current timelines. Mr. Swanson does this masterfully, using the past narratives to provide details, previous connections and clues. At the same time, he manages to hold back enough specifics to keep you guessing on how everything is going to end.

The writing never feels gimmicky or contrived. Every time I thought I knew where it was going, more twists would happen but the writing kept it natural and soberly real. What I found most enjoyable, was when the layers were peeled back to reveal more information about each character, and new ones were introduced.

It’s a game of cat and mouse…but just who is the cat and who is the mouse? My head was spinning – who is the killer? Who is the victim? Is there anyone you can trust?

I was shocked at the ending, and read it twice. I did not see it coming and the story ends a far cry from what I expected…hmmmm.

And I think I will stop here, and not reveal anything further so I don’t spoil it for you. Because if you like thrillers, or need a good vacation read – you must read A Kind Worth Killing.

And because I will never learn…

There is a second in this series, which I hope picks up where this left off.

And another to add to my list — Mr. Swanson also wrote The Girl with a Clock for a Heart—which the Washington Post raves, “should be a contender for crime fiction’s best first novel of 2014.”

Yes, two more books to add to my pile – it’s a sickness I tell you, but I don’t need or want help…Okay?

Orchid Mysteries by Michelle Wan

Only once was I able to visit Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon — the largest independent bookstore in the world. Husband and I were there on a short holiday to see the gardens (beautiful), explore the city (nice), and of course this infamous bookstore. Husband took a long look at the sign, then saw my astounded and delighted face — and decided he would retreat to a bar across the street to watch the basketball playoffs. It’s still a wonder that he puts up with me.

It was a wonderful hour or so just exploring and browsing. But, we had flown up to Portland for a long weekend, with only two small bags, so I had to limit my purchases to what I (and/or Husband) could carry. In the end, I showed up at the bar with tired feet and just a small bag of books.

These books were part of that haul:

These are the first two in a series of orchid murder mysteries set in Dordogne region of south west France. I read the first, Deadly Slipper immediately upon returning from out trip, but the second one, Orchid Shroud, has long waited patiently on my shelves, unread…

I went back and skimmed through the first to remind myself what the mystery was about and soon I was re-reading entire chapters. I found my notes in the back of the book, so will tell you this all about this well-written and unique mystery

Deadly Slipper by Michelle Wan

In the Dordogne in the south west of France, Mara Dunn is trying to find out what happened to her twin sister, Bedie, who disappeared nineteen years earlier. While it is a long shot, Mara needs to find out what happened to her sister and get on with her life.

Beatrice “Bede” Dunn was fascinated with wild orchids and wild orchid hunting, and became passionate about documenting the existence the breeding grounds of a particular species. In 1984 she and her boyfriend, Scott, went on a hiking and orchid hunting holiday in the Dordogne. When it began to rain, the couple had an argument about whether to leave their camp and seek shelter elsewhere or to stay put. Bede was adamant about remaining and so she did – alone. When Scott returned two days later the tent and their things were still at the campsite, but Bede was gone, along with her camera, backpack, Michelin guide and a book on wildflowers and orchids. No one ever saw the young woman again. After a massive search and investigation, which garnered much publicity, no evidence of foul play was discovered as there was no body, no crime scene.

Mara has found a loaded camera that she believed was owned by her sister, and had the deteriorated film processed and prints made. She has come to the Dordogne area to consult with orchid expert Julian Wood to see if he is able to identify the locations shown in the photos. The police have already told Mara that there is not enough identifying features in the photos, but she is determined to learn the truth.

Julian feels there is no chance of finding where these photos were taken, let alone finding Bedie, but he is fascinated with the final photo – a photo of Cypripedium – Sabot de Venus in French, sometimes called Lady’s Slipper in English. Julian becomes motivated to begin a search as Mara, but for different reasons. And since this rare wild orchid does not grow in the Dordogne, or anywhere in Europe, he has his own mystery to unravel – and he decides to become involved with Mara and her investigation.This extremely rare orchid could not be growing in this area — yet there it is, clearly photographed.

Not only a good literary mystery, Deadly Slipper was a really a fun book to read. Filled with an exotic cast of characters – from the local bogeyman and his mother, who is even scarier than her son, to the bizarre Sauvignac family, (the local nobility), to an indifferent French police inspector, to Julian Wood’s fanatic orchid hunting nemesis, and the regulars down at Chez Nous, the town’s cafe/bar/gourmet restaurant. The narrative surrounding the orchids are fascinating, and then there’s the food, wine and the gorgeous countryside – the setting is totally realistic and French.

Ms. Wan is a fascinating person as well. She was born in Kunming, China, grew up in the United States, and has lived in India, England, France and Brazil. She and her husband, a tropical horticulturalist, visit the Dordogne annually to photograph and chart wild orchids.

One day in southwest France Ms. Wan found her first wild orchid, and thus orchids and murder came together in the Death in the Dordogne series.

So, I’ve decided to keep these books, and put the second one Orchid Shroud on my staggering TBR file. But first I have to finish one – at least one — of the three books I’m currently reading (see previous post).

There are still two more in the Death in the Dordogne series ~~perhaps? maybe? should I?

An English Murder by Cyril Hare

First published in 1951, this Christmas mystery takes place in the favorite setting of British murder mysteries — the large country home.

Lord Warbeck summons his remaining family to the ancestral home for a holiday gathering. This country home is rather run-down with a greatly reduced staff — the result of high postwar British income taxes. It’s a very mixed group of people who arrive and there are creepy undercurrents from the very first pages. This house party is snowbound on Christmas Eve, and of course a murder ensues.

Thank goodness an eccentric little Sargent from Scotland Yard is present, but the historian saves the day, with the help of William Pitt. If all that sounds a lot like Agatha Christie — well, that’s because it is. The mystery plot turns on — well, I don’t want to give it away, suffice it to say our author, Mr. Hare, was a British barrister.

This a classic English murder mystery in all the right ways — the snowbound setting, odd characters with funny names, the sly British sense of humor, and of course, the Christmas-y feel.

At only 202 pages, it is the perfect quick holiday read with a cup of cocoa after a busy day of your own holiday preparations.

Treat yourself to that beautiful copy of An English Murder shown above – don’t-cha love that cover?

I re-read my old battered copy found used at the now defunct Mystery Bookshop in San Francisco.

It doesn’t look very Christmas-y, but it’s a keepsake.

It’s raining here, the tree is up and decorated, most gifts are wrapped, and I may shall take a break, and read another Christmas book.

Stay warm and safe people. Cheers!