Latest news with #MagpieMurders
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Digging into deadly secrets
Dang that Anthony Horowitz — he so confoundingly makes us think about every single word from start to finish, makes us work so hard to try to understand what goes on inside Atticus Pund's mind in 1955 even as Susan Ryeland struggles to sleuth how the murders in Pund's world hold clues to murders in her fictional 2025. Understand any of that? Great, then you know where we're going, and you're delighted with a successor to Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders. Don't have a notion where you are? Despair not, for you have an amazingly awesome murder mystery ahead of you. Anna Lythgoe photo Anthony Horowitz's mystery-within-a-mystery novels starring book editor Susan Ryeland demand the reader's attention. Horowitz is the 70-year-old devilishly-clever English author who created Foyle's War, adapted novels for Midsomer Murders, wrote new novels featuring Sherlock Holmes and James Bond, writes murder mysteries in which he plays himself as an always-a-step-behind, fumbling, bumbling John Watson-type chronicler to former cop Daniel Hawthorne. He wrote Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders, both turned into magnificent series on PBS, and now here's Marble Hall Murders, even more complex than its predecessors. Though just oh-so far beyond good. Do not under any circumstances call it The Marble Hall Murders. The word 'The' does not appear in any of Horowitz's titles. You have been warned. Susan Ryeland is a book editor living in our time. It was her job to edit the Atticus Pund murder mysteries written by Alan Conway, a very difficult man who obviously ripped off Pund from Hercule Poirot, but did a very good job of doing so. Pund identified as a Greek Jew living in Germany who survived the Holocaust and ended up as a private detective in London in the 1950s. Conway despised the Pund books, always seeing himself not as a mystery writer but as a literary genius whose works would be dissected in PhD theses at Oxford and Cambridge. Alas… Conway wrote Pund with characters and events drawn from his real life. In Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders, Horowitz gifted us with full-length Pund books-within-a-book, in which were hidden clues about who murdered whom in the world inhabited by Conway and Ryeland. Major characters in Pund's life mirrored people in Conway's life. That's why so many actors played dual roles. Still with us? Marble Hall Murders drives us much further up the wall because Ryeland finds herself reading not a book-within-a-book, but a Pund book delivered in four chunks of 10,000 to 30,000 words each, interspersed with contemporary adventures in which even Ryeland became suspected of — no, wait, can't get ahead of ourselves. As Marble Hall Murders begins, (spoiler alert) Alan Conway is dead, Susan Ryeland is an unemployed book editor in England no longer living in Crete with her one true love, and she gets hired to edit a 'continuation' novel — the Conway estate having approved the Pund books continuing through author Eliot Crace. Crace has a three-book contract, despite which he calls his first book-in-progress Pund's Last Case, poor Atticus having a diagnosis of terminal cancer. Eliot is the ne'er-do-well grandson of Miriam Crace, whose dozens of books about a tiny-sized human family made her the most adored children's author in the universe and controller of a vast fortune. She died in her sleep of a heart attack 20 years before. Marblee Hall Murders In Pund's Last Case, an exceedingly rich English woman who's dying asks Pund to come to her estate in France to sort something so evil — well, she'll tell him when he gets there. And Pund arrives, hours after the woman dies of a heart attack immediately after drinking her daily tea that tasted a little funny. Crace accuses his rather large and scurrilous family of having murdered granny Miriam — each character in Pund's Last Case is based on a character in the Crace family, and Eliot promises the book will reveal who murdered granny Crace. Need to ask again, are you still with us? Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. The Crace family can't afford a scandal — Miriam's books are having a resurgence, and Netflix has proposed a $200-million series of movies and a multi-year TV show. Susan Ryeland is caught up in the middle of all this mess, desperately trying to decipher who among so many nasty people in a piece of fiction is the avatar of a killer in her world. Horowitz plays fair. The clues are there, both in Atticus Pund's world and in Susan Ryeland's, if only we are keen enough and sufficiently sharp to catch them. Anthony, you are a devious and wicked fellow — do keep it up. Retired Free Press reporter Nick Martin was dismayed to learn that Susan Ryeland does not approve of pets sleeping on their humans' bed at night. He had been unaware such attitudes even existed.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lesley Manville and Tim McMullan Set for Marble Hall Murders, Conclusion of Masterpiece PBS Trilogy
