Moonflower Murders: cast, plot and everything you need to know about the Magpie Murders sequel series

Moonflower Murders is a sequel to The Magpie Murders series which was a huge hit around the world. Now Lesley Manville and Timothy McMullan are returning to their roles as amateur sleuth Susan Ryeland and fictional detective Atticus Pünd to get to the bottom of another grisly murder case. 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 six-episode series that will launch on BBC1 and BBCiPlayer in the UK and 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?

No, not yet, but if the BBC release one, we’ll post it on here.

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 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. Cecily Treherne, who runs the hotel, read the book and believed the wrong man had been arrested but then disappeared. 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. She stars 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. He’s also 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), 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.