I'm a big fan of Chris Brookmyre and I am very grateful for the opportunity to read The Cracked Mirror. The book's twin viewpoints has perfectly pitched styles for a Miss Marple/Murder, She Wrote vibe and for a hard-boiled Michael Connelly slant so this was cleverly done by, It is also very funny in places, typical of Brookmyre's style. Unfortunately on this occasion I found I was struggling to keep up with who all the characters were and I think some of the details went over my head, leaving me a bit confused. Thank you for the copy of the book.

It begins with Penelope Coyne, an elderly figure, who becomes aware of a murder in her small Scottish village—a man has been strangled in the church confessional booth. Despite her peculiar claim of having solved numerous murders in this quiet locale, Penelope is determined to involve herself in the investigation.

In contrast, Los Angeles police lieutenant Jonny Hawke wakes up with a headache in an unfamiliar room next to a woman he struggles to remember. Known for his maverick methods that have led to a series of unfortunate partner deaths, Jonny is soon summoned to investigate what appears to be the suicide of a male writer. Though it seems straightforward, his boss insists on a thorough investigation.

These two seemingly disparate threads—an old-school murder mystery and a contemporary hardboiled detective story—merge into a unique and original narrative. The plot's distinctive nature makes it best approached with minimal prior knowledge.

http://thesecretbookreview.co.uk

In the quiet Scottish village of Glen Cuthar, 80-something Penny Coyne has a reputation for solving crime. In Los Angeles, police officer Johnny Hawke has his own way of doing things. Bizarrely their two worlds collide at a society wedding and the two of them are thrown together to solve a series of suspicious incidents. However as they investigate things become weirder and weirder and nothing seems to make sense.
It's really impossible to try to describe what a ride this book is for a reader. Beginning as a mash-up between two genres of crime fiction - the hard-bitten gumshoe and the little old lady cosy crime-solver - it takes a number of crazy twists which swerve into science fiction. Honestly I would just recommend reading this book, it's worth it!

I’m ambivalent about this.
Ever since being scooped in by the title “Quite Ugly One Morning” I’ve enjoyed Chris Brookmyre’s novels hugely and I was really looking forward to reading “The Cracked Mirror”. And I did enjoy it quite a lot.
His writing style rollicks along without giving me too much time to criticise. Still, I was taken aback by the juxtaposition of a Miss Marple kind of character with the hardbitten LAPD Detective type and at first the contrast in styles jarred a bit. But when he got them together it all became much more believable and if the multitude of murders was confusing it was in a good way. And the action was fast and furious and the plot was very interesting. The interactions between the elderly Scottish Miss Marple lookalike and the tough but tragic LAPD type were brilliantly worked out and developed and very satisfying.
The twist though; (It’s hard to say much about this without spoiling) because of the kind of material I often read, this became obvious to me about halfway through the story and after that I was waiting to see if I was right and also if and how it was going to work and if it was going to be as surprising as the book had been this far. And, well, I was right and it did work and now I’m not sure if my very slight dissatisfaction with the whole book was just because I wanted what I was used to or if it was actually all a bit fragmented and unconvincing (Which, in fact, I think it was supposed to be) and, once it became clear that I was right about the twist, not very surprising. Or maybe it wasn’t fragmented and unconvincing enough?
Well, I’m ambivalent about it. I enjoyed reading it but I was a bit disappointed with the final denoument. But that could be because it’s attached to a trope I’ve read an awful lot of. And while I think Chris Brookmyre is one of the absolute best at slightly broken and twisty detective characters this just wasn’t as good as the best of the particular genre that came with the twist. And it could also be because it wasn’t the Brookmyre I was expecting so probably my failure not his.
I recommend it anyway because it’s definitely different and I think a lot of people would enjoy it.

Thanks to NetGalley, publishers and author for an ARC of The Cracked Mirror.

This story follows three main protagonists with what seems to be three separate stories, until they're not. An enjoyable mystery and storyline, my only negative is regarding the high volume of characters to keep track of. If reading again I would take more care and possibly take notes!

Recommend reading, I will be looking for other works by this author.

DNF at 31%
I got so bored of this book. There’s literally nothing to keep my interest and attention in it.
I liked the initial idea for the book but it’s taking waaaay to long for some action to take place for this sort of book.