Lesley Manville and Tim McMullan will once again reprise their respective roles as book editor Susan Ryeland and fictional detective Atticus Pünd in Marble Hall Murders, Masterpiece PBS' trilogy-ending follow-up to Magpie Murders (2022) and Moonflower Murders (2024). The series will begin filming in March in Dublin, Corfu and London, with additional cast to be announced at a later date. More from TVLine Miss Austen: Get Trailer, Premiere Date for Masterpiece on PBS' Heartbreaking Tale of Sisterly Love Miss Scarlet, Minus the Duke, Gets Full-Length Trailer Ahead of Season 5 Premiere on PBS Lesley Manville Loved Grotesquerie's 'Jaw-Dropping Reveals,' Is Open to Revisiting Redd in Possible Season 2: 'I'm Sure They'll Want to Do More' 'I'm so happy to bring the team back – stars, director, producers and crew – for a third installment of what has been a fantastically successful TV series,' says novelist Anthony Horowitz, who adapted is books for the small screen. 'I have a feeling this could be the best yet.' Marble Hall Murders finds Susan Ryeland returning to England, where she is reluctantly drawn into a new Atticus Pünd mystery, this time written by a new, young writer. 'Pünd's Last Case' is a story set in 1955, in an exotic villa in Corfu — but the identity of a real killer is hidden in the book and once again Susan is going to find herself in grave danger. 'Who killed Miriam Crace, the most famous children's author in the world?' is a question both Atticus and Susan will grapple with. 'We are beyond thrilled to once again be partnering with Eleventh Hour Films to bring one of Anthony'sbrilliant novels to life and to have Lesley and Tim return in their roles,' Masterpiece PBS scriptec content chief Susanne Simpson said in a statement. 'The first two series were incredibly successful for us and we can't wait for our audience to see Marble Hall Murders.'Adds executive producer Jill Green, 'Anthony has once again brought his unique and originalperspective to the world of murder mystery. Marble Hall Murders completes the trilogy andthe scripts and lead actors are once again at the top of their game.' Best of TVLine The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More 'Missing' Shows, Found! The Latest on Severance, Holey Moley, Poker Face, YOU, Primo, Transplant and 25+ Others Summer TV Calendar: Your Guide to 85+ Season and Series Premieres
BBC News
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
BBC acquires Anthony Horowitz murder-mystery Marble Hall Murders
The BBC has acquired Marble Hall Murders, an adaptation of the third and final instalment in best-selling novelist Anthony Horowitz's Susan Ryeland series. The follow-up from the acclaimed Moonflower Murders and Magpie Murders will be made by Eleventh Hour Films in association with Salt Films for PBS MASTERPIECE and the BBC. It is adapted by Anthony Horowitz and executive produced by Jill Green. Marble Hall Murders will film in March in Dublin, Corfu, and London, and will see Lesley Manville and Tim McMullan reprise their roles. Also returning are Rebecca Gatward to direct and Suzanne McAuley as producer. Lesley Manville (The Crown, Phantom Thread) stars as Susan Ryeland, a book editor who all too often finds herself involved in baffling murders. Returning to England, she is reluctantly drawn into a new Atticus Pünd mystery, this time written by a new, young writer. 'Pünd's Last Case' is a story set in 1955, in an exotic villa in Corfu – but the identity of a real killer is hidden in the text, and once again Susan is going to find herself in grave danger. Tim McMullan (Patrick Melrose, The Crown) plays Atticus Pünd, the literary detective who steps out of the books to help Susan unravel the real-life mystery of who killed Miriam Crace, the most famous children's author in the world. Moonflower Murders averaged 4.9m viewers across the series, making it one of the BBC's most watched acquired scripted series in 2024*. Anthony Horowitz says: 'I'm so happy to bring the team back – stars, director, producers, and crew – for a third instalment of what has been a fantastically successful TV series. I have a feeling this could be the best yet.' Jill Green says: 'Anthony has once again brought his unique and original perspective to the world of murder mystery. Marble Hall Murders completes the trilogy, and the scripts and lead actors are once again at the top of their game.' Sue Deeks, Head of BBC Programme Acquisition, says: "We are so delighted that there is going to be another adaptation of the intricately plotted and brilliantly entertaining Susan Ryeland murder mystery series for BBC viewers to enjoy'. Marble Hall Murders will be made by Eleventh Hour Films in association with Salt Films for PBS MASTERPIECE and the BBC The drama is executive produced by Jill Green and Eleventh Hour Films and adapted by Anthony Horowitz and is distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Television and PBS Distribution in North America. *Source: BARB 4 Screens, As viewed, 28 days average audience NH
