Lesley Manville plays Susan Ryeland, a London editor handed the final Atticus Pünd mystery by its arrogant author, Alan Conway (Conleth Hill). The typescript lacks its last chapter; hours later Conway is discovered beneath the tower of his Suffolk folly, an apparent suicide. While searching for the missing pages, Susan realises the fictional village of Saxby-on-Avon is a thinly disguised version of Conway’s own, and every neighbour who loathed him has a counterpart in the manuscript. Parallel plots unfold: Susan’s present-day investigation shot in sun-bleached East Anglian locations, and the 1950s whodunnit starring German-Jewish detective Tim McMullan as Pünd, filmed with warmer tones and studio smoke. Both strands share cast members doubling roles, a device that keeps the viewer guessing which world will claim the next corpse.
Horowitz adapts his own best-seller, trusting the audience to follow a Chinese-box structure that folds a classic country-house murder inside a contemporary publishing noir. Director Peter Cattaneo keeps the tone playful yet precise, allowing clues to surface in crossword grids, dust-jacket artwork and the chapter headings themselves. The six-episode BritBox and PBS co-production was shot across Dublin, Suffolk and Kersey’s 15th-century Bell Inn, rechristened The Queen’s Arms for the series. Daniel Mays, Claire Rushbrook and Matthew Beard round out a cast that switches accents and eras without dropping the pace.
Released February–October 2022, the series earned a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and spawned Moonflower Murders in 2024, continuing Ryeland’s bibliophile sleuthing.
Production Details
BritBox / 1 Season / 6 Episodes / 2022
Created by: Anthony Horowitz
Writer(s): Anthony Horowitz
Main Cast
Lesley Manville as Susan Ryeland
Tim McMullan as Atticus Pünd
Nia Deacon as Joy Sanderling
Conleth Hill as Alan Conway
Daniel Mays as Locke / Chubb
Alexandros Logothetis as Andreas Pataki
Harry Lawtey as Robert Blackiston
Matthew Beard as James Taylor / Fraser
Dorothy Atkinson as Lady Frances Pye
Claire Rushbrook as Katie Williams
Pippa Haywood as Claire Jenkins / Clarissa Pye
Michael Maloney as Charles Clover
