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* DepravedHomosexual:
to:
* DepravedHomosexual:DepravedHomosexual: Both are also {{AssholeVictim}}s:
Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
** In ''Moonflower Murders'', Frank, who is even Alan's mentor sexuality-wise. He's into even younger sex workers and [[BondageIsBad BDSM]], with Frazer noting that he was into extreme violence.
to:
** In ''Moonflower Murders'', Frank, who is even Alan's mentor sexuality-wise. He's into even younger sex workers and [[BondageIsBad BDSM]], with Frazer noting that he was into extreme violence. violence and [[spoiler:he tried to blackmail Aiden into having sex with him ''on his wedding night''.]]
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[[/folder]]
to:
[[folder:Moonflower Murders]]
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* DepravedHomosexual:
** Alan Conway is a DeadbeatDad who abandoned his son after coming out as gay, preferring to have sex with prostitutes young enough to be his son.
** In ''Moonflower Murders'', Frank, who is even Alan's mentor sexuality-wise. He's into even younger sex workers and [[BondageIsBad BDSM]], with Frazer noting that he was into extreme violence.
** Alan Conway is a DeadbeatDad who abandoned his son after coming out as gay, preferring to have sex with prostitutes young enough to be his son.
** In ''Moonflower Murders'', Frank, who is even Alan's mentor sexuality-wise. He's into even younger sex workers and [[BondageIsBad BDSM]], with Frazer noting that he was into extreme violence.
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Changed line(s) 12,18 (click to see context) from:
!! This novel provides examples of:
* AccidentNotMurder: [[spoiler: Mary fell down the stairs accidentally.]] The one after that, though, was [[spoiler:a murder caused by that accident.]]
* AnimalMotifs: All the suspects in the titular book are named after birds: Robin and ''Hen''rietta Osbourne, Emily Redwing, the Weaver family, ''Mag''nus ''Pye''...the sole exception is Doctor Edgar Rennard, since Renard is French for fox. [[spoiler: He's innocent of any murder, however, and his crime- a relatively minor act of fraud, done under coercion- fills him with guilt.]]
* AssholeVictim: Both the murder victim in Conway's novel, [[spoiler:Sir Magnus Pye]], and Conway himself. Fitting, given that [[spoiler:Conway based Pye on himself]].
** Conway in particular was a spectacularly-massive {{Jerkass}}, [[spoiler:so much that those in the publishing industry don't really mind that Charles killed him and are more pissed at Susan for exposing his misdeeds. The novel ends with Susan wishing she had killed Conway herself.]]
** In the novel-within-a-novel, Mary Blakiston fits this trope even though [[spoiler:her death really ''was'' just an accident, no one murdered her.]]
* AccidentNotMurder: [[spoiler: Mary fell down the stairs accidentally.]] The one after that, though, was [[spoiler:a murder caused by that accident.]]
* AnimalMotifs: All the suspects in the titular book are named after birds: Robin and ''Hen''rietta Osbourne, Emily Redwing, the Weaver family, ''Mag''nus ''Pye''...the sole exception is Doctor Edgar Rennard, since Renard is French for fox. [[spoiler: He's innocent of any murder, however, and his crime- a relatively minor act of fraud, done under coercion- fills him with guilt.]]
* AssholeVictim: Both the murder victim in Conway's novel, [[spoiler:Sir Magnus Pye]], and Conway himself. Fitting, given that [[spoiler:Conway based Pye on himself]].
** Conway in particular was a spectacularly-massive {{Jerkass}}, [[spoiler:so much that those in the publishing industry don't really mind that Charles killed him and are more pissed at Susan for exposing his misdeeds. The novel ends with Susan wishing she had killed Conway herself.]]
** In the novel-within-a-novel, Mary Blakiston fits this trope even though [[spoiler:her death really ''was'' just an accident, no one murdered her.]]
to:
* AccidentNotMurder: [[spoiler: Mary fell down the stairs accidentally.]] The one after that, though, was [[spoiler:a murder caused by that accident.]]
* AnimalMotifs: All the suspects in the titular book are named after birds: Robin and ''Hen''rietta Osbourne, Emily Redwing, the Weaver family, ''Mag''nus ''Pye''...the sole exception is Doctor Edgar Rennard, since Renard is French for fox. [[spoiler: He's innocent of any murder, however, and his crime- a relatively minor act of fraud, done under coercion- fills him with guilt.]]
* AssholeVictim: Both the murder victim in Conway's novel, [[spoiler:Sir Magnus Pye]], and Conway himself. Fitting, given that [[spoiler:Conway based Pye on himself]].
** Conway in particular was a spectacularly-massive {{Jerkass}}, [[spoiler:so much that those in the publishing industry don't really mind that Charles killed him and are more pissed at Susan for exposing his misdeeds. The novel ends with Susan wishing she had killed Conway herself.]]
** In the novel-within-a-novel, Mary Blakiston fits this trope even though [[spoiler:her death really ''was'' just an accident, no one murdered her.]]
Changed line(s) 20,29 (click to see context) from:
* AwfulWeddedLife: Magnus Pye and his wife Frances don't even like each other, and Frances is cheating on him.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: [[spoiler: Susan and her boyfriend have a fairly strained relationship, but he saves her life, had been planning a nice surprise for her and ultimately does end up living happily with her in an epilogue]].
* BaitAndSwitch: When Robert comes under suspicion for murdering his mother, his fiancee Joy writes a note that the narrative sets up as shady, talking about how she's nervous to write it and doesn't want him to see it, leading the reader to think she might be trying to blackmail someone or throw suspicion somewhere else. [[spoiler: Turns out she's just writing a public announcement that she stayed at his house all night that night, giving him an alibi, and she's nervous because it's 1955 and she knows she'll get slut-shamed.]]
* BeneathSuspicion: [[spoiler:The murderers in both plotlines fall into this category. Sir Magnus had treated Robert Blakiston very well over the years and had even arranged for him to get a job, but ultimately Robert killed him because it was the only way to prevent the truth about him murdering his younger brother as a child from coming out.]]
** [[spoiler:Finally, Charles Clover didn't appear to have any motive for killing his best-selling author Alan Conway, but Conway was going to die anyway of cancer and was about to reveal to the world that "Atticus Pünd" was actually an anagram for "a stupid cunt", which would have created an enormous scandal for the company. It's also implied that, like Susan herself, as an avid mystery reader and fan of Atticus Pünd, Clover felt betrayed and insulted by Conway's so-called 'prank'.]]
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:In the novel-within-a-novel, it is revealed that Tom Blakiston's drowning was not an accident. He was actually killed by his older brother Robert in a fit of rage. Their mother, Mary, kept this information secret for decades but wrote a letter to Sir Magnus detailing the truth, a letter that would only be opened upon her death. After she suffers an accident, Robert kills Sir Magnus to prevent him from letting his crime get out.]]
