In July 2020 Deadline announced that PBS's Masterpiece would adapt the novel into a six-part drama series and air it in the US, and on BritBox in the UK. It was reviewed by outlets such as The New York Times and Time magazine, the latter of which called it the 'thinking mystery fan’s ideal summer thriller.' Common praise for the series centred upon its characters and the use of the story within a story, with some criticism noting that the story within a story also made it difficult to keep up with the goings on. Reception for Magpie Murders was largely positive, with a 'Rave' rating from the book review aggregator Book Marks based on eight independent reviews. In the following years the novel has been published in several languages, including Korean and Japanese (2018, through The Open Books (열린책들) and 東京創元社, respectively), as well as Chinese and German (2019, 新星出版社 and Berlin Insel Verlag, respectively).

Paperback editions were released in the United Kingdom in 2017 and the United States in 2018. The novel was given a release in the United States the following year through HarperCollins and HarperAudio in hardback, e-book, and audiobook format. An audiobook adaptation narrated by Allan Corduner and Samantha Bond was simultaneously released through Orion and BrillianceAudio. Magpie Murders was first released in hardback and e-book format in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2016 through Orion. How the writers come up with the ideas how these books are formed.' Release He has stated that he wanted the novel to 'be more than just a murder mystery story' and to be 'a sort of a treatise on the whole genre of murder mystery writing. Horowitz first developed the concept of Magpie Murders during the first season of Midsomer Murders, which premiered in 1997. However she has doubts and decides to investigate Conway's death in order to know the truth and to find the last chapter of the manuscript.

A suicide note in Conway's handwriting is delivered to her office. Shortly afterwards she learns that Alan Conway has died in an apparent suicide by falling off the tower of his mansion. Susan Ryeland, a book editor, receives from her superior the manuscript of the latest novel of the best-selling writer Alan Conway but notices that the final chapter is missing. The book has been translated into several languages and has been adapted into a six-part television drama series with the same title. The story focuses on the murder of a mystery author and uses a story within a story format. Magpie Murders is a 2016 mystery novel by British author Anthony Horowitz and the first novel in the Susan Ryeland series.

Magpie murders novel