I am a huge fan of Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders, both the book and BBC/PBS TV series. With a cold Scottish rain rattling against the windows, I recently spent an entire Sunday afternoon re-bingeing the TV show from start to finish. I have no regrets!
For those of you who aren’t familiar, the basic conceit of Magpie Murders is a mystery within a mystery. Alan Conway, a successful crime writer, dies in suspicious circumstances, circumstances that only make sense if one is aware of how his latest novel, Magpie Murders, concludes. The problem is, no one knows how Magpie Murders ends because the last chapter is missing from the manuscript he handed in to his publishers. His frustrated editor, intent on locating some usable version of the final chapter, finds herself inadvertently investigating a murder.
There are a few things I always take away from watching the TV show. First, Lesley Manville is a simply brilliant actress; second, that I will never, ever behave like Alan Conway, a vile man who treats everybody, including the readers he is so lucky to have, with contempt; and, third, if it were me rather than Alan Conway who was the subject of Horowitz’s murder mystery, he’d have to come up with a completely different ending.
Without giving too much away, the reason I say this last thing is that the titles of Alan Conway’s books are an integral part of the plot. “Not The Magpie Murders. Magpie Murders. That’s the bloody title!” as he tetchily informs his publisher. But for the titles to fit into the plot like this, Alan Conway had to have control over them, something that yours truly absolutely does not.
As regular readers of this blog will know, no one trusts me with titles. Neither of my two published novels, Braking Day and A Quiet Teacher, were called those things when I wrote them, not even close. So chastened was I by this experience that I refused to reveal the title of my next novel, E________, because I was certain that it, too, would be changed. (I keep saying I hope to be able to share news about E________ soon, and I really, really will. Soon.)
With my fourth novel, though, the sequel to A Quiet Teacher, I was sure I had cracked it. From the estimable Brady’s tongue-in-cheek 2 Quiet 2 Teacher, we (by which I mean I) settled on Critical Death Theory. Brady liked it, Editor Rachel liked it, we were good to go. I revealed it to the world.
And then I handed in the manuscript.
“Yes, well, the team is leaning against Critical Death Theory,” which is publisher-speak for, “You must be out of your mind.” Needless to say, I didn’t put up much of a fight. After a bit of toing and froing about what would best fit with an educator who solves mysteries, we came up with Two Times Murder.
So, there you have it. Two Times Murder, the sequel to A Quiet Teacher. Coming soon. More details to follow!