Review: Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz picks up straight after Magpie Murders and it was a pleasure to catch up with publishing editor turned hotelier Susan Ryeland. Susan is living in Greece with her boyfriend and running a hotel in Crete that is barely making a profit when a married couple from London ask to speak with her.

They too run a hotel and their daughter Cecily has gone missing. Years earlier, on the day of Cecily's wedding a murder took place with the guilty party eventually locked up in jail. However, Cecily has recently gone missing after reading Atticus Pund Takes The Case by the late Alan Conway and calling her parents convinced it has something to do with the murder. Nobody knows Atticus Pund Takes The Case better than Susan, given she edited the book years ago so she agrees to travel to London for a fee to see if she can find out what happened to Cecily.

Once again, Anthony Horowitz has executed clever plotting, but second time around I gave up trying to guess the whodunnit and enjoyed being led by the proverbial collar until Horowitz was ready for his final reveal. I was impressed by the complex plot devices, however I didn't enjoy being made to feel a little foolish at the end with a showy reveal by Conway/Susan/Horowitz and clues I had no hope of following; look how many lion references were in the text. Maybe the reader isn't expected to be able to identify any of these clues let alone solve the multiple mysteries but they were so detailed and obscure they felt contrived.

The confusing page numbering system from the first book in the series rears its ugly head again here, with the manuscript Atticus Pund Takes the Case by Alan Conway incorporated into the novel. The manuscript is inserted after Page 227, after which the page numbers begin all over again with Page 1. Then, when Atticus Pund Takes the Case has concluded, we return to Susan Ryeland's investigation which forms Moonflower Murders at Page 231. I believe this is entirely unnecessary and the change in font and inclusion of a cover page, title page, dedication, table of contents and character list clearly signposts the change.

Since finishing this book I enjoyed watching the TV adaptation of Magpie Murders when I'd previously found it impenetrable. When it came out in 2022, I gave it a one episode trial but couldn't work out why actors were playing multiple characters in different timelines. After reading the book and understanding Alan Conway bases characters in his manuscript on people he knows in real life it instantly made sense.

Moonflower Murders has also been adapted for the screen with the same actors returning to play the key characters and I have plans to check that out soon. There's a third book in the series entitled Marble Hall Murders - published in 2025 - but I think I'm going to leave it here for now. There are other authors writing in the style of vintage detective crime novels in tribute to authors like Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle that I enjoy much more; I'm looking at you Benjamin Stevenson!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Carpe Librum!

Review: Devil Mountain by Inessa Jackson

* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *

Devil Mountain is a debut novel by Inessa Jackson and the author has certainly made an arresting entrance into the somewhat crowded scene of Australian crime fiction.

Based in Sydney, Detective Sergeant Anastasia Brown is reeling from an unjust workplace suspension when she's sent to Stony Creek - a small town in NSW - to investigate the murder of a local GP. Pairing up with local Detective Harry Frost, Ana gets a quick run down of the unusual crime scene and seeks to find out more about the victim and why someone would want to kill him.

This police procedural moves quickly and several motives are swiftly identified. I loved this phrase summing up the motives for murder and haven't heard or seen it before:

"It met the criteria for one of the most common motivations for murder: love, lust, loot and loathing." Page 38

The mountain of the title overlooks Stony Creek and forms part of the Stony Creek State Forest where lights have been seen and the vengeful spirit of a wronged woman is said to haunt the mountain for eternity. Yikes!

DS Ana Brown is an easy protagonist to cheer for as she tackles misogyny in the workplace, peels back layers of lies in the small town to reveal adultery and addiction, investigates a Wiccan coven and plunges headlong into the forest despite the reported hauntings.

Detective Harry Frost was a highlight and my favourite character and I'd love to see Ana and Harry working together again in the future if this becomes a series.

Devil Mountain by Inessa Jackson is an enjoyable Aussie noir crime novel although I wish the supernatural element was more prominent.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Carpe Librum!

Review: Devil's Wolf by Paul Doherty

Devil's Wolf by Paul Doherty is the 19th book in the medieval mystery series featuring Sir Hugh Corbett, The Keeper of the Secret Seal. It's September 1311 and as the personal envoy of King Edward II of England, Corbett has been sent north to investigate the veracity of an anonymous letter received by the King promising information that could allow England to exit from the war with the Scots.

Finding himself caught up in the events of the north, Corbett - along with his loyal servants Ranulf-atte-Newgate, Senior Clerk in the Chancery of the Green Wax and Chanson, Clerk of the Stables - must get to the bottom of a series of murders in order to find out what's really happening.

