One of the significant themes throughout the novel is the corruption and evil lurking just below the surface of even small, pastoral towns. Although from the outside the setting of Magpie Murders looks like a sleepy, idyllic English village, there are as many dark, complicated secrets as there as anywhere else is. Aside from the murders that form the centerpiece of the novel-within-a-novel, there are also a variety of other misdeeds—adultery, theft, deceit, and cruelty. The villagers hold close to many of these secrets, but they all come to light under Atticus’s discerning eye.

The corruption inherent even in such a charming, beguiling setting forces the reader to reckon with the fact that there are seedy and unsavory elements present in even the smallest and most innocent communities. In fact, as some of the characters in the novel suggest, due to their size and seclusion from the outside world, small communities may present quite fertile grounds for evil to spawn. The novel suggests that everyone has secrets—from the lowest members of the community to the rich and powerful and everywhere in between.

This corruption and unsavory underbelly mirrors in the main events of the novel, as Susan struggles to uncover the real story behind Alan Conway’s unexpected death.