* ChekhovsParty: The hunt for the gold piece at Pye Hall. Mentioned offhandedly, [[spoiler: Mary Blakiston's other son Thomas drowned after finding the coin. But Atticus realizes that, because of the detail about Robert's wet trousers, that Robert actually killed Thomas in a fit of jealousy about finding the gold first. This caused Mary to write the letter implicating Robert that could be opened by Magnus in the event of her sudden death, which was why Robert had to kill him]].
* CountryMatters: [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt." This is the motive for Alan Conway's murder.]]
* DiscriminateAndSwitch: Everyone thinks that one of the reasons Mary Blakiston didn't want her son to marry Joy is that Joy has a brother with Downs, meaning their children might inherit it. [[spoiler: Actually, it was ''Robert'' she didn't want to have children, in case they turned out like him. It's implied she also feared Robert might hurt Joy's brother out of jealousy for Joy's love and attention.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Robert genuinely adores both Joy and their (unborn) baby.]]
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: [[spoiler: Susan and her boyfriend have a fairly strained relationship, but he saves her life, had been planning a nice surprise for her and ultimately does end up living happily with her in an epilogue]].
* BaitAndSwitch: When Robert comes under suspicion for murdering his mother, his fiancee Joy writes a note that the narrative sets up as shady, talking about how she's nervous to write it and doesn't want him to see it, leading the reader to think she might be trying to blackmail someone or throw suspicion somewhere else. [[spoiler: Turns out she's just writing a public announcement that she stayed at his house all night that night, giving him an alibi, and she's nervous because it's 1955 and she knows she'll get slut-shamed.]]
* BeneathSuspicion: [[spoiler:The murderers in both plotlines fall into this category. Sir Magnus had treated Robert Blakiston very well over the years and had even arranged for him to get a job, but ultimately Robert killed him because it was the only way to prevent the truth about him murdering his younger brother as a child from coming out.]]
** [[spoiler:Finally, Charles Clover didn't appear to have any motive for killing his best-selling author Alan Conway, but Conway was going to die anyway of cancer and was about to reveal to the world that "Atticus Pünd" was actually an anagram for "a stupid cunt", which would have created an enormous scandal for the company. It's also implied that, like Susan herself, as an avid mystery reader and fan of Atticus Pünd, Clover felt betrayed and insulted by Conway's so-called 'prank'.]]
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:In the novel-within-a-novel, it is revealed that Tom Blakiston's drowning was not an accident. He was actually killed by his older brother Robert in a fit of rage. Their mother, Mary, kept this information secret for decades but wrote a letter to Sir Magnus detailing the truth, a letter that would only be opened upon her death. After she suffers an accident, Robert kills Sir Magnus to prevent him from letting his crime get out.]]
* ChekhovsParty: The hunt for the gold piece at Pye Hall. Mentioned offhandedly, [[spoiler: Mary Blakiston's other son Thomas drowned after finding the coin. But Atticus realizes that, because of the detail about Robert's wet trousers, that Robert actually killed Thomas in a fit of jealousy about finding the gold first. This caused Mary to write the letter implicating Robert that could be opened by Magnus in the event of her sudden death, which was why Robert had to kill him]].
* CountryMatters: [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt." This is the motive for Alan Conway's murder.]]
* DiscriminateAndSwitch: Everyone thinks that one of the reasons Mary Blakiston didn't want her son to marry Joy is that Joy has a brother with Downs, meaning their children might inherit it. [[spoiler: Actually, it was ''Robert'' she didn't want to have children, in case they turned out like him. It's implied she also feared Robert might hurt Joy's brother out of jealousy for Joy's love and attention.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Robert genuinely adores both Joy and their (unborn) baby.]]
to:
* BaitAndSwitch: When Robert comes under suspicion for murdering his mother, his fiancee Joy writes a note that the narrative sets up as shady, talking about how
* BeneathSuspicion: [[spoiler:The murderers in both plotlines fall into this category. Sir Magnus had treated Robert Blakiston very well over the years and had even arranged for him
** [[spoiler:Finally, Charles Clover didn't appear to have any motive for killing his best-selling author Alan Conway, but Conway was going to die anyway of cancer and was about to reveal to the world that "Atticus Pünd" was actually an anagram for "a stupid cunt", which would have created an enormous scandal for the company. It's also implied that, like Susan herself, as an avid mystery reader and fan of Atticus Pünd, Clover felt betrayed and insulted by Conway's so-called 'prank'.]]
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:In the novel-within-a-novel, it is revealed that Tom Blakiston's drowning was not an accident. He was actually killed by his older brother Robert in a fit of rage. Their mother, Mary, kept this information secret for decades but wrote a letter to Sir Magnus detailing the truth, a letter that would only be opened upon
* ChekhovsParty: The hunt for the gold piece at Pye Hall. Mentioned offhandedly, [[spoiler: Mary Blakiston's other son Thomas drowned after finding the coin. But Atticus realizes that, because of the detail about Robert's wet trousers, that Robert actually killed Thomas in a fit of jealousy about finding the gold first. This caused Mary to write the letter implicating Robert that could be opened by Magnus in the event of her sudden death, which was why Robert had to kill him]].
* CountryMatters: [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt." This is the motive for Alan Conway's murder.]]
* DiscriminateAndSwitch: Everyone thinks that one of the reasons Mary Blakiston didn't want her son to marry Joy is that Joy has a brother with Downs, meaning their children might inherit it. [[spoiler: Actually, it was ''Robert'' she didn't want to have children, in case they turned out like him. It's implied she also feared Robert might hurt Joy's brother out of jealousy for Joy's love and attention.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Robert genuinely adores both Joy and their (unborn) baby.]]
Changed line(s) 33,34 (click to see context) from:
* FairPlayWhodunnit: Both the novel-within-a-novel ''Magpie Murders'' by Alan Conway and the present-day frame story fit this trope.
* FreudianExcuse: Whatever he might have been later in life, Alan Conway's childhood was utterly horrific; he had few friends and was often beat by his SadistTeacher father.
* FreudianExcuse: Whatever he might have been later in life, Alan Conway's childhood was utterly horrific; he had few friends and was often beat by his SadistTeacher father.
to:
* FairPlayWhodunnit: Both the novel-within-a-novel ''Magpie Murders'' by Alan Conway and ''Atticus Pünd Takes The Case'' and the present-day frame story fit this trope.
* FreudianExcuse: Whatever he might have been later in life, Alan Conway's childhood was utterly horrific; he had few friends and was often beat by his SadistTeacher father.trope.
* FreudianExcuse: Whatever he might have been later in life, Alan Conway's childhood was utterly horrific; he had few friends and was often beat by his SadistTeacher father.
