Tag: Book Review

Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz

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I am a big fan of Anthony Horowitz. He is a prolific writer and a day doesn’t go by when I don’t hear or see his name either on a bookshelf or magazine, or in the credits of a television programme. It may be a classic TV adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel, his own wonderful continuation novels of both Sherlock Holmes and James Bond to mention but a few. He is also the hugely successful author of the Alex Rider series, of which is constantly absent from my school Library bookshelves. As a school Librarian he makes my job very easy indeed when I need something for those students who think reading is ‘boring’ – they literally devour the series. I was therefore delighted when I received an early copy of the latest of the Magpie Murders series. I have watched, read and listened to the first two books in the series, Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders, and thoroughly enjoyed watching editor, Susan Ryeland, be the most unlikeliest (but most excellent) of detectives. The TV adaptations have brought another layer to the series and I feel have been wonderfully put together with an excellent cast.

The third and possibly final novel in the series, Marble Hall Murders did not disappoint. Alan Conway may be dead, but he is still very much casting a shadow over Susan’s life as she is swept up in another plot that may well cost her her life…again.

Returning to London alone after a sad but friendly parting from Andreas, Susan is still feeling the weight of her involvement with Charles Clover and is struggling to find a permanent job as an editor. It is, however, what she loves to do and so when a major publishing house offers her the opportunity to edit a continuation novel of the Atticus Pünd series she feels that it may be the way in to a permanent job with them as an editor. With a mortgage to pay and a new cat to feed, Susan needs the money and so against all her gut instincts she decides to take the job. She thankful at least that she doesn’t have to deal with Alan Conway and a novel with bitterness and revenge at it’s heart. Or does she…

Horowitz is a master of Murder Mystery. His knowledge of the genre is extensive and I love the way we get two mysteries for the price of one in each of these novels. I’m rather fond of both Pünd and Susan and so it was lovely to see them working together again. One thing that I love about these novels, the clues are all there, interwoven in the two stories and if you are really clever you might just be able to work them out. I have read many, many mystery novels and so I did work some elements of the plot out, but there were still plenty of twists and turns along the way and the ending was wonderful.

Anthony Horowitz has concluded his series brilliantly, fans old and new will not be disappointed, I am sure. It will be wonderful to see Lesley Manville return to our screens as Susan, and of course, Tim McMullan as Atticus. I can’t wait to watch it. It can be tough deciding whether you wait for the TV adaptation or read the book first with a whodunnit – where would you most like to see the denouement (the big reveal)? In my opinion each has something different to offer in the unfolding of a story. Whatever you choose to do, please do read the book. It is wonderful to watch the plot unfold, to see Horowitz’s expertise within the field and of course to get an insight into the darker side of the human mind, in a gentle, cosy yet clever type of way.

Marble Hall Murders was published on April 10th in hardback. It is also available on eBook and on Audiobook (narrated by Leslie Manville and Tim McMullan). I think the audiobook will make a wonderful listen and have just checked the availability for that with my local library service and it already has enough reserves that I will have to wait until April 2026 to listen to it! Might have to treat myself and buy a copy. The TV adaptation began shooting in March apparently, so hopefully that will be on our screens in the not too distant future – but there is plenty of time to read the book before then. The paperback, if that is your preference, (which I will be buying for my bookshelves) is due to be published in September 2025.

Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed reading Marble Hall Murders and I’d like to send my thanks to both the publisher, Random House UK, Cornerstone and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review it

Thank you so much for visiting today. Happy Reading!

Marble Hall Murders – book blurb

Susan Ryeland has had enough of murder.

She’s edited two novels about the famous detective, Atticus Pünd, and both times she’s come close to being killed. Now she’s back in England and she’s been persuaded to work on a third.

The new ‘continuation’ novel is by Eliot Crace, grandson of Miriam Crace who was the biggest selling children’s author in the world until her death exactly twenty years ago.

Eliot believes that Miriam was deliberately poisoned. And when he tells Susan that he has hidden the identity of Miriam’s killer inside his book, Susan knows she’s in trouble once again.

As Susan works on Pünd’s Last Case, a story set in an exotic villa in the South of France, she uncovers more and more parallels between the past and the present, the fictional and the real world – until suddenly she finds that she has become a target herself.