Following the same formula as the 18 books which have preceded Devil's Wolf, Corbett interviews informants, allies and foes; gathers clues; organises his observations; eliminates suspects and contemplates all of the information without sharing with anybody before making his big reveal at the end. Naturally his life is threatened a number of times as the villain/s attempt to disrupt his investigation and evade the King's justice.

Despite being extremely well researched, I have started to question my commitment to this series and was curious to know whether I was reading from a place of obligation or pleasure. I decided to go back and look at the star ratings I've given to each of the 20 books I've read by Paul Doherty; noting the first one I read of his was The Cup of Ghosts from the Mathilde of Westminster series. I was actually quite shocked to find that overall, the average rating for the books I've read by this author between 2006-2026 was 3.27 stars.

Given these stats and the fact that my copy of Devil's Wolf has been on my shelf since 2018, I've decided to stop reading any more of his books. Doherty is a prolific author and there are still 6 more books in the Hugh Corbett series - Death's Dark Valley (Book 20), Hymn to Murder (Book 21), Mother Midnight (Book 22), Realm of Darkness (Book 23), Banners of Hell (Book 24) and Immortal Murder (Book 25) published in 2025 - but I think I'm going to leave it there.

There's also the small matter of how much space these books take up on my bookshelf as I've kept them all. Usually when a book is a 3 star read for me I move it on unless it's signed or has some particular sentimental value. If I can, I might try and sell these online as nobody in Australia is offering them as a set like this. At the very least, I'll enjoy freeing up some additional space on my bookshelf.

This is the longest series I've ever read from the beginning and I didn't get to the 'end' which is disappointing, but there are just too many good prospects waiting on my TBR pile to be held captive to a series for nostalgic reasons. Are you continuing to read a series out of a sense of obligation or completionism?

Now that I've made my decision it feels quite freeing, so as I bid farewell to Sir Hugh Corbett, here are the books in order complete with links to my reviews:

(Book 1) Satan in St Mary's
(Book 2) Crown in Darkness
(Book 3) Spy in Chancery
(Book 4) The Angel of Death
(Book 5) The Prince of Darkness
(Book 6) Murder Wears a Cowl
(Book 7) The Assassin in the Greenwood
(Book 8) The Song of a Dark Angel
(Book 9) Satan's Fire
(Book 10) The Devil's Hunt
(Book 11) The Demon Archer
(Book 12) The Treason of the Ghosts
(Book 13) Corpse Candle
(Book 14) The Magician's Death
(Book 15) The Waxman Murders
(Book 16) Nightshade
(Book 17) The Mysterium
(Book 18) Dark Serpent
(Book 19) Devil's Wolf

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Carpe Librum!

Review: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz is a modern whodunnit with a confident nod to vintage crime novels and a tipping of the hat to the golden age of detective fiction. Susan Ryeland is an editor at a publishing house tasked with editing the next whodunnit by bestselling author Alan Conway. An unpleasant man, the book begins with a short prologue from Susan's perspective before we dive straight into Conway's new manuscript.

I felt a little wrong footed in the beginning with the introduction of so many characters in the small fictional village of Saxby-on-Avon, however I needn't have worried. Conway - the author of the manuscript - kept the reader on track with helpful hints along the way. Set in the 1950s, there are a number of murders in the manuscript and when we leave Conway's work and return to Susan Ryeland, a contemporary murder takes her by complete surprise.

"You'd have thought that after twenty years editing murder mysteries I'd have noticed when I found myself in the middle of one." Page 60

Susan is a likeable character and successful editor and I enjoyed watching her step out from behind the safety of her desk and begin investigating in the role of amateur detective.

Horowitz generously gives us multiple layered murders to contemplate and solve and I really enjoyed the meta nature of the murder mystery within a murder mystery. As if this weren't enough, Susan makes mention of real world authors and books in the text which added to my enjoyment and will appeal to other self-proclaimed book lovers.

Susan reflects:

"I've always loved whodunnits. I've not just edited them. I've read them for pleasure throughout my life, gorging on them actually. You must know that feeling when it's raining outside and the heating's on and you lose yourself, utterly, in a book. You read and you read and you feel the pages slipping through your fingers until suddenly there are fewer in your right hand than there are in your left and you want to slow down but you still hurtle on towards a conclusion you can hardly bear to discover. That is the particular power of the whodunnit which has, I think, a special place within the general panoply of literary fiction because, of all characters, the detective enjoys a particular, indeed a unique relationship with the reader." Page 156

You can't help but smile at the likelihood Horowitz is sharing his own love of whodunnits here in the guise of Susan. On a meta level, he's also showing us that the detective enjoys a unique relationship with the reader - and by extension the creator of the detective - and that he cherishes it greatly.