Deleted line(s) 37,41 (click to see context) :
* HeirClubForMen: [[spoiler: in Conway's novel, it turns out Clarissa was the elder child, and she was the rightful inheritor of Pye Hall. Her father, however, wanted a male heir, and forced Doctor Rennard to lie on the birth certificate and claim Magnus was the elder twin.]]
* HiddenInPlainSight: In the sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', someone intimately involved with the case the book-within-a-book ''Atticus Pünd Takes the Case'' is based on is able to tell who the killer was from the very first page: [[spoiler:the book is dedicated to the victim and their killer]].
* LongGame: Alan Conway's plan can only come to a head when all nine books in the Atticus Pünd series have been published: [[spoiler:The titles of the books form an acrostic which spells out AN ANAGRAM, referring to Pünd's name.]]
* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:After being revealed as the killer in Conway's novel, Robert Blakiston tells his fiance Joy that he killed Sir Magnus to protect their future together.]]
* MagpiesAsPortents: The structure of Conway's novel ''Magpie Murders'' revolves around this, with each chapter taking its title from a line in the nursery rhyme. Magpies also appear as motifs throughout the book.
* HiddenInPlainSight: In the sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', someone intimately involved with the case the book-within-a-book ''Atticus Pünd Takes the Case'' is based on is able to tell who the killer was from the very first page: [[spoiler:the book is dedicated to the victim and their killer]].
* LongGame: Alan Conway's plan can only come to a head when all nine books in the Atticus Pünd series have been published: [[spoiler:The titles of the books form an acrostic which spells out AN ANAGRAM, referring to Pünd's name.]]
* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:After being revealed as the killer in Conway's novel, Robert Blakiston tells his fiance Joy that he killed Sir Magnus to protect their future together.]]
* MagpiesAsPortents: The structure of Conway's novel ''Magpie Murders'' revolves around this, with each chapter taking its title from a line in the nursery rhyme. Magpies also appear as motifs throughout the book.
Changed line(s) 45,51 (click to see context) from:
* NarrativeProfanityFilter: Upon realising that [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt", nobody ever says the offending word out loud; Susan just says "a stupid..." and finds the final word too offensive to say, leaving the reader to fill in the blank.]]
* NeverSuicide: At first it appears that Conway's death is an accident, then a suicide letter arrives in the mail. However, Susan begins to suspect this trope and investigates whether or not someone killed the author and forged the letter. [[spoiler:It turns out the killer took part of the letter from the final portion of ''Magpie Murders'', which is why he had to hide the last chapter from Susan.]]
* OffWithHisHead: How the murder victim bites it in the Conway novel, with a medieval sword no less.
* OrgyOfEvidence: When someone mails Susan what appears to be a photograph of the murder, it only convinces here that that person did NOT do it. Someone is trying to hard to put him in the frame.
* PaedoHunt: Although no one within the StoryWithinAStory seems to realize it, Brant, the local groundskeeper is heavily implied to be a pedophile, being an aging bachelor whose noted as watching boys swimming on occasion.
* PetTheDog: Magnus Pye is a complete arsehole, but he did take good care of Robert and Thomas Blakiston when they were children.
* PoliceAreUseless: In both plot lines, with the detective in the real world having been the inspiration for Conway's character, causing him such intense hatred towards Conway that he has no inclination to give the investigation any real effort.
* NeverSuicide: At first it appears that Conway's death is an accident, then a suicide letter arrives in the mail. However, Susan begins to suspect this trope and investigates whether or not someone killed the author and forged the letter. [[spoiler:It turns out the killer took part of the letter from the final portion of ''Magpie Murders'', which is why he had to hide the last chapter from Susan.]]
* OffWithHisHead: How the murder victim bites it in the Conway novel, with a medieval sword no less.
* OrgyOfEvidence: When someone mails Susan what appears to be a photograph of the murder, it only convinces here that that person did NOT do it. Someone is trying to hard to put him in the frame.
* PaedoHunt: Although no one within the StoryWithinAStory seems to realize it, Brant, the local groundskeeper is heavily implied to be a pedophile, being an aging bachelor whose noted as watching boys swimming on occasion.
* PetTheDog: Magnus Pye is a complete arsehole, but he did take good care of Robert and Thomas Blakiston when they were children.
* PoliceAreUseless: In both plot lines, with the detective in the real world having been the inspiration for Conway's character, causing him such intense hatred towards Conway that he has no inclination to give the investigation any real effort.
to:
* NeverSuicide: At first it appears that Conway's death is an accident, then a suicide letter arrives in the mail. However, Susan begins to suspect this trope and investigates whether or not someone killed the author and forged the letter. [[spoiler:It turns out the killer took part of the letter from the final portion of ''Magpie Murders'', which is why he had to hide the last chapter from Susan.]]
* OffWithHisHead: How the murder victim bites it in the Conway novel, with a medieval sword no less.
* OrgyOfEvidence: When someone mails Susan what appears to be a photograph of the murder, it only convinces here that that person did NOT do it. Someone is trying to hard to put him in the frame.
* PaedoHunt: Although no one within the StoryWithinAStory seems to realize it, Brant, the local groundskeeper is heavily implied to be a pedophile, being an aging bachelor whose noted as watching boys swimming on occasion.
* PetTheDog: Magnus Pye is a complete arsehole, but he did take good care of Robert and Thomas Blakiston when they were children.
Changed line(s) 53,54 (click to see context) from:
* RedHerring: Hoo boy. A boatload in both the InUniverse novel and Susan's plotline.
* RichSiblingPoorSibling: Despite having been born the older twin, Clarissa and Magnus Pye's father changed the birth certificates so that Magnus would inherit everything, invoking HeirClubForMen. As a result, Magnus has the title and the house, while Clarissa is a spinster teacher.
* RichSiblingPoorSibling: Despite having been born the older twin, Clarissa and Magnus Pye's father changed the birth certificates so that Magnus would inherit everything, invoking HeirClubForMen. As a result, Magnus has the title and the house, while Clarissa is a spinster teacher.
to:
* RedHerring: Hoo boy. A boatload in both the InUniverse novel novels and Susan's plotline.
plotlines.
*RichSiblingPoorSibling: Despite having been born the older twin, Clarissa StraightGay: Alan Conway and Magnus Pye's father changed the birth certificates so that Magnus would inherit everything, invoking HeirClubForMen. As a result, Magnus has the title and the house, while Clarissa is a spinster teacher.his partner James Taylor.
*
* TheSummation:
** In true [[Literature/HerculePoirot Poirot]] style, Atticus Pünd gives one of these at the end of ''Magpie Murders'' where he explains who the killer is and how/why they did it. Also, Susan gives one to [[spoiler:Charles Clover]] at the end of her plotline where she explains to them how she figured out they murdered Conway.
** He also gives one in ''Moonflower Murders'', which is invoked by Susan. She says she wanted him to cut it because she found it out of character for Pund to humiliate one of the suspects that way but Conway wouldn't budge.
