Investigation at the home of Sir Magnus reveals various motives for the family members to have committed the murder, along with clues typical of the genre.

Mary was aware of Robert's guilt and feared her remaining son would pass on his homicidal tendencies to any potential children.

After hearing Pünd's recital of the case, Inspector Chubb arrests Robert for the murder of Sir Magnus Pye.

Susan Ryeland, an editor for Cloverleaf Books, is about to read Magpie Murders, the newest novel in Alan Conway's Atticus Pünd series.

Through her investigation, she learns that Conway hated the mystery genre which had made him successful, preferring to write pretentious literature.

[2][5] 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),[6][7] as well as Chinese and German (2019, 新星出版社 and Berlin Insel Verlag, respectively).

[14][15][16] In July 2020, Deadline announced that PBS's Masterpiece would adapt the novel into a six-part drama series, which would be aired in the US and on BritBox in the UK.

[18][19] Tim McMullan was signed to portray the character of Atticus Pünd after actor Timothy Spall pulled out of the production due to scheduling issues.

[20] Lesley Manville agreed to play the other central character, Susan Ryeland, who has a more significant role in the series than in the book.

Daniel Mays appears as the local police detective, Alexandros Logothetis as Susan's lover and Claire Rushbrook as her sister.

[22] Other members of the cast included Pippa Haywood, Michael Maloney, Ian Lloyd Anderson, Karen Westwood, Dorothy Atkinson, Lorcan Cranitch, Danielle Ryan, Harry Lawtey, Nia Deacon, Chu Omambala, Karl Collins, Sutara Gayle, Sanjeev Kohli, Paul Tylak, David Herlihy, Nathan Clarke, San Shella, Kate Gilmore and Beverley Longhurst.

Some exteriors were shot in London, and extensive shooting was completed in Suffolk, where much of the story takes place; the production spent more than three weeks in the village of Kersey,[24] where the Bell Inn became The Queen’s Arms.