It's no coincidence that Anthony Horowitz is responsible for the best of the classic Midsomer Murders episodes, the superb Foyle's War and 11 episodes of David Suchet's monumental Poirot. As with all his work, there is a lot going on in Magpie Murders, a whodunit about whodunits.
Horowitz gives us an insight into the relationship between authors (editors, publishers) and their characters, particularly their protagonists. He reveals the love / hate relationship which can exit between a creator and their creation. How characters and plots, the present and past, of necessity force themselves into the consciousness of authors (and in Susan's case editors).
Magpie Murders also deals with the relationship between the reader (viewer) and a much loved protagonist. How do we deal with the inevitable loss of a character in whom we have a significant emotional (or financial) investment? I've never been able to watch David Suchet in "Curtain". Conan Doyle brought Sherlock Holmes back from Reichenbach Falls when readers revolted. Charles Clover's solution is to liquidate the author and bring in a ghost writer to continue the series!
This isn't a spoof, let alone "woke" (whatever that is supposed to be), nor is it a parody, it is in fact an homage to a genre by one of its best practitioners. It endorses Brent's view when he asks "why does a book have to matter, why can't it just be enjoyed?" It does this with typical Horowitz wit. It's Alan's pen which wields the fatal sword. A CWA dagger almost knocks off our heroine. Susan initially got it wrong, the answer isn't in the book (at least not how she thought), the answer is the book.
Horowitz gives us an insight into the relationship between authors (editors, publishers) and their characters, particularly their protagonists. He reveals the love / hate relationship which can exit between a creator and their creation. How characters and plots, the present and past, of necessity force themselves into the consciousness of authors (and in Susan's case editors).
Magpie Murders also deals with the relationship between the reader (viewer) and a much loved protagonist. How do we deal with the inevitable loss of a character in whom we have a significant emotional (or financial) investment? I've never been able to watch David Suchet in "Curtain". Conan Doyle brought Sherlock Holmes back from Reichenbach Falls when readers revolted. Charles Clover's solution is to liquidate the author and bring in a ghost writer to continue the series!
This isn't a spoof, let alone "woke" (whatever that is supposed to be), nor is it a parody, it is in fact an homage to a genre by one of its best practitioners. It endorses Brent's view when he asks "why does a book have to matter, why can't it just be enjoyed?" It does this with typical Horowitz wit. It's Alan's pen which wields the fatal sword. A CWA dagger almost knocks off our heroine. Susan initially got it wrong, the answer isn't in the book (at least not how she thought), the answer is the book.