* ThemeNaming: Conway gives the characters in every Atticus Pünd novel a differently-themed last name: birds in ''Magpie Murders'', crime writers in ''Moonflower Murders''. [[spoiler:Susan figures out Conway's murderer when she spots the OddNameOut.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Magpie Murders]]
* AccidentNotMurder: [[spoiler: Mary fell down the stairs accidentally.]] The one after that, though, was [[spoiler:a murder caused by that accident.]]
* AnimalMotifs: All the suspects in the titular book are named after birds: Robin and ''Hen''rietta Osbourne, Emily Redwing, the Weaver family, ''Mag''nus ''Pye''...the sole exception is Doctor Edgar Rennard, since Renard is French for fox. [[spoiler: He's innocent of any murder, however, and his crime- a relatively minor act of fraud, done under coercion- fills him with guilt.]]
* AssholeVictim: Both the murder victim in Conway's novel, [[spoiler:Sir Magnus Pye]], and Conway himself. Fitting, given that [[spoiler:Conway based Pye on himself]].
** Conway in particular was a spectacularly-massive {{Jerkass}}, [[spoiler:so much that those in the publishing industry don't really mind that Charles killed him and are more pissed at Susan for exposing his misdeeds. The novel ends with Susan wishing she had killed Conway herself.]]
** In the novel-within-a-novel, Mary Blakiston fits this trope even though [[spoiler:her death really ''was'' just an accident, no one murdered her.]]
* AwfulWeddedLife: Magnus Pye and his wife Frances don't even like each other, and Frances is cheating on him.
* BaitAndSwitch: When Robert comes under suspicion for murdering his mother, his fiancee Joy writes a note that the narrative sets up as shady, talking about how she's nervous to write it and doesn't want him to see it, leading the reader to think she might be trying to blackmail someone or throw suspicion somewhere else. [[spoiler: Turns out she's just writing a public announcement that she stayed at his house all night that night, giving him an alibi, and she's nervous because it's 1955 and she knows she'll get slut-shamed.]]
* BeneathSuspicion: [[spoiler:The murderers in both plotlines fall into this category. Sir Magnus had treated Robert Blakiston very well over the years and had even arranged for him to get a job, but ultimately Robert killed him because it was the only way to prevent the truth about him murdering his younger brother as a child from coming out.]]
** [[spoiler:Finally, Charles Clover didn't appear to have any motive for killing his best-selling author Alan Conway, but Conway was going to die anyway of cancer and was about to reveal to the world that "Atticus Pünd" was actually an anagram for "a stupid cunt", which would have created an enormous scandal for the company. It's also implied that, like Susan herself, as an avid mystery reader and fan of Atticus Pünd, Clover felt betrayed and insulted by Conway's so-called 'prank'.]]
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:In the novel-within-a-novel, it is revealed that Tom Blakiston's drowning was not an accident. He was actually killed by his older brother Robert in a fit of rage. Their mother, Mary, kept this information secret for decades but wrote a letter to Sir Magnus detailing the truth, a letter that would only be opened upon her death. After she suffers an accident, Robert kills Sir Magnus to prevent him from letting his crime get out.]]
* ChekhovsParty: The hunt for the gold piece at Pye Hall. Mentioned offhandedly, [[spoiler: Mary Blakiston's other son Thomas drowned after finding the coin. But Atticus realizes that, because of the detail about Robert's wet trousers, that Robert actually killed Thomas in a fit of jealousy about finding the gold first. This caused Mary to write the letter implicating Robert that could be opened by Magnus in the event of her sudden death, which was why Robert had to kill him]].
* CountryMatters: [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt." This is the motive for Alan Conway's murder.]]
* DiscriminateAndSwitch: Everyone thinks that one of the reasons Mary Blakiston didn't want her son to marry Joy is that Joy has a brother with Downs, meaning their children might inherit it. [[spoiler: Actually, it was ''Robert'' she didn't want to have children, in case they turned out like him. It's implied she also feared Robert might hurt Joy's brother out of jealousy for Joy's love and attention.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Robert genuinely adores both Joy and their (unborn) baby.]]
* FreudianExcuse: Whatever he might have been later in life, Alan Conway's childhood was utterly horrific; he had few friends and was often beat by his SadistTeacher father.
* HeirClubForMen: [[spoiler: in Conway's novel, it turns out Clarissa was the elder child, and she was the rightful inheritor of Pye Hall. Her father, however, wanted a male heir, and forced Doctor Rennard to lie on the birth certificate and claim Magnus was the elder twin.]]
* HiddenInPlainSight: In the sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', someone intimately involved with the case the book-within-a-book ''Atticus Pünd Takes the Case'' is based on is able to tell who the killer was from the very first page: [[spoiler:the book is dedicated to the victim and their killer]].
* LongGame: Alan Conway's plan can only come to a head when all nine books in the Atticus Pünd series have been published: [[spoiler:The titles of the books form an acrostic which spells out AN ANAGRAM, referring to Pünd's name.]]
* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:After being revealed as the killer in Conway's novel, Robert Blakiston tells his fiance Joy that he killed Sir Magnus to protect their future together.]]
* MagpiesAsPortents: The structure of Conway's novel ''Magpie Murders'' revolves around this, with each chapter taking its title from a line in the nursery rhyme. Magpies also appear as motifs throughout the book.
* NarrativeProfanityFilter: Upon realising that [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt", nobody ever says the offending word out loud; Susan just says "a stupid..." and finds the final word too offensive to say, leaving the reader to fill in the blank.]]
* NeverSuicide: At first it appears that Conway's death is an accident, then a suicide letter arrives in the mail. However, Susan begins to suspect this trope and investigates whether or not someone killed the author and forged the letter. [[spoiler:It turns out the killer took part of the letter from the final portion of ''Magpie Murders'', which is why he had to hide the last chapter from Susan.]]
* OffWithHisHead: How the murder victim bites it in the Conway novel, with a medieval sword no less.
* OrgyOfEvidence: When someone mails Susan what appears to be a photograph of the murder, it only convinces here that that person did NOT do it. Someone is trying to hard to put him in the frame.
* PaedoHunt: Although no one within the StoryWithinAStory seems to realize it, Brant, the local groundskeeper is heavily implied to be a pedophile, being an aging bachelor whose noted as watching boys swimming on occasion.
* PetTheDog: Magnus Pye is a complete arsehole, but he did take good care of Robert and Thomas Blakiston when they were children.
* RichSiblingPoorSibling: Despite having been born the older twin, Clarissa and Magnus Pye's father changed the birth certificates so that Magnus would inherit everything, invoking HeirClubForMen. As a result, Magnus has the title and the house, while Clarissa is a spinster teacher.
** In true [[Literature/HerculePoirot Poirot]] style, Atticus Pünd gives one of these at the end of ''Magpie Murders'' where he explains who the killer is and how/why they did it. Also, Susan gives one to [[spoiler:Charles Clover]] at the end of her plotline where she explains to them how she figured out they murdered Conway.