The only part of Magpie Murders I didn't enjoy was the confusing page numbering system. The book begins with a short 3 page prologue, then 219 pages of Alan Conway's manuscript entitled Magpie Murders - An Atticus Pund Mystery. Conway's manuscript is helpfully printed in a different font (possibly Courier) and the author demarcates the transition back to the original text by changing the font again. However the page numbering picks up from the prologue beginning on page 4. Confused yet?

And THEN, on page 196 of the text, when we return to the manuscript, the numbering picks up from page 219 where the manuscript previously left off. This confusing page numbering system swaps at least once more in the book and I'm not sure it helps divide the book between manuscript and narrative. The difference in font style more than adequately distinguishes between the two writing styles and without this poor stylistic choice, this would have been a five star read for me.

Published in 2016, Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz is the first book in the Susan Ryeland series with Moonflower Murders published in 2020 and Marble Hall Murders published in 2025 to follow. Magpie Murders has since been adapted for TV and now that I've finished reading it, I'm looking forward to watching the 2022 drama series later in the year. I also have Moonflower Murders on my bookshelf thanks to a generous friend who let me borrow her copy and as soon as I've read it, I look forward to watching the 2024 TV series adaptation.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz is highly recommended for those who enjoy a clever meta novel with a mystery within a mystery stuffed full of clues, colourful suspects and even the odd anagram.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Carpe Librum!

Review: Kill Your Boss by Jack Heath

* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *

Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui is back in Kill Your Boss by Jack Heath. We last saw Kiara in Kill Your Husbands, the second in the series that began with Kill Your Brother back in 2022. Kiara is working in the small town of Warrigal in New South Wales (not Warrigul, Victoria) when a body falls from the roof of the public library onto a bike rack directly in front of her.

Neville was Head of Library Services and was disliked by almost every person who was unlucky enough to know him or had the displeasure of working with him. Kiara has multiple suspects and we're given multiple character perspectives in this whodunnit including Neville, Kiara, Kiara's colleague Ben and several staff members at the library.

The Australian location is relatable and Jack Heath's sense of humour always makes me laugh:

'You ever heard that funny German word - the one that means "a face in need of a slap"?' 'Backpfeifengesicht,' Ben puts in. 'That's the one!' Steven says, delighted. 'I could never pronounce it. Think the Australian equivalent is "fuckwit". Page 187

However as Kiara investigates Neville's fall and the prime suspect turns up dead, there are glimpses of insight I always enjoy from this author:

"Coffee doesn't make you more alert, it just stops you from noticing how tired you are. It's like hiding the fuel gauge instead of filling up the tank." Page 77

I really enjoyed this analogy and found myself quoting it for a friend within a week of reading it. Even as I was doing so, I acknowledged the strangeness of quoting a crime author - of a killer cannibal series no less - during a conversation with a friend in need. Thanks Jack!

I believe Kill Your Boss can be read as a standalone although I enjoyed it more than Kill Your Husbands, tipping it over into 5 star territory. The library setting and the cast of characters made Kill Your Boss a highly enjoyable read and fans of Benjamin Stevenson will definitely enjoy this clever Australian whodunnit. 

I'll admit I'm dying to get back to the Timothy Blake series so fingers crossed Jack Heath returns soon to the best fictional cannibal ever created on the page.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware

* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *

The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware is the sequel to The Woman in Cabin 10, published in 2016. While some readers have patiently waited 9 years to find out what happened to Laura Blacklock after the events on the Aurora, I only had to wait a week. I read The Woman in Cabin 10 in the lead up to the release of The Woman in Suite 11 which I think was a huge advantage as all of the characters were fresh in my mind.

After the events in Norway, Laura published a book entitled Dark Waters and has been a stay at home Mum in the US raising two kids with husband Judah. After 6 years of occasional freelancing, Laura is ready to re-enter the workforce on a permanent basis and is interviewing for a job.

Although still introducing herself as Lo - ugh - I was pleased to see a more mature Laura in these pages. Now a Mum, Laura's excessive drinking is a thing of the past although she's still making questionable choices which drives the narrative forward.

Ruth Ware has an appealing way of including the everyday into a character's behaviour, and I particularly enjoyed this one:

"For the next half hour, I tried to distract myself. I scrolled my phone, did Wordle and the New York Times Spelling Bee..." Page 144

I do the Wordle with my friend every day and the New York Times Spelling Bee every night with my husband, so I loved seeing this reflected in the main character. But I always 'do the Wordle', but here Laura 'did Wordle'... have I been saying this incorrectly the whole time?

