“Magpie Murders” by Anthony Horowitz

I got really excited about this book pretty soon after I opened it. You open it, there’s the title page and whatever, and then it begins with a brief foreword by someone, whatever, move on, but then you come to another title page. Exact same title, still Magpie Murders but the author is different. In fact, the author doesn’t exist. And there’s a list of his other books, none of which exist either. And the reviews on the other side of the page are fake as well. It’s a book within a book!

The book within a book form allows for there to be two mysteries taking place within the plot. One of a fictional character in a story, and one of the author of the story. These mysteries weave in and out of each other, as clues are similarly described, and the people and places reflect each other. The author of the story-within-a-story took many aspects from his life, and all of these details are brought up. The two crimes become inextricably linked, and to solve one would be to solve the other.

This also allows for a ton of playing with mystery tropes. Each one is brought up in its original form in the story-within-a-story, and then is acknowledged and analyzed outside of it. This includes the wordplay, the characters names, the bumbling sidekick, the fact that mysteries are usually set in small towns, and how crime authors usually hated their detectives. This makes it a self-aware mystery, and honestly what crime fan hasn’t noticed these on their own already? Having them out in the open is much more amusing. There are also plenty of allusions to other mysteries as a result. Conan Doyle, Christie, and others all make their appearances on the pages.

Besides this, the main character (once you get beyond the story-within-a-story) is incredibly cool and very relatable since she is a book lover. She works as an editor in a publishing firm, and therefore knows all of these tropes and references. The commentary comes from her, and her knowledge of the genre. What reader doesn’t identify with a fellow book lover? She’s the ideal narrator for this tale.

Clearly this was a labor of love by a mystery fan (Horowitz) to pay homage to and critique the great crime novels of the past. It’s incredibly unique as a mystery novel, and a joy to read since you can sense the fun and the love that went into it.