** He also gives one in ''Moonflower Murders'', which is invoked by Susan. She says she wanted him to cut it because she found it out of character for Pund to humiliate one of the suspects that way but Conway wouldn't budge.
* ThemeNaming: Conway gives the characters in every Atticus Pünd novel a differently-themed last name: birds in ''Magpie Murders'', crime writers in ''Moonflower Murders''. [[spoiler:Susan figures out Conway's murderer when she spots the OddNameOut.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Magpie Murders]]
* AccidentNotMurder: [[spoiler: Mary fell down the stairs accidentally.]] The one after that, though, was [[spoiler:a murder caused by that accident.]]
* AnimalMotifs: All the suspects in the titular book are named after birds: Robin and ''Hen''rietta Osbourne, Emily Redwing, the Weaver family, ''Mag''nus ''Pye''...the sole exception is Doctor Edgar Rennard, since Renard is French for fox. [[spoiler: He's innocent of any murder, however, and his crime- a relatively minor act of fraud, done under coercion- fills him with guilt.]]
* AssholeVictim: Both the murder victim in Conway's novel, [[spoiler:Sir Magnus Pye]], and Conway himself. Fitting, given that [[spoiler:Conway based Pye on himself]].
** Conway in particular was a spectacularly-massive {{Jerkass}}, [[spoiler:so much that those in the publishing industry don't really mind that Charles killed him and are more pissed at Susan for exposing his misdeeds. The novel ends with Susan wishing she had killed Conway herself.]]
** In the novel-within-a-novel, Mary Blakiston fits this trope even though [[spoiler:her death really ''was'' just an accident, no one murdered her.]]
* AwfulWeddedLife: Magnus Pye and his wife Frances don't even like each other, and Frances is cheating on him.
* BaitAndSwitch: When Robert comes under suspicion for murdering his mother, his fiancee Joy writes a note that the narrative sets up as shady, talking about how she's nervous to write it and doesn't want him to see it, leading the reader to think she might be trying to blackmail someone or throw suspicion somewhere else. [[spoiler: Turns out she's just writing a public announcement that she stayed at his house all night that night, giving him an alibi, and she's nervous because it's 1955 and she knows she'll get slut-shamed.]]
* BeneathSuspicion: [[spoiler:The murderers in both plotlines fall into this category. Sir Magnus had treated Robert Blakiston very well over the years and had even arranged for him to get a job, but ultimately Robert killed him because it was the only way to prevent the truth about him murdering his younger brother as a child from coming out.]]
** [[spoiler:Finally, Charles Clover didn't appear to have any motive for killing his best-selling author Alan Conway, but Conway was going to die anyway of cancer and was about to reveal to the world that "Atticus Pünd" was actually an anagram for "a stupid cunt", which would have created an enormous scandal for the company. It's also implied that, like Susan herself, as an avid mystery reader and fan of Atticus Pünd, Clover felt betrayed and insulted by Conway's so-called 'prank'.]]
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:In the novel-within-a-novel, it is revealed that Tom Blakiston's drowning was not an accident. He was actually killed by his older brother Robert in a fit of rage. Their mother, Mary, kept this information secret for decades but wrote a letter to Sir Magnus detailing the truth, a letter that would only be opened upon her death. After she suffers an accident, Robert kills Sir Magnus to prevent him from letting his crime get out.]]
* ChekhovsParty: The hunt for the gold piece at Pye Hall. Mentioned offhandedly, [[spoiler: Mary Blakiston's other son Thomas drowned after finding the coin. But Atticus realizes that, because of the detail about Robert's wet trousers, that Robert actually killed Thomas in a fit of jealousy about finding the gold first. This caused Mary to write the letter implicating Robert that could be opened by Magnus in the event of her sudden death, which was why Robert had to kill him]].
* CountryMatters: [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt." This is the motive for Alan Conway's murder.]]
* DiscriminateAndSwitch: Everyone thinks that one of the reasons Mary Blakiston didn't want her son to marry Joy is that Joy has a brother with Downs, meaning their children might inherit it. [[spoiler: Actually, it was ''Robert'' she didn't want to have children, in case they turned out like him. It's implied she also feared Robert might hurt Joy's brother out of jealousy for Joy's love and attention.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Robert genuinely adores both Joy and their (unborn) baby.]]
* FreudianExcuse: Whatever he might have been later in life, Alan Conway's childhood was utterly horrific; he had few friends and was often beat by his SadistTeacher father.
* HeirClubForMen: [[spoiler: in Conway's novel, it turns out Clarissa was the elder child, and she was the rightful inheritor of Pye Hall. Her father, however, wanted a male heir, and forced Doctor Rennard to lie on the birth certificate and claim Magnus was the elder twin.]]
* HiddenInPlainSight: In the sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', someone intimately involved with the case the book-within-a-book ''Atticus Pünd Takes the Case'' is based on is able to tell who the killer was from the very first page: [[spoiler:the book is dedicated to the victim and their killer]].
* LongGame: Alan Conway's plan can only come to a head when all nine books in the Atticus Pünd series have been published: [[spoiler:The titles of the books form an acrostic which spells out AN ANAGRAM, referring to Pünd's name.]]
* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:After being revealed as the killer in Conway's novel, Robert Blakiston tells his fiance Joy that he killed Sir Magnus to protect their future together.]]
* MagpiesAsPortents: The structure of Conway's novel ''Magpie Murders'' revolves around this, with each chapter taking its title from a line in the nursery rhyme. Magpies also appear as motifs throughout the book.
* NarrativeProfanityFilter: Upon realising that [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt", nobody ever says the offending word out loud; Susan just says "a stupid..." and finds the final word too offensive to say, leaving the reader to fill in the blank.]]
* NeverSuicide: At first it appears that Conway's death is an accident, then a suicide letter arrives in the mail. However, Susan begins to suspect this trope and investigates whether or not someone killed the author and forged the letter. [[spoiler:It turns out the killer took part of the letter from the final portion of ''Magpie Murders'', which is why he had to hide the last chapter from Susan.]]
* OffWithHisHead: How the murder victim bites it in the Conway novel, with a medieval sword no less.
* OrgyOfEvidence: When someone mails Susan what appears to be a photograph of the murder, it only convinces here that that person did NOT do it. Someone is trying to hard to put him in the frame.
* PaedoHunt: Although no one within the StoryWithinAStory seems to realize it, Brant, the local groundskeeper is heavily implied to be a pedophile, being an aging bachelor whose noted as watching boys swimming on occasion.
* PetTheDog: Magnus Pye is a complete arsehole, but he did take good care of Robert and Thomas Blakiston when they were children.