As I mentioned in my review of The Woman in Cabin 10, author Ruth Ware loves a locked room mystery and this time she literally gave us one. I found some of the sleuthing around the comings and goings of a particular hotel room a tiny bit tedious but it was all necessary to inform the plot and narrow down the suspect pool.

I loved learning the identity of the woman in the title - don't worry, no spoilers here - and the complex dynamic between Laura and the supporting character play out, which also formed the focus of the book. I recommend The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware to fans of crime and mystery novels, but you'll definitely need to read The Woman in Cabin 10 first.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware features a new-to-me type of protagonist. Laura Blacklock is a travel journalist invited to sail on the maiden voyage of boutique luxury liner Aurora. The cruise ship is headed to the Norwegian fjords to see the northern lights and Laura - who introduces herself as Lo - is on board to write an article about the journey.

After a few too many drinks over dinner with fellow guests on the first night, Lo sees a person being thrown overboard from the balcony next to hers, Cabin 10. The crew explain Cabin 10 is unoccupied due to a late guest cancellation and don't believe her account. The captain and owner of the ship conduct a full head count and confirm that every guest and crew member is accounted for. Nobody is missing.

An industry colleague - who happens to be Lo's ex boyfriend - suspects her anxiety medication might be to blame so Lo sets out to prove what she saw by putting her journalistic skills to work and investigating.

There was a little too much drinking on this work trip for my liking and I didn't like the nickname Lo, but they were minor niggles. There was a lot of time spent talking to crew members and trying to find the woman she saw in Cabin 10 the day she embarked and while I understand this was a necessary step in Lo's enquiries, it did grow a little tired. Thankfully the plot eventually moved on and the pace picked up again shortly after.

The isolation of the cruise ship at sea without phone signal or internet access created an Agatha Christie type scenario of sorts with a locked room mystery to solve. Only this time the characters were at sea although the isolated suspect pool was similar to that of One by One by Ruth Ware and I get the feeling the author loves to create these situational mysteries. The reader is left to decide if Lo is an unreliable witness or whether the woman in Cabin 10 did exist but was murdered and thrown overboard.

Published in 2016, I've seen comparisons to The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (published in 2015) however Lo was far less flawed than Rachel, making her a better protagonist capable of acting in her own best interests and furthering the plot in a more engaging way.

I recently watched the movie adaptation of The Woman in Cabin 10 starring Keira Knightley and Guy Pearce and definitely preferred the book. Understandably the movie cut out all the crew consultation but introduced new elements that just didn't happen in the book. One change gave characters a better motive, but that was the only improvement. I thought the ending of the novel was terrific and the 'last contact' between two main characters was an inspired choice by the author, completely absent from the movie. Overall, the book contained more danger and suspense making it far more entertaining and confirming the maxim that the book is always better.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware is recommended for readers who enjoy mystery and crime thrillers and the sequel - The Woman in Suite 11 - has just been published. Guess what I'll be reading and reviewing next?

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson

* Copy courtesy of Penguin Random House *

The Ernest Cunningham series of books is my favourite Australian mystery series and Ern is back for the fourth time in Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson. This time, Ern and Juliette are in a bank when it's held up by a gun wielding robber and they become hostages in a situation where there are ten suspects and ten heists.

Yep, you read that right! The suspects are listed in the blurb so it's not a spoiler to disclose them here as Ern considers the motives of: the bank robber, the manager, the security guard, the kid, the film producer, the priest, the receptionist, the patient, the carer and Ern himself. Each person is guilty of stealing something (including Ern and Juliette!) and Stevenson cleverly discloses the stolen items on page 4 immediately building atmosphere and suspense.

How's this for an opening line:

"Given I'm dying, and have just the one pen, let's motor through the pleasantries." Page 1

Ern is a reliable narrator and the reader knows up front his survival isn't guaranteed but he's determined to get to the truth no matter what. Ern is an amateur detective inspired by the Golden Age of detective novels and fair play mysteries where the clues are front and centre for the reader. He solves impossible crimes and was in the bank to apply for a business loan to start a detective agency.

"Solving murders is just a series of people lying to you in succession: the detective part is figuring out which lies are worth killing for. It's an endless pinball of deceit." Page 193

The thefts were creative and despite being the fourth installation in the series, the mystery felt far from formulaic. Stevenson's signature humour bursts from the page and the dialogue crackles along as Ern asks questions to identify the motives for each of the ten suspects while making questionable decisions himself along the way.

