Magpie Murders
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 2/9/2017
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 2/9/2017 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I found this good-condition hardcover at a local Savers thrift shop. (It's a very handsome volume, from the dust jacket design to the feathery end-papers.) Turns out it's a heavy riff on the tale-within-a-tale concept: narrator Susan, an editor who's handled the mysteries of popular author Alan Conway, receives the manuscript of his latest book, Magpie Murders. We then see the opening pages of the book (rendered in a different font), a nice touch I thought - and then the book went on, and on, and on... for 219 pages! Yep, the entire text of this fictional mystery was included, all leading up to the point where editor Susan discovers that the final chapter is missing. Susan's annoyed, but her feelings change when she learns that Conway has died, so if they can't find the missing pages they won't know how he meant the book to end... And then Susan begins to suspect he was murdered, leading into the mystery proper.
I admit that if I'd found the embedded novel entertaining I wouldn't have minded so much, but as it was I didn't care for it at all - and even though it turns out that it was full of clues as to the actual crime, they were scattered through so many pages that I found it too tedious to even try to hunt them up. So some readers might find this whole setup charming and fun, but for me it was a big "Huh?"
That said, the outer story was only so-so for me as well, though there were some rather fun in-character debates as to the worth of traditional mystery novels in this day and age. Oh, and some amusing bits about whether it's more fun to be the detective or the murderer! But, overall, the book didn't live up to its lovely packaging, at least not for me.
I admit that if I'd found the embedded novel entertaining I wouldn't have minded so much, but as it was I didn't care for it at all - and even though it turns out that it was full of clues as to the actual crime, they were scattered through so many pages that I found it too tedious to even try to hunt them up. So some readers might find this whole setup charming and fun, but for me it was a big "Huh?"
That said, the outer story was only so-so for me as well, though there were some rather fun in-character debates as to the worth of traditional mystery novels in this day and age. Oh, and some amusing bits about whether it's more fun to be the detective or the murderer! But, overall, the book didn't live up to its lovely packaging, at least not for me.
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Whetstone Station in Brattleboro, Vermont USA on Sunday, February 26, 2017
GoryDetails at Whetstone Station in Brattleboro, Vermont USA on Sunday, February 26, 2017
Released 7 yrs ago (2/26/2017 UTC) at Whetstone Station in Brattleboro, Vermont USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in a shelter at the edge of the parking lot across from Whetstone Station at around 3, after a tasty lunch in the brew-pub watching floes of ice float down the river. Hope the finder enjoys the book!*** Released for the 2017 Great Backyard Bird Count release challenge; see the GBBC page here. ***
*** Released for the 2017 Wine+Food release challenge. ***