It seems that someone in Eliot’s family doesn’t want the book to be written. And they will do anything to prevent it.

The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris

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In a city of magical things, of buses, and plastic, and concrete, and trains, there lived a young man called Tom Argent.

Joanne Harris is a writer that always brings a little magic in the way that she weaves the written word. Her stories, of which there are many, never disappoint. I have been enjoying her novels for many years now, the first of which was of course Chocolat, one of my favourites and one that I often return to. She has a wonderful ability to create characters that feel incredibly real, dealing with situations that, no matter the genre, feel true to life and are highly relatable. She is one of the only authors that I know of who can write so convincingly and expertly across different genres. Just take a look at her website and you will find fantasy/mythpunk, folklore/fairytale, psychological thrillers, gothic fiction and of course her wonderful series of French novels in addition to the Chocolat series. There is truly something for everyone here.

The Moonlight Market

This you will find under the ‘folklore/fairytale’ header. A story that brings the magic of a fairytale to the streets of modern London. Tom is one of many lost souls living there. He is very much alone and spends his days quietly running a second-hand camera shop. His passion is photography and his camera is his treasure. But Tom has been taught not to believe in fairytales, to only believe what was before his eyes and to never look for the magic or beauty.

“he saw litter, and traffic and smoke; and people on their mobile phones who suddenly stopped in the street when he was walking behind them; and angry cab drivers, and riotous drunks, and cyclists who never looked where they were going.”

How succinctly Joanne sums up life in that one sentence. How easy it is to lose the ability to see the magic in the world today, how easy we miss what is really going on around us. The everyday magic that is all around us.

But Tom’s life is about to change beyond all recognition, because Tom is about to fall completely and desperately in love. Vanessa enters his quiet, little shop and his whole belief system implodes with what happens next.

With fairy stories there is both darkness and light. Of course, there must be. For centuries a war has been raging around the streets of London, a war that the everyday folk, or the ‘Sightless Folk’, can not see or hear. The war between a Moth King and Butterfly Queen torn apart by the loss of their prince, blaming each other and vowing to never again allow a Butterfly to fall in love with a Moth.

“Lost, in exile, they found their way to a city of stone and bridges and tunnels and underground vaults, built on a great winding river. And there they held court; each to their own, alongside the people of that world, who, being sightless, could not see the events unfolding around them… And still they endure, after centuries of war, still grieving for their vanished son, too proud for reconciliation; taking their nectar wherever they can, within that city of ancient stones, and gleaming glass towers, and asphalt, and roads, and plastic, and concrete, and tunnels, and trains.

Tom will soon be thrown in to the midst of this war. Consumed by love and obsession he will risk everything just to be with Vanessa. But she and the shine of new love is not all that it seems and will put him in grave danger. There is much at stake and it will only be the truest of love that can save him and, perhaps, even stop the war.

The Moonlight Market is a wonderful read, an exhilarating, thought provoking tale that I thoroughly enjoyed. In a world where there is much despair, cruelty and where too much is watched rather than lived – this novel reminded me that there is still wonderfully creative people, there is light amongst the darkness, and there is and will always be the healing power of love. Do read it, if only for the beautiful way that Joanne puts words down. She will make you think and most importantly of all, she will make you open your eyes and look around at the magic that surrounds us if we only choose to see it.

The blurb from the book…

‘Fairy stories matter. they’re how we understand what’s true.’

Orphaned, lonely, and lost in his photography work, Tom has no intention of falling in love. And yet, love finds him in the shape of beautiful Vanessa, who lives a dangerous double life in the heart of London’s King’s Cross.

Tom’s pursuit of Vanessa leads him to discover an alternate world, hidden amongst the streets and rooftops of London – and inhabited by strange and colourful beings. In this mysterious realm, two ancient factions – one of night, one of day – have waged war for centuries over a forbidden love and a long-lost prince of sun and starlight.

But when Tom finds a secret market that appears only in moonlight, where charms and spells are bought with memories, he starts to wonder whether he’s been here before…

A spellbinding modern fairytale of forbidden love, magical wars, lost princes, and a secret world hidden just out of sight – perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and V.E. Schwab.

www.gollancz.co.uk

Discover more about the author by visiting her website: www.joanne-harris.co.uk

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