Moonflower Murders: A Novel

Susan drives to the charity shop in Framlingham. A volunteer confirms that Aiden came in with a donation on the day of Cecily’s disappearance. One of the donated dresses was new and sold for £100. Next, Susan visits the solicitor, Sajid Khan. Khan reveals his appointment with Aiden was at 5 p.m. He also mentions speaking to Frank Parris about an inheritance on the day he died. Remembering that she saw Khan’s business card at Heath House, Susan claims the Williamses told her all about it. Khan reveals that the terms of the will split Heath House equally between Frank and Joanne. Frank wanted to sell the house as soon as possible, but Khan tried to negotiate more time for the Williamses to find alternative accommodation. Asking after Katie, Khan says he hopes she is happy with his recommendation of another solicitor named Wilcox.

Susan drives to London. She has not received a reply to her email to Andreas. However, Lionel Corby, Michel Bealey, and James Taylor have agreed to meet with her. She has arranged to stay with Craig Andrews.

On her way, Susan stops at the Suffolk Constabulary headquarters. Since their last encounter, Detective Inspector Locke has been promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent. Alan Conway consulted Locke while researching Magpie Murders, and, in the book, turned him into an unflattering caricature, Detective Inspector Raymond Chubb. Locke criticizes Susan’s role in publishing murder mysteries, suggesting the genre “trivialises crime.” He insists that Stefan Codrescu murdered Frank Parris and says he is a typical Romanian criminal. A month before the murder, Locke helped to apprehend a Romanian gang guilty of robbery, violent assault, and the sex trafficking of minors. He warns Susan that he will arrest her if she interferes in his investigation of Cecily’s disappearance.

Susan receives an email from Lawrence Treherne, detailing his recollection of the events surrounding Frank Parris’s death. He says Cecily had trouble sleeping the week of the wedding and took diazepam the night before the ceremony. Lisa fired Stefan the day before the wedding, claiming he had been stealing. Stefan drank too much during the party before the wedding, and Lionel Corby helped him back to his room. Derek Endicott did not attend the party and appeared to be agitated. The first two people to see Frank’s body were the maid, Natasha, and Helen, the head of housekeeping. Natasha has since returned to Estonia, and Helen has died of cancer. The headmaster who exchanged rooms with Frank Parris was called George Saunders.

Susan arrives at Craig’s townhouse in Ladbroke Grove. She recalls how she helped to launch Craig’s career as the author of gritty crime novels. Craig is single and wealthy, and Susan finds him attractive. He points out that Susan nearly died due to her previous association with Alan Conway before he gives her his copy of Atticus Pünd Takes the Case.

Susan meets James Taylor for dinner. He tells her Alan Conway had a wife, Melissa, when he first became a published author. However, six months after the publication of Atticus Pünd Takes the Case, he divorced Melissa and came out as gay. James was one of the young sex workers Alan hired when he was still married. He moved in with Alan after his divorce and became his sole beneficiary when the author was murdered.

James is leading a hedonistic lifestyle with his inherited wealth. He is also due to executive produce a forthcoming Atticus Pünd TV series starring Kenneth Branagh. James reveals that when he was a sex worker, Frank Parris was a regular client and that he preferred young men. He says Frank’s sexual tastes were “kinky” and sadistic, and he was instrumental in introducing Alan to London’s gay scene. James describes how he and Alan once met Frank and another sex worker, Leo, for dinner. Alan was struggling with ideas for his third book when they heard about Frank’s murder. He went to Branlow Hall for inspiration despite concerns he might encounter his ex-wife, Melissa, who rented a house next to the hotel. Alan returned from the trip inspired, and he told James, “They’ve got the wrong man” (184). James hands over Alan’s research materials for Atticus Pünd Takes the Case to Susan.

Susan returns to Ladbroke Grove and looks through the materials James gave her. Alan drew detailed floor plans of Branlow Hall to repurpose it as the Moonflower Hotel in Devon. A USB drive contains recorded interviews with the staff at Branlow Hall. In Cecily’s interview, she defends Stefan’s character despite the evidence against him. She also reveals that when Frank Parris congratulated her and Aiden on their forthcoming wedding, he sounded “as if he was sneering at us” (195). Frank told them he was going to see The Marriage of Figaro at Snape Maltings the night before the wedding. Afterward, she discovered that there was no such performance on that date. Cecily also describes the strange handshake Frank gave Aiden, clasping his hands in both of his.

Next, Susan listens to Alan’s interview with Aiden. When introduced to Aiden by his parents-in-law, Alan observes that they have met before. Aiden clarifies that he facilitated Alan’s change of room on his arrival. He refuses to answer Alan’s questions, asking him to turn the recording off.

Susan meets personal trainer Lionel Corby in a London café. Lionel reveals that he got the job of Spa Manager at Branlow Hall when a London client told him about the vacancy. He claims the Trehernes were exploitative employers, and Lisa was the worst offender. The pay was poor, the hours were long, and the staff was treated badly. Lionel states that Stefan received less than the minimum wage and was given work beyond his remit. After coercing him into a sexual relationship, Lisa accused Stefan of stealing, even though everyone knew the maid, Natasha, was responsible. Lionel claims he saw Lisa and Stefan having sex in the woods a couple of weeks before Frank’s murder. Initially, he mistook the couple for Aiden and Lisa. However, the man did not have Aiden’s distinctive “cosmic snake” tattoo on his shoulder. Lionel confirms that one of his clients was called Melissa, but he did not know she was Alan Conway’s ex-wife. He recalls that Melissa was in a bad mood around the time of the murder.

Susan meets Michael Bealey, who took on the Atticus Pünd novels when Cloverleaf Books burned down. He reveals how a disgruntled author recently hacked into the system of a book distribution center, causing chaos. Consequently, the Atticus Pünd series has been unavailable for sale for several months. Michael states there is no work for Susan at present.

Over dinner, Susan explains to Craig that she thinks Cecily was murdered because she worked out the identity of Frank Parris’s killer. Derek’s revelation that Cecily called her parents from the hotel narrows the suspect down to who else may have overheard her. Susan knows Martin Williams lied to her about Frank’s complaint concerning the hotel marquee. Frank visited them in the morning, and the marquee was not erected until lunchtime. The lie establishes that Martin visited the hotel later in the day and saw the marquee himself. Susan is also considering the possibility that the target of the murder may have been George Saunders, as he and Frank swapped rooms.

Craig reveals that his brother served three years in prison for fraud and critiques the prison system, saying it is outdated. When he asks Susan if she is single, she is tempted to lie. However, she admits that she is engaged to Andreas.

Susan returns to Suffolk and prepares to read Craig’s copy of Atticus Pünd Takes the Case.