Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. Photo: Harper Collins

Foyle’s War creator, Anthony Horowitz, will adapt his best-selling novel, Magpie Murders, as part of PBS’ Masterpiece series. Horowitz’s Magpie Murders revolves around the character Susan Ryeland, an editor who is given an unfinished manuscript of author Alan Conway’s latest novel, but has little idea it will change her life.

Lauded as “a magnificent piece of crime fiction” and “an ingenious novel within a novel” by the Sunday Times (London), Magpie Murders has topped multiple best-seller lists including the New York Times and Los Angeles Times and appeared on the year-end Best Books lists of NPR, USA Today and others. Its international awards include the prestigious Macavity Award for Best Novel.

Sounding equally as excited about their upcoming collaborative effort, Masterpiece EP Susanne Simpson said, “Anthony Horowitz is a master mystery writer, and Magpie Murders is a beautiful and complex work. Our Masterpiece audience will truly enjoy this intriguing story of a mystery within a mystery.”

Horowitz who, besides creating Foyle’s War, has written for television including scripts for Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Midsomer Murders in addition to Murder Most Horrid and Robin of Sherwood, said: “Magpie Murders is my most successful novel and it wasn’t easy to adapt. But I think the result is a completely original drama that will delight and beguile audiences in equal measure.”

Unfortunately, with the UK just now coming out of their production lockdown, there’s no telling when Magpie Murders will see the light of day but let’s hope for a 2022 premiere.