* RichSiblingPoorSibling: Despite having been born the older twin, Clarissa and Magnus Pye's father changed the birth certificates so that Magnus would inherit everything, invoking HeirClubForMen. As a result, Magnus has the title and the house, while Clarissa is a spinster teacher.
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* StraightGay: Alan Conway and his partner James Taylor.
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* TheSummation: In true [[Literature/HerculePoirot Poirot]] style, Atticus Pünd gives one of these at the end of ''Magpie Murders'' where he explains who the killer is and how/why they did it. Also, Susan gives one to [[spoiler:Charles Clover]] at the end of her plotline where she explains to them how she figured out they murdered Conway.
* ThemeNaming: [[spoiler:Conway gives the characters in every Atticus Pünd novel a differently-themed last name. Susan figures out Conway's murderer when she spots the OddNameOut.]]
* ThemeNaming: [[spoiler:Conway gives the characters in every Atticus Pünd novel a differently-themed last name. Susan figures out Conway's murderer when she spots the OddNameOut.]]
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* TheWrongfulHeirToTheThrone: [[spoiler: it ultimately turns out that Magnus's sister should have inherited the family seat instead of him]].
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* TheWrongfulHeirToTheThrone: [[spoiler: it ultimately turns out that Magnus's sister should have inherited the family seat instead of him]].him]].
[[/folder]]
[[/folder]]
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* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Robert genuinely adores both Joy and their (unborn) baby.]]
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* DiscriminateAndSwitch: Everyone thinks that one of the reasons Mary Blakiston didn't want her son to marry Joy is that Joy has a brother with Downs, meaning their children might inherit it. [[spoiler: Actually, it was ''Robert'' she didn't want to have children, in case they turned out like him. It's implied she also feared Robert might hurt Joy's brother out of jealousy for Joy's love and attention.]]
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* AwfulWeddingLife: Magnus Pye and his wife Frances don't even like each other, and Frances is cheating on him.
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* AwfulWeddingLife: AwfulWeddedLife: Magnus Pye and his wife Frances don't even like each other, and Frances is cheating on him.
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* AccidentNotMurder: [[spoiler:Mary fell down the stairs accidentally.]] The one after that, though, was [[spoiler:a murder caused by that accident.]]
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* AccidentNotMurder: [[spoiler:Mary [[spoiler: Mary fell down the stairs accidentally.]] The one after that, though, was [[spoiler:a murder caused by that accident.]]
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* AuthorAppeal: InUniverse. Conway fills his books with little Easter Eggs for himself, like certain character naming conventions, and writes portrays characters based on people he knows in ways that amuse him, such as having his boyfriend James Taylor be "James Fraser," Pünd's [[TheWatson dim-witted assistant]].
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* AuthorAppeal: InUniverse. Conway fills his books with little Easter Eggs for himself, like certain character naming conventions, and writes portrays characters based on people he knows in ways that amuse him, such as having his boyfriend James Taylor be "James Fraser," Pünd's [[TheWatson dim-witted assistant]].but charming assistant]].
* AwfulWeddingLife: Magnus Pye and his wife Frances don't even like each other, and Frances is cheating on him.
* AwfulWeddingLife: Magnus Pye and his wife Frances don't even like each other, and Frances is cheating on him.
* BaitAndSwitch: When Robert comes under suspicion for murdering his mother, his fiancee Joy writes a note that the narrative sets up as shady, talking about how she's nervous to write it and doesn't want him to see it, leading the reader to think she might be trying to blackmail someone or throw suspicion somewhere else. [[spoiler: Turns out she's just writing a public announcement that she stayed at his house all night that night, giving him an alibi, and she's nervous because it's 1955 and she knows she'll get slut-shamed.]]
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* WhoMurderedTheAsshole: Both mysteries in the novel revolve around the murder of someone who was widely hated by those who knew him.
* WrongfulHeirToTheThrone: [[spoiler: it ultimately turns out that Magnus's sister should have inherited the family seat instead of him]].
* WrongfulHeirToTheThrone: [[spoiler: it ultimately turns out that Magnus's sister should have inherited the family seat instead of him]].
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* WhoMurderedTheAsshole: Both mysteries in the novel revolve around the murder of someone who was widely hated by those who knew him.
them, and who had recently given a whole lot of people really good reasons to want them dead. [[spoiler: Mary was basically blackmailing several village residents, while Magnus Pye was an awful husband and employer who was going to sell a beloved woodland to developers. Subverted in Mary's case, however, as she really did fall down the stairs by accident. Pye, meanwhile, was murdered by the one person he was ''nice'' to.]]
*WrongfulHeirToTheThrone: TheWrongfulHeirToTheThrone: [[spoiler: it ultimately turns out that Magnus's sister should have inherited the family seat instead of him]].
*
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* WarningMistakenForThreat: Joyce thought that her future mother-in-law Mary Blakiston hated her and wanted her gone due to her general aloofness and encouraging her to leave Robert. [[spoiler:She was actually trying to tip Joyce off about Robert's violent and, in her mind, psychopathic nature. Downplayed in that Robert genuinely loved Joyce and posed no actual threat to her.]]
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* SignificantAnagram: [[spoiler:"Atticus Pünd" is an anagram of "a stupid cunt," showing Conway's feelings towards the detective genre. This is also the motive for his murder.]]
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* SignificantAnagram: RichSiblingPoorSibling: Despite having been born the older twin, Clarissa and Magnus Pye's father changed the birth certificates so that Magnus would inherit everything, invoking HeirClubForMen. As a result, Magnus has the title and the house, while Clarissa is a spinster teacher.
* SignificantAnagram:
** [[spoiler:"Atticus Pünd" is an anagram of "a stupid cunt," showing Conway's feelings towards the detective genre. This is also the motive for his murder.]]
* SignificantAnagram:
** [[spoiler:"Atticus Pünd" is an anagram of "a stupid cunt," showing Conway's feelings towards the detective genre. This is also the motive for his murder.]]
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A sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', using a similar metafictional approach, was published in 2020. As part of the sequel's marketing campaign for Australia's Dymocks bookstore chain, Horowitz wrote an exclusive short story, ''Dinner for Eight, Dessert for Seven'', beginning with a foreword in which real-life authour Creator/SophieHannah [[note]] writer of the official 'missing' Poirot novels, commissioned by the Christie estate[[/note]] takes Conway to task for saying he's out of ideas, saying that you can find ideas anywhere. In response, Conway writes this short story [[spoiler: which turns out to be a blatant rip-off of Theatre/{{Hamlet}}]]
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A sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', using a similar metafictional approach, was published in 2020. As part of the sequel's marketing campaign for Australia's Dymocks bookstore chain, Horowitz wrote an exclusive short story, ''Dinner for Eight, Dessert for Seven'', beginning with a foreword in which real-life authour Creator/SophieHannah [[note]] writer of the official 'missing' Poirot novels, commissioned by the Christie estate[[/note]] takes Conway to task for saying he's out of ideas, saying that you can find ideas anywhere. In response, Conway writes this short story [[spoiler: which turns out to be a blatant rip-off of Theatre/{{Hamlet}}]]
Theatre/{{Hamlet}}]]. Horowitz has said that one more novel in the series is planned.