Hands up - I am a huge Christopher Brookmyre fan and have been for decades, so maybe I am a tiny bit influenced by my fandom. Being as objective as possible, however, I really loved this book! The relationship between Penny and Johnny was believable and enjoyable. The plot was intricate and intriguing. I must confess I was wracking my brains trying to figure out the connections between the different families but I could not have guessed what was really going on. I think if the writing hadn’t been so entertaining and gripping I may have lost my way and got a bit bored, but the author keeps the pace going and develops all the characters so well. There are a lot of characters to keep up with! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a thriller with humour, and likes to expect the unexpected!

As usual in my reviews, I will not rehash the plot or publisher's blurb - but instead highly recommend that you read this for yourself if (like me) you are fan of convoluted mystery stories!

This book has gone straight to the top of my favourite reads this year. I was initially mystified by what was going on - as there are several different threads and stories taking place at the same time...

The characters are well written - the main protagonists being effectively stereotypes in the classic "Miss Marple cosy spinster sleuth" and a "Bosch style" maverick American detective. If you've read any novels featuring those types of characters before, you feel as though you already know them. There's also an interesting and wide-ranging cast of supporting characters running through the strands - some of whom exhibit eerie similarities...

Just when I thought I'd figured out what was going on, the story twisted, then twisted again, with a final twist that left me wondering... (though I'd kind of vaguely picked up on earlier in the book, but in that "back of my mind" way!)

In short, I really enjoyed this novel - recommended for fans of twisty-turny tales! Now planning to examine the author's other works...

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

Of course, the plot is twisted and almost beyond credibility, but the two characters who come together- a Miss Marple type, older prescient woman who can read every clue and every face for the truth, and a tough LA cop/detective with the requisite heart of gold, despite illegal ways of getting at the heart of the matter by any means - meet up on what turns out to be the same case - and that encounter is what makes this book unusual. Told with wit and quick allusions to the stereotypes of the characters makes their working together authentic. It work seamlessly in fact. We kind of discover why in the final twist [I won’t reveal but it has to do with reality] so the plot is overly complex, and keeps evolving until the last sentence - but it’s hard to follow eventually - {and I finally just gave up] - I just focused on the characters and that was sufficiently engaging. A good exercise in character exploration of distinct types in world of detective fiction - and that was fun in itself. He’s ver adept!

If you’re looking for a crime thriller with a difference, The Cracked Mirror is definitely it! I’m a fan of Scottish author Chris Brookmyre and his unique and humorous approach the crime novels. The Cracked Mirror absolutely ticks those boxes while throwing an extra surprise into the mix.

I’ll start off by saying that you need to pay attention! As well as there being three very separate storylines (that merge together eventually) in play, there are a lot of characters in the mix and when some of them are not who they seem / who you first think they are, things can get confusing!

So, our main characters are… Ms Penelope (Penny) Coyne from Perthshire, Scotland and Johnny Hawke from LA, America. They are representations of the two distinct types of detectives that pop up in fiction and seeing the way their relationship develops is a truly lovely part of this read.

The Cracked Mirror is a perfect title for this book as the plot does splinter in many directions. For starters, The Cracked Mirror is a novel by a character in the book, and that level of reference sets the scene well.

It was an intriguing but confounding novel in which each chapter seemed to belong to a completely different book.

I can’t go into the many plot details here but things are kicked off when Johnny notices a pattern of apparent suicides that he thinks are, in fact, murders. His path crosses with Penny’s at a society wedding at Crathie Hall, in Scotland and from there, things ramp up.

From the unexpected suicide of a bride, to a mysterious screenwriter no-one can track down to a tech whizz-kid with a secret, there is a lot happening but its all so cleverly done and weaves together in a brilliant way you will not see coming. Which is the very best feeling.

The blending of the two (opposite) detective types is done so well, I loved all the nods to both sides of detective fiction – the gritty and the classic. The Cracked Mirror is a truly clever, funny, engrossing read – definitely a breath of fresh air in the crime genre.

A long and very cryptic book, told from the POV of 2 crime solvers, one in the US and one in Scotland. The links are not apparent until well into the book. There is lots of action and quite a few people end up dead, the reasons for which ar quite complicated. I was all for not finishing this book, it did not really hook me in until about half way through the book. At almost 500 pages, that is a lot of reading ! I was intrigued about what was goging on though and did not expect the outcome. There are a lot of characters to keep in your mind, though I did get to the stage where I concentrated mostly on the main ones in the plot, this to avoid too much confusion about who was who.
Not a bad read, but not an easy read either. Perhaps slightly more LA police dept rather than Agatha Christie.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

What happens when a hard-bitten LA cop and a little old lady who solves murders in her small village collide? Well, a completely brain fuddling murder mystery that's what - and I mean that in a good way. The Cracked Mirror of the title is a screenplay, which seems to have lead to several deaths, which the authorities think are suicides, but Johnny Hawke and Penny Coyne are not convinced and end up investigating their separate cases - which soon collide. And lots of other things are colliding in this too - it's really hard to explain without giving too much away, but I did enjoy it, once I had time and brain space to concentrate on it so that I could follow what was going on. But it is definitely not a straight-down-the-line crime or mystery novel and I know the blurb says that, but I really cannot emphasise that enough.

