Susan Ryeland (Lesley Manville) and Atticus Pünd (Tim McMullan). Courtesy of Eleventh Hour Films and MASTERPIECE.

Lesley Manville as editor turned sleuth Susan Ryeland and Timothy McMullan as fictional detective Atticus Pünd reprise their roles when the Magpie Murders band gets back together for Anthony Horowitz 2020 sequel, Moonflower Murders, premiering this Sunday on Masterpiece.

In addition to Manville and McMullan, also returning are Daniel Mays (Ashes to Ashes, Line of Duty), Michael Maloney (Belfast), Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones), Alexandros Logothetis (The Island), Claire Rushbrook (Sherwood), Pippa Haywood (Bridgerton), Matthew Beard (Vienna Blood) and Harry Lawtey (Industry).

Moonflower Murders picks up where Magpie Murders left off as Susan Ryeland (Lesley Manville) has left publishing and is living in Crete. But when she hears of a mystery relating to Alan Conway, the author of the best-selling Atticus Pünd mysteries, she must return to London to investigate.

Susan Ryeland’s idyll in Crete is disturbed by the shadow of a murder committed eight years ago. Can she uncover the secret hidden in Alan Conway’s book before it’s too late?

Horowitz adapted his 2016 novel, Magpie Murders, into the successful Masterpiece series that ran last Fall on PBS. The author’s previous work is well-known amongst fans of British mysteries on PBS having created, written and/or adapted Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Foyle’s War and Midsomer Murders.

The “murder mystery within a murder mystery” combines two stories with the first set in the modern day and charts the death of novelist Alan Conway, and the second is Magpie Murders itself, the book that Alan was writing, which is set in the 1950s and centers on detective Atticus Pünd. Manville’s character, editor Susan Ryeland, sets out to investigate Alan’s death, the answer to which is contained in the final chapter of his book, which is missing.

The 6-part Moonflower Murders will premiere this Sunday at 9pET/8pCT as part of Masterpiece on PBS.