Moonflower Murders is a sequel to The Magpie Murders series which was a huge hit around the world. Now Lesley Manville and Timothy McMullan have returned to their roles as amateur sleuth Susan Ryeland and fictional detective Atticus Pünd to get to the bottom of a fresh batch of murder cases. Based on the bestseller "Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz", the sequel crimes series also stars Daniel Mays, Conleth Hill, Mark Gatiss and Claire Rushbrook, and follows Susan as she investigates a death in a British country hotel.
"I had an incredible time returning to the role of the smart and feisty Susan Ryeland," says Lesley Manville. "Anthony Horowitz has written another ingenious adaptation and I’m thrilled to be a part of it." "I’ve been watching the filming of Moonflower Murders with joy," adds Anthony Horowitz. "We're back with the same cast, including Lesley Manville, Tim McMullan and Danny Mays — but this time we’ve got a whole new box of tricks to present as literary editor Susan Ryeland untangles another book within a book and another series of unfathomable murders. I can’t wait to show it to our audience."
Here’s everything you need to know about the series Moonflower Murders…
Moonflower Murders release date
Moonflower Murders is a six-episode series that launched in the UK on BBC One with a double bill on Saturday, November 16 at 9.15 pm and 10.20 pm. All the episodes are available now to watch as a box set on BBCiPlayer. The third episode airs on Saturday, November 23 at 9.25 pm. Please note you can also watch all six episodes of the original series, Magpie Murders, on BBC iPlayer as well.
In the US Moonflower Murders will be available on PSB.org, PBS app and PBS Masterpiece Prime Video channel in the US. When a worldwide release date is announced, we’ll update this page.
Is there a Moonflower Murders trailer?
Yes here you go...
What happened in the Moonflower Murders prequel Magpie Murders?
Magpie Murders followed Susan Ryeland, a book editor who was given a manuscript of author Alan Conway’s unfinished novel. In the book Conway’s detective Atticus Pünd, who is terminally ill, investigates two deaths in the small town of Saxby-on-Avon. But the manuscript ends just as Atticus is about to reveal the murderer’s identity, leaving Susan determined to find the missing last chapter. She then hears that Conway supposedly committed suicide but believes this isn’t true and finds herself investigating his murder.
Moonflower Murders plot
Moonflower Murders catches up with Susan (Lesley Manville) as she's left publishing and is living in Crete, running a hotel with her boyfriend Andreas (Alexandros Logothetis). However, she becomes drawn into a cold case murder that was committed in a British country hotel eight years earlier and was written about in another of author Alan Conway’s (Conleth Hill) novels.
However, an unexpected lifeline turns up in the form of a married couple from England, also hoteliers, whose daughter has disappeared. Believing there are clues to be found in one of Conway’s Atticus Pünd books, which Susan’s firm used to publish, they offer her £10,000 to return to England and investigate.
Cecily Treherne, who's at the hotel, read the book and believed the wrong man had been arrested but then disappeared.
The book in question follows Pünd’s investigation into foul play at a posh hotel owned by Hollywood actor Melissa James (Rosalie Craig), which also plays out on screen. To further thicken the plot, the daughter’s disappearance may be linked to a murder that took place eight years earlier on her wedding day at her parents’ hotel, which writer Conway visited!
Can Susan discover the secret hidden in the book and find Cecily before it’s too late?
Moonflower Murders cast — Lesley Manville as Susan Ryeland
Lesley Manville again plays sleuthing book editor Susan Ryeland.
Lesley says: "Susan’s been running this hotel with her boyfriend Andreas. It's a small, ramshackle place, and things are not going great, as money is short and she's changing the sheets and cooking when the chef doesn't turn up. It’s a far cry from her London life as a publisher!’
And, says Lesley, the hotel setting is perfect for a murder mystery. "You've got so many rooms. Where's that person gone? Which bedroom have they disappeared into?” It's perfect geography to stage a murder!
"Atticus is a manifestation of her imagination, but there's a nice bond between them. It’s her battle with her own conscience, and it's a playful, spiky and also quite adoring relationship!"I love working with Tim McMullan! We've appeared on stage together several times and, my God, if you've never seen Tim in the theatre, buy a ticket as quickly as you can!"
* Lesely Manville starred in The Crown, playing Princess Margaret, as well as Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, World on Fire, Dangerous Liaisons, Citadel, Sherwood and Maleficent. She played Rosemary Kendall in Emmerdale in the 1970s and has also been in Holding On, Secrets and Lies and Save Me.
Tim McMullan as Atticus Pünd
Tim McMullan again stars as the famous literary detective Atticus Pünd.
Tim says "Susan is running a hotel in Crete with her partner Andreas [Alexandros Logothesis], and she is visited by a couple who own a hotel in England, whose daughter Cecily [Amy Griffiths] has gone missing. They think there may be clues in an Atticus Pünd novel, and ask Susan for help. Meanwhile you’ve got a 1950s whodunnit from the novel playing out, with Atticus as the detective. It’s ingenious!"
"In Magpie Murders, it was a surprise to Susan when Atticus appeared to her while she was reading Alan Conway’s book, then she got used to him being around. Now it’s as if he appears as a warning, and she almost expects it."
On filming in Crete, Tim adds: "I’d never been before, and it felt really jammy to get a job like that! The weather was beautiful and, yes, the coat came off a lot! But we filmed in October, so luckily it wasn’t boiling hot!"
* Tim McMullan previously had roles in Enola Holmes 2, Cyrano, The Serpent, The Queen, The Woman in Black and Witness for the Prosecution.
Who else is starring in Moonflower Murders?
Daniel Mays is back as DS Locke, plus Alexandros Logothetis, Claire Rushbrook, Conleth Hill, Matthew Beard and Sanjeev Kohli are reprising their roles from Magpie Murders. Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) has two roles, the first as a rude hotel guest who gets his comeuppance. Other stars include Rosalie Craig (Anatomy of a Scandal), Pippa Bennett-Warner (Gangs of London) and Adrian Rawlins (Slow Horses) are joining the cast for Moonflower Murders.
Behind the scenes, locations and more on Moonflower Murders
Filming on Moonflower Murders took place in Dublin and Crete. The series is a co-Production of Eleventh Hour Films for MASTERPIECE and BBC in association with Salt Films. It is distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Television and PBS Distribution in North America.