"Everyone steals, whether it's product or effort, money or time. There's more you can steal from a man than just his wallet. Air, for example." Page 310

The author is a comedian and earlier this year I attended the Melbourne Comedy Festival to see The Stevenson Experience, a comedy act he performs with his twin brother James. The show includes a little audience participation and during the performance James asked if anyone knew his brother was a published author. I clapped and cheered a little too enthusiastically and the brothers asked me a few questions. I answered that my name was Tracey and mentioned that I've reviewed Ben's books on my blog, to which Ben said: "You're not Carpe Librum are you?"

It was such a mind-blowing moment that the author knew who I was but he was quick to clarify that he doesn't read reviews of his own books but has read my reviews of other books by Australian authors. This was such a memorable experience and it's a shame he'll never see my glowing reviews for this bestselling and beloved series but I admire the self discipline required. Perhaps that's how he's able to keep producing such excellent work; he's never bogged down by negative reviews and his ego is kept in check by not reading the positive reviews either.

Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson is a terrific bank heist mystery and you don't even need to make a deposit to read a FREE extract. Each of the Ernest Cunningham books have been published a year apart and I can't wait to see where the author takes the series next; hopefully we'll find out in October 2026! 

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone (Book 1) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Everyone on This Train is a Suspect (Book 2) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Everyone This Christmas as a Secret (Book 3) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Name of the Sister by Gail Jones

* Copy courtesy of Text Publishing *

The Name of the Sister by Gail Jones is about an unknown woman who is sighted on a deserted highway outside of Broken Hill in rural New South Wales. A passing trucker stops to render aid to the woman who is traumatised and unable to talk. The media is ablaze with the story as families and friends of the missing from within Australia and abroad claim the unknown woman Jane is their sister, daughter, wife, mother, friend.

Angie is a freelance journalist in Sydney who begins to write about Jane's re-appearance from the point of view of those who have had their hopes crushed after learning Jane is not their missing loved one. Supporting character Bev is Angie's best friend and a cop, who happens to be assigned to the case and travels to Broken Hill to investigate Jane's identity and where she came from.

This sounds like another great Australian crime fiction novel with two strong female characters, but let me tell you, I needed a dictionary by page 6 to look up the word 'contrapuntal' and it didn't stop there. There were moments where there was a particular turn of phrase I especially enjoyed, like this one from Angie:

"Their conjugal irritation was mutual, and both needed by some edifying alternative to be reminded of who they were." Page 74

However, moments like conjugal irritation were fleeting, and I needed to frequently stop reading and reach for a device to look up words like: lunette, propinquity, ziggurats, raddled (yes it's a word), maunder, ineluctable and interregnum. Other new to me words were: obduracy (I was hazy on this one so had to check the meaning), lacrimarium, cartouche and invidious.

I enjoy learning new words, however Angie's internal thoughts started to feel like an intellectual flex by the author when combined with the lines of poetry, quotes and double helpings of introspection. In fact, this quote from Angie's inner thoughts perfectly describes the writing style of The Name of the Sister:

"And the fact that she was composed of all this mixed-up cultural stuff: drifting phrases, lines from songs, literary quotations, rhymes and rhythms, scraps of image, nothing that really passed for coherent thought." Page 75

The novel was definitely coherent, but this intellectual flotsam and jetsam peppered the page when I really wanted to get down to Jane's story. Couple this with the internal musings from Angie on missing women in general, the intrusion of journalism in true crime, the contrast between the urban streetscape and rural landscape, her mess of a marriage, and the malevolent predation of women and my patience started to wear thin.

The focus on feminism and misogyny was a little too heavy handed for me but is timely and will deeply resonate with many readers. Here Angie reflects on Bev's role:

"She'd been an officer most of her adult life and must surely have known what to expect: how a woman is intruded upon, how a woman is presumed known, and how what is unknown incites anger, or desire, or the wish crudely to expose." Page 5

Broken Hill is described as parched, inhospitable and empty-looking so you might be thinking this an odd cover design for an erudite rural mystery. Angie's love of white ibises and the ancient Egyptian culture (Thoth in particular) is the inspiration for this literary design although I didn't think it was a good fit for the story within.

The denouement was engaging and I enjoyed the action and plot development at the end, however overall I found this pretentious and ostentatious. I've enjoyed literary fiction in the past so I don't think I'm unsuited to the entire genre, but The Name of the Sister by Gail Jones is high-brow literary crime fiction which I found to be full of Angie's internal contemplation and cogitation that failed to engage my interest. I'm clearly not the right audience for The Name of the Sister which might be called a literary masterpiece in the hands of other readers. Gail Jones is a celebrated Australian author but I don't think I'll be exploring any more of her novels.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★