Anthony Horowitz on Moonflower Murders, Mysteries & More

Anthony Horowitz:

In these dramas and in the books on which they are based, there is a kind of secret meta-level that consists of me secretly incorporating my own life, because they are stories about a writer, Alan Conway, but Alan Conway – the Author of Magpie murders and from Moonflower murders– was actually created by me. So I'm sort of the outside Russian in all this. And so, for example, Susan Ryland happens to live in Crouch End, north London, in the first season. I used to live there, and that's why I took her to Crete – because I know this island very well. I really love the island. I spent a lot of time there and also know a little Greek, so I decided to send them there to this hotel, which was filmed in a town called Agios Nikolos in the northeast of Crete, not far from Heraklion.

I think that Crete very quickly established herself as the hero of this film, an invisible hero or a very visible hero, but sort of the uncredited Hero, because the first episode and all the flashbacks to Crete and Crete's role in the story are very significant. It adds a whole new dimension that we didn't have Magpie murders. It's a whole new feeling – there's sunshine, the Aegean Sea, which is so beautiful, and the hotel itself, which we found and which is a real hotel. I didn't even know it was there – it's tucked away just off the main road in its own little cove and it's an extraordinary place. I really hope our show helps him, because he actually needs a little help. It's a bit worn, maybe not quite as nice as our wonderful cameraman makes it. But it was a joy to be there, and the attentive viewers might notice the author of this series – me – I wouldn't say walking through a scene or even tiptoeing, because I'm neither others do…but I'm there.