CHARACTER PROFILE · SPOILER-LIGHT
Alan Conway
Bestselling crime writer, creator of Atticus Pünd, and the difficult presence casting a shadow over the series.
Role
Conway writes the in-universe Atticus Pünd novels edited by Susan Ryeland. His manuscripts operate as publishable mysteries, personal expression and evidence in the outer narrative.
Core traits
Gifted, caustic, secretive and intensely conscious of the machinery of detective fiction.
Why this character matters
The delicious contradiction is that Conway can build elegant puzzles while resenting the form that made him successful. That friction lets every clever device double as character evidence.
Reading advice
Start with Magpie Murders and follow publication order. The profile keeps culprit identities and solutions hidden.
Appearances
Relationship and continuity note — reveal spoilers
Later books can make earlier Conway choices look newly purposeful. His relationships and private references matter to the way Susan reads the manuscripts, so publication order gives the cleanest accumulation of meaning.
Sources
Character and series details use the official author catalogue and the source links on the book pages.