It’s time for mystery writers, nasty and nice

In a war of words, Anthony Horowitz could easily top Alan Conway.
Both are writers, but Horowitz is sharper, smarter, nicer … and more real. Conway, an unpleasant chap, is his fictional creation.
He’s “the exact opposite of me,” Horowitz told the Television Critics Association. “And I have a lot of fun having a dig at him.”
Conway was killed in PBS’ “Magpie Murders.” He’s back (via flashbacks) in “Moonflower Murders,” at 9 p.m. on six Sundays, starting Sept. 15 — again implying that mystery writers are a nasty bunch. No one should marry one, he says, because they’re the most self-centered people in the world.
In real life, Jill Green did marry a mystery writer and seems happy about it. She and Horowitz have been married for 36 years; she’s the producer for many of his shows, including “Foyle’s War,” “Alex Rider,” “Moonflower” and more. “We can still argue in a room, … but I love it,” she said.
The arguing is part of the fun, Horowitz said. “When I get notes from most people, I sort of just say yes. With Jill, I argue for 10 minutes, because we’re married. But then I say yes. She’s always right.”
And there’s much to argue about. Horowitz has created a fiendishly complex notion that’s hard to execute.
In “Magpie,” Conway was killed and the last chapter of his novel was stolen. Susan (Lesley Manville), a book editor, had two chores: Solve the crime in the book, then determine who would kill to suppress that ending.
Now comes “Moonflower”: After reading an older book by Conway (fictionalizing a murder in her parents’ hotel), a woman realized who the real-life killer was. Then she vanished.
Susan – now helping run a makeshift inn in Crete (shown here) – must reread that old novel and ponder the real killer. Again, she imagines conversations with the book’s detective.
Adding to that is a novelist habit: “Alan Conway, being a horrible writer, uses people he meets … as characters in his books,” Horowitz said. “He does it in a very malevolent way.”
In his book, two good-natured souls – the missing woman and her bridegroom – became a foul-spirited actress and her scheming financial advisor. Many actors play two people, one current and one in the ‘50s novel.
“The actors just love it,” Green said, because they can have “a period face and a modern face.”
That includes transformations. “I’m always in awe, in terms of what they can do with hair and make-up,” said Suzanne Simpson, the “Masterpiece” chief.
And with clothes. “As soon as you put on the sort of quite-restrictive outfits, you’re in the ‘50s, which was really fun,” said Pippa Bennett-Warner, who played an assistant.
She also brought a vital skill, Horowitz said. “She screams extremely well. In the ‘50s, when you (discover a) body, you have to scream in a certain way.”
That’s important in his stories. They keep having bodies being found, involving two time periods, two realities and two mystery writers, only one of whom seems crabby self-centered.