Magpie Murders complete

What a terrific book! A double murder mystery, and lots of interesting and unobtrusive observations on the merits of literature and popular fiction and the distinction between the two.

Since I write YA books, my take on the literature/fiction distinction goes about like this. Just like Horowitz's main character--a writer who wants to be considered part of the pantheon of greats but isn't--I started writing wanting to be a "great." But there's that thing called talent, and I just don't have a great work of literature in me. But I did discover along the way that I could write a book that at least some 14 year-old readers think is great. This is why I never say to students: "You can be anything you want to be." Much more sensible to say: "Figure out what you're pretty good at, work at that, and become as great in that area as your talents allow."

Anyway, I'm in total awe of how Horowitz handles this amazingly intricate double plot, how the pieces tie together so neatly, how many twists and turn there were (all of which were believable). Just really impressive.