‘Moonflower Murders’ Drama Series Adaptation Set At PBS Masterpiece & BBC – Deadline 

PBS Masterpiece is on board a series adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s Moonflower Murders, a follow up to its Magpie Murders adaptation.

The network will co-produce Moonflower Murders with the BBC. It comes after Magpie Murders aired on the U.S. public broadcaster and BritBox last year.

The commission was announced at PBS’ TCA press tour.

The book, which is a sequel to Magpie Murders, takes place after that story and focuses on the disappearance of a hotel employee, using a story-within-a-story device.

Lesley Manville returns as editor turned sleuth Susan Ryeland with Timothy McMullan returning as famous literary detective Atticus Pünd.

The series is produced by Eleventh Hour Films, adapted by Horowitz and exec produced by Jill Green.

More than 5.5M watched Magpie Murders on PBS Masterpiece, which is presented by GBH Boston.

Anthony Horowitz said, “I can’t wait to get started on the scripts of Moonflower Murders. We had a fantastic response to Magpie and, speaking personally, it was a joy bringing Susan Ryeland and Atticus Pünd to life on the screen. There are lots of surprises in the second book, including something I’ve never done before in a murder mystery. It’s going to be great fun.”

Masterpiece executive producer Susanne Simpson added, “We’re delighted to partner with Eleventh Hour Films on another ingenious mystery from Anthony Horowitz. Magpie Murders was a hit with our audience, who loved its clever storytelling of a mystery-within-a-mystery. It’s thrilling to know that Lesley and Tim will be returning to Masterpiece in Moonflower Murders.”

Jill Green said, “We had the best reviews ever for an Eleventh Hour Films drama, which was hugely satisfying given the creative attention given over to every aspect of the series, by every member of cast and crew. So, it is wonderful to be all returning again with the equally complicated and riveting Moonflower Murders.”