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* OrgyOfEvidence: When someone mails Susan what appears to be a photograph of the murder, it only convinces here that that person did NOT do it. Someone is trying to hard to put him in the frame.
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Trope names aren't supposed to be spoiled.
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* [[spoiler:CountryMatters]]: [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt." This is the motive for Alan Conway's murder.]]
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* [[spoiler:CountryMatters]]: CountryMatters: [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt." This is the motive for Alan Conway's murder.]]
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* ChekhovsParty: The hunt for the gold piece at Pye Hall. Mentioned offhandedly, Mary Blakiston's other son Thomas drowned after finding the coin. But Atticus realizes that, because of the detail about Robert's wet trousers, that Robert actually killed Thomas in a fit of jealousy about finding the gold first. This caused Mary to write the letter implicating Robert that could be opened by Magnus in the event of her sudden death, which was why Robert had to kill him.
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* ChekhovsParty: The hunt for the gold piece at Pye Hall. Mentioned offhandedly, [[spoiler: Mary Blakiston's other son Thomas drowned after finding the coin. But Atticus realizes that, because of the detail about Robert's wet trousers, that Robert actually killed Thomas in a fit of jealousy about finding the gold first. This caused Mary to write the letter implicating Robert that could be opened by Magnus in the event of her sudden death, which was why Robert had to kill him.him]].
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* ChekhovsParty: The hunt for the gold piece at Pye Hall. Mentioned offhandedly, Mary Blakiston's other son Thomas drowned after finding the coin. But Atticus realizes that, because of the detail about Robert's wet trousers, that Robert actually killed Thomas in a fit of jealousy about finding the gold first. This caused Mary to write the letter implicating Robert that could be opened by Magnus in the event of her sudden death, which was why Robert had to kill him.
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* AccidentNotMurder: [[spoiler:Mary fell down the stairs accidentally.]] The one after that, though, was [[spoiler:a murder caused by that accident.]]
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** [[spoiler:Finally, Charles Clover didn't appear to have any motive for killing his best-selling author Alan Conway, but Conway was going to die anyway of cancer and was about to reveal to the world that "Atticus Pünd" was actually an anagram for "a stupid cunt", which would have created an enormous scandal for the company.]]
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** [[spoiler:Finally, Charles Clover didn't appear to have any motive for killing his best-selling author Alan Conway, but Conway was going to die anyway of cancer and was about to reveal to the world that "Atticus Pünd" was actually an anagram for "a stupid cunt", which would have created an enormous scandal for the company. It's also implied that, like Susan herself, as an avid mystery reader and fan of Atticus Pünd, Clover felt betrayed and insulted by Conway's so-called 'prank'.]]
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* RealPersonCameo: The grandson of ''Creator/AgathaChristie'' appears as an associate of Conway.
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* RealPersonCameo: The grandson of ''Creator/AgathaChristie'' appears as an associate of Conway. In a post-novel extra, Anthony Horowitz himself tells about the time he interviewed Conway (and found him just as much of a {{Jerkass}} as everyone else). Creator/SophieHannah appears in the foreword to the short story "Eight for Dinner, Seven for Dessert".
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A sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', using a similar metafictional approach, was published in 2020. As part of the sequel's marketing campaign for Australia's Dymocks bookstore chain, Horowitz wrote an exclusive short story, ''Dinner for Eight, Dessert for Seven'', beginning with a foreword in which real-life authour Creator/SophieHannah [[note]] writer of the official 'missing' Poirot novels, 'The Monogram Murders' and 'The Killings at Kingfisher Hill'[[/note]] takes Conway to task for saying he's out of ideas, saying that you can find ideas anywhere. In response, Conway writes this short story [[spoiler: which turns out to be a blatant rip-off of Theatre/{{Hamlet}}]]
to:
A sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', using a similar metafictional approach, was published in 2020. As part of the sequel's marketing campaign for Australia's Dymocks bookstore chain, Horowitz wrote an exclusive short story, ''Dinner for Eight, Dessert for Seven'', beginning with a foreword in which real-life authour Creator/SophieHannah [[note]] writer of the official 'missing' Poirot novels, 'The Monogram Murders' and 'The Killings at Kingfisher Hill'[[/note]] commissioned by the Christie estate[[/note]] takes Conway to task for saying he's out of ideas, saying that you can find ideas anywhere. In response, Conway writes this short story [[spoiler: which turns out to be a blatant rip-off of Theatre/{{Hamlet}}]]
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A sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', using a similar metafictional approach, was published in 2020.
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A sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', using a similar metafictional approach, was published in 2020.
2020. As part of the sequel's marketing campaign for Australia's Dymocks bookstore chain, Horowitz wrote an exclusive short story, ''Dinner for Eight, Dessert for Seven'', beginning with a foreword in which real-life authour Creator/SophieHannah [[note]] writer of the official 'missing' Poirot novels, 'The Monogram Murders' and 'The Killings at Kingfisher Hill'[[/note]] takes Conway to task for saying he's out of ideas, saying that you can find ideas anywhere. In response, Conway writes this short story [[spoiler: which turns out to be a blatant rip-off of Theatre/{{Hamlet}}]]
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''Magpie Murders'' is a 2016 mystery novel by Creator/AnthonyHorowitz. A work of MetaFiction, it is actually two [[FairPlayWhodunnit Fair-Play Whodunnits]] in one. The plot concerns a London-based editor named Susan Ryeland who is given the manuscript of best-selling mystery writer Alan Conway's latest novel, ''[[TitleDrop Magpie Murders]]''. Like Conway's other books, it is a pastiche of [[Creator/AgathaChristie Agatha Christie's]] Poirot novels, featuring quirky detective Atticus Pünd as he solves a murder in a sleepy English countryside village where nothing is as it seems.
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''Magpie Murders'' is a 2016 mystery novel by Creator/AnthonyHorowitz. A work of MetaFiction, it is actually two [[FairPlayWhodunnit Fair-Play Whodunnits]] in one. The plot concerns a London-based editor named Susan Ryeland who is given the manuscript of best-selling mystery writer Alan Conway's latest novel, ''[[TitleDrop Magpie Murders]]''. Like Conway's other books, it is a pastiche of [[Creator/AgathaChristie Agatha Christie's]] Poirot novels, featuring quirky detective Atticus Pünd as he solves a murder in a sleepy English countryside village where nothing is as it seems.
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* {{Expy}}: Atticus Pünd is a clear stand in for Literature/HerculePoirot, although he's German instead of Belgian and given a backstory of escaping the Holocaust. James Fraser is a stand in for [[TheWatson Captain Hastings]].
