Moonflower Murders: A Novel

Moonflower Murders is deeply rooted in the traditions of the golden age of detective fiction, a genre popularized in the 1920s and 1930s by writers like Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh. The fictional novel within the text, Atticus Pünd Takes the Case, is a direct homage to the Golden Age whodunit. Alan Conway’s fictional detective, Atticus Pünd, is a tribute to Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. Methodical and brilliant, he uses his intellect to solve complex puzzles, offering a sense of reassurance that truth and justice can be uncovered through reason. Alan Conway’s narrative follows the classic conventions of this genre, featuring a quintessentially British country house hotel in a picturesque rural setting. Although centering on murder, the novel’s tone is comforting, set in a bygone England where moral order is ultimately restored by the end of the narrative. The fictional novel’s plot is characterized by familiar Golden Age tropes, including a cast of characters who all harbor secrets and Conway’s liberal use of red herrings scattered amongst genuine clues. Atticus Pünd Takes the Case adheres to the “fair play” rule of murder mysteries, where the author must provide enough valid clues to give the reader a chance to solve the crime. The book concludes with the classic denouement, where the detective gathers all the suspects together and reveals the culprit.

The story within a story framework of Moonflower Murders presents a fictional detective novel within the larger context of a real-world mystery. Through this narrative structure, Horowitz creates a meta-mystery, drawing attention to the act of storytelling while simultaneously reflecting on the history of the mystery genre. Moonflower Murders is a layered, self-referential work that celebrates traditional detective novels while subverting and commenting on the conventions scorned by the genre’s detractors. Academic Alan H. Goldman summarizes the viewpoint of such critics:

Mystery novels have been dismissed as having […] formulaic, repetitious, or conventional plots; emotional disengagement; and moral smugness […] with pat defences of the status quo and little or no investigation or implication regarding the social causes of crime. (Goldman, Alan H. “The Appeal of the Mystery.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 69, no. 3, 2011, pp. 261-72)

Moonflower Murders addresses criticisms of the mystery genre as well as readers’ expectations. The main narrative echoes the well-worn tropes used in Alan Conway’s novel in a self-aware and playful manner. Susan Ryeland’s professional expertise as an editor makes her uniquely placed to recognize and critique over-used murder mystery devices. Nevertheless, she finds herself reenacting these literary conceits during her investigations. These contradictory impulses are illustrated in the following passage that draws attention to Susan’s thoughts on the subject: “‘Can you tell me what happened on the night of the murder?’ I asked and even as I uttered the words I felt slightly ridiculous. They sounded so old-fashioned, so cliched. If I’d seen them in a novel, I’d have edited them out” (54).

Similarly, in the denouement of Moonflower Murders, Susan recalls criticizing Atticus Pünd’s conventional gathering of the suspects in Alan Conway’s manuscript while reproducing the same scenario herself. DSI Locke provides further meta-textual commentary when he attacks detective fiction for its lack of realism and trivialization of crime.

The characters’ critique of the very genre they inhabit parodies the whodunnit while also exploring its undeniable appeal. Horowitz ultimately shows that recognizing the conventional tropes in detective fiction is part of the pleasure of the reading experience. At the same time, his playful use of metafiction overcomes the limitations of these conceits.