Moonflower Murders (2020)
Anthony Horowitz’s novel came first and holds a complete Atticus Pünd mystery inside it.
Buy the book at Waterstones Listen on AudibleThe second Susan Ryeland mystery
Moonflower Murders
Susan is asked to revisit a murder at an English hotel after a woman disappears. The family believes the answer is hidden inside an Atticus Pünd novel inspired by the people who were there.
Six episodes. First shown on BBC One on 16 November 2024.
The six episodes
Each guide starts with a spoiler-free summary. Recaps and endings stay closed until you open them.
- Episode 1
Susan’s troubled life in Crete is interrupted by a missing woman and a clue hidden in an Alan Conway novel. Explore Moonflower Murders episode 1.
- Episode 2
Susan checks into Branlow Hall while Pünd examines Melissa James’s home. Follow the witnesses, timings and mirrored suspects in Moonflower Murders episode 2.
- Episode 3
An inheritance dispute, a missing pen and a misleading overheard phrase complicate Susan and Pünd’s cases in Moonflower Murders episode 3.
- Episode 4
Alan Conway’s recordings and an opera alibi bring new connections into focus as Susan travels to London in Moonflower Murders episode 4.
- Episode 5
Pünd challenges the apparent solution to Melissa’s death while Susan follows uncomfortable family secrets in Moonflower Murders episode 5.
- Episode 6
Explore the Moonflower Murders finale, with a spoiler-free introduction, a closed ending explanation, character links and book comparisons.
Who plays who
Many actors play one person in Susan’s world and another in the Atticus Pünd story. Read across each row to see both roles. Full cast guide.
Where it was filmed
Moonflower Murders filming locations in CreteVisit Agios Nikolaos and Elounda, the confirmed Cretan filming areas for Moonflower Murders, with a lakeside walk, food, buses and places to stay.
Moonflower Murders: Dublin and Howth locationsMoonflower Murders’ Irish locations, including Howth Castle as Branlow Hall, with tour access, a harbour walk and Dublin transport advice.
Read or listen to the book
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Where to watch
UK: check BBC iPlayer for Moonflower Murders.
US: PBS lists Moonflower Murders, with Passport access indicated. Check the service’s terms for your location.
PBS listing checked 19 October 2026.
Behind the camera
Principal production credits
- Writer / executive producer
- Anthony Horowitz
- Director
- Rebecca Gatward
- Producer
- Suzanne McAuley
- Executive producers
- Jill Green · Lesley Manville
- Composer
- Murray Gold
- Director of photography
- Peter Robertson
- Editor
- Catherine Creed
- Production
- Eleventh Hour Films · MASTERPIECE
This is a verified principal-credit summary, not a reproduction of the full end-credit roll. See the crew directory and open gaps →
Novel and television
What changed on screen?
Television spoilers and book-only spoilers are never exposed in the page preview.
Open spoiler-safe book-to-screen comparison
Adaptation discussion only: culprit identities, solutions and character outcomes are not disclosed.
- Television intercuts Susan’s contemporary search, the earlier Branlow Hall events and the 1950s Pünd mystery rather than presenting each as a long uninterrupted block.
- Dual casting turns parallels between the hotel guests and Conway’s fictional characters into a visual device.
- Susan’s exchanges with the imagined Pünd make her process of reading the manuscript as evidence visible.
- The Crete material gives Susan’s new life a distinct screen setting before the investigation pulls her back toward England.
The comparison stays at structural level. Plot outcomes and book-only revelations remain concealed.
Source desk
BBC programmes · PBS MASTERPIECE official guide · Eleventh Hour Films · Anthony Horowitz.
Credits and UK availability last checked 20 September 2026. Broadcaster schedules may change.
The other mysteries
- Magpie Murders
Editor Susan Ryeland receives Alan Conway’s newest Atticus Pünd manuscript without its final chapter. When Conway dies, the unfinished book becomes part of her own investigation.
- Marble Hall Murders
Susan edits a new Atticus Pünd novel by Eliot Crace, grandson of the children’s author Miriam Crace, and finds that the manuscript mirrors his own family’s history. Inside it, Pünd takes a case in Corfu.
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