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* {{Expy}}: {{Expy}}:
** Atticus Pünd is a clear stand in for Literature/HerculePoirot, although he's German instead of Belgian and given a backstory of escaping the Holocaust. James Fraser is a stand in for [[TheWatson CaptainHastings]].Hastings]].
** Alan Conway's initials and hatred of the genre fiction he was forced to write to make a living reminds one of Arthur Conan Doyle.
** Atticus Pünd is a clear stand in for Literature/HerculePoirot, although he's German instead of Belgian and given a backstory of escaping the Holocaust. James Fraser is a stand in for [[TheWatson Captain
** Alan Conway's initials and hatred of the genre fiction he was forced to write to make a living reminds one of Arthur Conan Doyle.
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* LongGame: Alan Conway's plan can only come to a head when all nine books in the Atticus Pünd series have been published: [[spoiler:The titles of the books form an acrostic which spells out AN ANAGRAM, referring to Pünd's name.]]
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* NarrativeProfanityFilter: Upon realising that [[spoiler:Atticus Pünd's name is an anagram of "a stupid cunt", nobody ever says the offending word out loud; Susan just says "a stupid..." and finds the final word too offensive to say, leaving the reader to fill in the blank.]]
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* HiddenInPlainSight: In the sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', someone intimately involved with the case the book-within-a-book ''Atticus Pünd Takes the Case'' is based on is able to tell who the killer was from the very first page: [[spoiler:the book is dedicated to the victim and their killer]].
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** In ''Moonflower Murders'', [[spoiler:the name of the killer in ''Atticus Pünd Takes the Case'' is an anagram of the name of the killer in the real murder.]]
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** The sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'' twists this approach somewhat -- Susan is aware right from the start that she's in a murder mystery, and we don't get to the novel-within-a-novel until nearly halfway into the book.
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A sequel, ''Moonflower Murders'', using a similar metafictional approach, was published in 2020.
* SignificantAnagram: [[spoiler:"Atticus Pünd" is an anagram of "a stupid cunt," showing Conway's feelings towards the detective genre. This is also the motive for his murder.]]
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* SignificantAnagram: [[spoiler:"Atticus Pünd" is an anagram of "a stupid cunt," showing Conway's feelings towards the detective genre. This is also the motive for his murder.]]
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* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: [[spoiler: Susan and her boyfriend have a fairly strained relationship, but he saves her life, had been planning a nice surprise for her and ultimately does end up living happily with her in an epilogue]].
* PaedoHunt: Although no one within the StoryWithinAStory seems to realize it, Brant, the local groundskeeper is heavily implied to be a pedophile, being an aging bachelor whose noted as watching boys swimming on occasion.
* PoliceAreUseless: In both plot lines, with the detective in the real world having been the inspiration for Conway's character, causing him such intense hatred towards Conway that he has no inclination to give the investigation any real effort.
* RealPersonCameo: The grandson of ''Creator/AgathaChristie'' appears as an associate of Conway.
* RealPersonCameo: The grandson of ''Creator/AgathaChristie'' appears as an associate of Conway.
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* WhoMurderedTheAsshole: Both mysteries in the novel revolve around the murder of someone who was widely hated by those who knew him.
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* WhoMurderedTheAsshole: Both mysteries in the novel revolve around the murder of someone who was widely hated by those who knew him.him.
* WrongfulHeirToTheThrone: [[spoiler: it ultimately turns out that Magnus's sister should have inherited the family seat instead of him]].
* WrongfulHeirToTheThrone: [[spoiler: it ultimately turns out that Magnus's sister should have inherited the family seat instead of him]].
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* AnimalMotifs: All the suspects in the titular book are named after birds: Robin and ''Hen''rietta Osbourne, Emily Redwing, the Weaver family, ''Mag''nus ''Pye''...the sole exception is Doctor Edgar Renard, since Rennard is French for fox. [[spoiler: He's innocent of any murder, however, and his crime- a relatively minor act of fraud, done under coercion- fills him with guilt.]]
to:
* AnimalMotifs: All the suspects in the titular book are named after birds: Robin and ''Hen''rietta Osbourne, Emily Redwing, the Weaver family, ''Mag''nus ''Pye''...the sole exception is Doctor Edgar Renard, Rennard, since Rennard Renard is French for fox. [[spoiler: He's innocent of any murder, however, and his crime- a relatively minor act of fraud, done under coercion- fills him with guilt.]]
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* HeirClubForMen: [[spoiler: in the BookWithinABook, it turns out Clarissa was the elder child, and she was the rightful inheritor of Pye Hall. Her father, however, wanted a male heir, and forced Doctor Rennard to lie on the birth certificate and claim Magnus was the elder twin.]]
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* HeirClubForMen: [[spoiler: in the BookWithinABook, Conway's novel, it turns out Clarissa was the elder child, and she was the rightful inheritor of Pye Hall. Her father, however, wanted a male heir, and forced Doctor Rennard to lie on the birth certificate and claim Magnus was the elder twin.]]
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* AnimalMotifs: All the suspects in the titular book are named after birds: Robin and ''Hen''rietta Osbourne, Emily Redwing, the Weaver family, ''Mag''nus ''Pye''...the sole exception is Doctor Edgar Rennard, since Rennard is French for fox. [[spoiler: He's innocent of any murder, however, and his crime- a relatively minor act of fraud, done under coercion- fills him with guilt.]]
to:
* AnimalMotifs: All the suspects in the titular book are named after birds: Robin and ''Hen''rietta Osbourne, Emily Redwing, the Weaver family, ''Mag''nus ''Pye''...the sole exception is Doctor Edgar Rennard, Renard, since Rennard is French for fox. [[spoiler: He's innocent of any murder, however, and his crime- a relatively minor act of fraud, done under coercion- fills him with guilt.]]
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* FreudianExcuse: Whatever he might have been later in life, Alan Conway's childhood was utterly horrific; he had few friends and was often beat by his SadistTeacher father.
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* HeirClubForMen: [[spoiler: in the BookWithinABook, it turns out Clarissa was the elder child, and she was the rightful inheritor of Pye Hall. Her father, however, wanted a male heir, and forced Doctor Rennard to lie on the birth certificate and claim Magnus was the elder twin.]]
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* PetTheDog: Magnus Pye is a complete arsehole, but he did take good care of Robert and Thomas Blakiston when they were children.
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* StraightGay: Alan Conway and his partner James Taylor.
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* AnimalMotifs: All the suspects in the titular book are named after birds: Robin and ''Hen''rietta Osbourne, Emily Redwing, the Weaver family, ''Mag''nus ''Pye''...the sole exception is Doctor Edgar Rennard, since Rennard is French for fox. [[spoiler: He's innocent of any murder, however, and his crime- a relatively minor act of fraud, done under coercion- fills him with guilt.]]
