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Movies

Lesley Manville makes this mystery series shine

October 14, 2022

Who doesn’t love a good thriller? Looks like the murder mysteries are having a bit of a resurgence. Have we Rian Johnsonthe star-studded movie of 2019 Knives out thank for that? Very probably. Since then, a number of titles have filled the murder mystery mold (The clothe, Death on the Nile, Where the Crawdads singand Confess, Fletch) and have done so with varying degrees of success. Some try to be too glamorous and overlook the mystery at hand, others fall a bit flat because they only focus on the mystery. Magpie killingsa new mystery from PBS Masterpiece, strikes a nice balance between an intriguing mystery and a beautiful backdrop, although Lesley ManvilleThe performance of is what makes this mystery so worth solving.

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Magpie killings is based on the famous crime novelist Anthony HorowitzThe 2016 novel of the same name, with Horowitz even writing all six episodes himself. To give you an idea of Horowitz’s rootedness and trust in the mysterious landscape, he wrote two sherlock holmes novels and three james bond novels, all commissioned by the authors’ respective estates. Mystery may just be this guy’s middle name, and it shows in his work. Leading the series is Oscar-nominated Lesley Manville as Susan Ryeland, the longtime editor of best-selling novelist Alan Conway (Conleth Hill).

Alan is known for his mystery series featuring his fan-favorite detective character, Atticus Pünd, although he never intended to be a mystery novelist. In fact, the success of this character and the continuing mystery streak infuriates Alan. He feels that detective writing is somewhat beneath him and wishes to be loved for the kinds of stories he actually wants to tell. (This boldly reflects Sir Arthur Conan Doyle‘s feelings towards his creation, Sherlock Holmes, which Susan even acknowledges.) Overall, this legacy has made Alan incredibly wealthy, but also incredibly hateful. It’s a bitter hotshot that doesn’t want to be bothered, but Susan is pretty used to it.

magpie-murders-lesley-manville-pbs — Picture via PBS

RELATED: Lesley Manville’s Editor-turned-Sleuth Shines in ‘Magpie Murders’ Trailer

The mystery of the series begins in the first episode when Susan obtains the manuscript for Magpie killings, supposedly the last book in the Atticus Pünd series of books. Having worked for Alan for years, she has made this editing process a science. At least she thought she did. When she turns to what would be the final chapter – the chapter that will reveal who the killer is once and for all – she is shocked to find that the pages are missing. Is this a cruel prank by the righteous author or a printing error made by one of his colleagues? Or was it something far more sinister than she could have imagined?

If that wasn’t mysterious enough, Susan’s boss, Charles (Michael Maloney) calls him into his office to inform him that Alan died suddenly and was found in the garden under his watchtower. “A thriller without a solution? It’s not even worth the paper it won’t be printed on,” says an exasperated Susan. Charles shows her a suicide note that Alan apparently wrote, but Susan does not accept it for several reasons. And if Alain were commit suicide, why would he do it in such a difficult way? Maybe it wasn’t a suicide. Maybe it was murder. After all, there were plenty of people who would have loved to kill Alan Conway.

After the heavy pilot is set, the series settles in to establish its characters both in the real world and in Alan’s novel. Not only are the audience immersed in the plot of Alan’s murder, but in the literal plot of Alan’s 1950s Atticus Pünd murder mystery that misses the final chapter. Actor Tim McMullan plays the fictional detective alongside a number of secondary characters, some of whom bear an uncanny resemblance to people from Alan’s life. To emphasize the fact that Alan writes (often disparagingly) about people he knows, the same actors play the loose version of themselves in Atticus Pünd’s world as they do in the real world.

The story-within-a-story format is interesting and well-executed, even if it feels unnecessary at times. Initially, it’s an exciting layer for whodunit, but as the episodes progress, it feels like too much attention is being drawn to the mystery of Atticus Pünd. Yes, the side stories build on each other and the fictional world even provides answers for Susan as she tries to solve Alan’s murder, which of course helps. But, the distribution of the respective storylines seems a bit uneven. To cross the worlds more, Susan begins to see— and even converse with — Atticus as she continues her detective journeys, which is a fun diversion that might be a more powerful plot device if we weren’t already spending so much time with Atticus.

All the actors play their roles well, though it’s Manville’s performance that really shines. She plays the complex Susan with such tenacity and humor, which makes her a joy to watch and cheer on from the start. Susan’s backstory and personal life are teased and lightly explored as far as mystery goes, but nothing more. The troubled dynamic between Susan and her sister Katie, (Claire Rushbrook) as well as with her unofficial boyfriend Andreas (Alexandros Logothetis), holds untapped potential, even for its own series. With the hateful author on her back, what’s stopping Susan from becoming an amateur sleuth?

Because Alan Conway is so consistently repulsive (even though he dies in the first episode, he’s heavily featured in every episode due to the messy storytelling), it’s hard to really care about his character. But the show is self-aware in that pretty much everyone on the show can’t stand it either. (Conleth Hill is really good at being bad.) In addition to Manville’s superb performance, Matthew Beardone of the few dual role actors, is a delight to watch whether he plays James Taylor, Holmes de Pünd’s servant Watson, or the confident but weary James fraser, Alan’s secret lover who has had to bear much of the brunt of Alan’s less than kind behavior over the years, as well as public outrage. Beard transitions easily from role to role, proving to be a standout series no matter the era. In one of many meta moments, Taylor tells Susan about the character based on him in the book. “I’m James Fraser, big helper. He did that to everyone…he liked to play with people. In fact, that was how it was for him, writing. Kind of a game.” His range is on full display in Episode 4, when he drunkenly toasts the stairs of Alan’s mansion during his late lover’s memorial services. “To Alain. We will all miss you. Some of us more than others,” he says with a smirk.

While sometimes the show within a show can get a little tired, Magpie killings is a thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery with enough revelations and twists to keep you guessing until the end. You’ll despise Alan Conway (as he should) but love doing it with the colorful characters that make up the mystery-laden worlds.

Evaluation:B

Magpie killings premieres on Masterpiece on PBS on October 16 as well as on the PBS Masterpiece channel on Prime Video.