I read this in January. That’s how far behind I am. But I remember it pretty well. Which shows how good it was!
The book opens with editor Susan Ryeland reading a manuscript by cranky author Alan Conway — the latest in a series about his cranky detective, Atticus Pünd. Conway has been working towards an ending for Pund for years, but Ryeland is hoping to get at least one or two more books from Conway first. So we meet Susan, and then dive into Pund’s story. Which is very interesting, if you like mysteries about killings in little British villages (I do!) but then it just stops. No ending attached. Ryeland, confused, tries to find out why Conway didn’t finish the book. Well — it’s because he’s dead.
“As far as I’m concerned, you can’t beat a good whodunnit: the twists and turns, the clues and the red herrings and then, finally, the satisfaction of having everything explained to you in a way that makes you kick yourself because you hadn’t seen it from the start.”
The rest of the novel focuses on Ryeland’s investigation into Conway’s death, and trying to figure out the ending to his novel. It’s such a fun book-within-a-book — two fascinating stories for the price of one! — and I loved Horowitz’s writing. You can tell the man loves this genre. I thought the book was a little meta, but then I downloaded his other novel (review forthcoming…) and saw what he could REALLY do with that idea. Still, this was more than just your average mystery and my main complaint is that I wish more novels by Atticus Pünd actually existed!