'Moonflower Murders' Reviews: "Fans of British old-school mysteries who enjoy a smattering of eyebrow raising material will want to cozy up with this second investigative romp based on author Anthony Horowitz’s engaging Agatha Christie-esque series"

         On September 15, 2024, PBS premiered 'Moonflower Murders', which has received predominantly positive reviews from critics. In the series, "Editor Susan Ryeland is tasked with finding the solution to a real-life cold case hidden within one of Alan Conway's early Atticus Pünd novels." The ensemble cast includes Lesley Manville, Daniel Mays, Timothy McMullan, Conleth Hill, and Claire Rushbrook. But what did the critics say?

         Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times notes, "Moonflower Murders” — newly arriving on PBS starting Sept. 15 — is great fun. Scripted, as was “Magpie Murders,” by Horowitz (whose many credits, on page and screen, include “Foyle’s War”), it unfolds as two mysteries in one. Susan, who’s given up editing due to the events of “Magpie Murders” (go read and/or watch it immediately, before watching this show), is trying to run a hotel in Crete with her partner Andreas (Alexandros Logothetis), but gets pulled back home when a couple asks for her help in examining a novel by the late mystery author Alan Conway for clues to a recent murder at their British country inn. That novel, “Atticus Pünd Takes the Case,” set in the 1950s and involving the murder of a movie star in her English country home, provides the second plotline. We hop in and out from period film to present day, watching as the stories intertwine."

Photo by Roxxie Blackham on Unsplash

        Randy Myers of San Jose Mercury News writes, "Fans of British old-school mysteries who enjoy a smattering of eyebrow raising material will want to cozy up with this second investigative romp based on author Anthony Horowitz’s engaging Agatha Christie-esque series. The Masterpiece PBS sequel mashes up, as it did with  the first outing, “The Magpie Murders,” two tales of murder. The mystery is stuffed with clues involving a recent murder that late author Alan Conway created for his ace detective Atticus Pünd (Timothy McMullan) to sleuth through. The other is tied to a case yet to be solved by that snoop and former book editor Susan Ryeland (the divine Lesley Manville). True to form, both the “fictional” murder — the killing of a diva actress — and the present-day one involving a hotel worker leads Susan to leave Crete and come back to England as she tries to puzzle out how the book and her investigation interconnect. The actors enlisted to play the lengthy list of suspects are a treat. “Moonflower Murders” is pure comfort food for the mystery lover, and holds true to the Christie spirit. Details: 3 stars; first episode airs Sept. 15 on PBS."

        John Anderson of The Wall Street Journal says, "It is actually far easier to watch this first-rate “Masterpiece” mystery than to map it out: Like its predecessor, 2022’s “Magpie Murders,” this adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s second Ryeland novel offers parallel plotlines—Susan on one track, Atticus on another—with various performers playing vaguely corresponding characters in each. Other than Ms. Manville and Mr. McMullan, few actors here have only one part. (Another is the winning Pippa Bennett-Warner as Madeline, Pünd’s savvy new assistant.) A listing of the dramatis personae would be as illuminating as, oh, a family tree of the crowned heads of Europe. One needs to catch up with Susan first."