2.5⭐️⭐️⭐️



✨Mystery
✨ Psychological thriller
✨ slow paced



✨ I got to admit. I don’t like the story.
Everytime I put my time and effort to read, it makes me confuse . I then tried to download the audiobook and it makes me confuse even more.
I guess it’s a good book to others but this is not my cup of tea.

✨ Thankyou for the opportunity to read this arc for a honest review .


🫶🏼shaye.reads

A thoroughly enjoyable whodunnit with a unique twist. If you imagine Marple meets Bosch you’d be on the right lines. Quality writing with a very clever plot. This was my first Brookmyre novel that has immediately led me to his backlist. Great stuff.
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own unbiased opinion.

The Cracked Mirror is a unique murder mystery unlike anything I’ve read before! At first, the two POVs seem to clash, where Penny is straight out of an Agatha Christie mystery while Johnny could have been a lead in a Michael Connelly book. It takes a while before they cross paths — I wish it happened sooner — but when they do, things get wild. Both of them are investigating eerily similar murders, but the truth is unexpected.

The book is almost 500 pages with a large cast of characters so it requires a little patience. Luckily, Penny and Johnny are an unlikely duo with engaging conversations and funny moments to balance the action and danger. And it gets emotional too! I don’t want to spoil it but be aware this is not 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 a crime story. It’s about how different mediums like movies and video games can tell stories, how memories play a part in constructing a narrative, and how advanced technology can be used in a quest for justice. If you want a fresh interpretation of a murder mystery, you don’t want to miss this!

Finished this at the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it!
Having only read the author's historical crime novels written with his wife under the pseudonym Ambrose Parry, I wasn't sure what to expect. other than it probably being well researched and written. It was both these.
I'm not going to type a 'what the books about' review as there are too many ways to give away spoilers, as this book is full with fantastic twists and turns which really kept the pages turning. It has two great main characters, a hybrid genre, and is wonderfully imaginative and highly entertaining. I would say don't read too much up on it as going in not knowing what to expect is best. If you like crime/thrillers/police procedurals, try this!

I have read most of Chris Brookmyre's works, from his fantastic early works, through his incarnation as half of Ambrose Parry and beyond, and this is another excellent addition. The problem is, it's one of those books that is almost impossible to review without giving the whole shebang away.

It's twisty, with a wonderful mish-mash of LA noir meets Miss Marple with a Scottish accent. When the two worlds do collide it gets ever more complicated. But at its heart are these two characters, Penny Coyne and Johnny Hawke, and you genuinely care about them. The plot is, yes, complex and will pull the rug from under your feet, but it is wonderfully done.

Perhaps not at the level, for me, of the earlier stuff like 'Be My Enemy' or 'One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night', this is nonetheless an excellent read and definitely worth reading.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

I have loved murder mysteries since my formative years when I would sneak my Mum's Agatha Christies. Not sure I fully understood the finer points, then, but I loved the hunt for a killer walking among us, fictionally speaking, that is.

In The Cracked Mirror we have a beautiful collaboration between two stalwarts of the mystery genre - the gritty police procedural (Johnny) and the sweet, spinsterly crime solving genius (Penny). Here they come together from separate investigations and bump along as well as two diametrically opposed people with unbending views on investigation might. It was such fun! I couldn't foresee where this mishmash was headed but the journey to the unexpected took on more varied and complex twists as it went leaving me thrilled, if not a bit perplexed initially. Ingenious plotting and a quick pace served this novel well making one I thoroughly enjoyed.

Miss Marple meets Michael Connelly could be an easy tagline for award-winning Scottish author Chris Brookmyre’s superb new novel, but that distillation severely underplays all that is going on in The Cracked Mirror, a truly mind-bending mystery.

Yes, Penny Coyne is a tweed-wearing, elderly librarian in a sleepy Scottish village who has helped the local constabulary solve many murders (or done so despite their bumbling). And yes, Johnny Hawke is a hard-bitten LAPD homicide detective with a maverick streak who’s willing to bend the rules to find the truth and catch the bad guys. At the start, as Brookmyre flicks readers between unfolding mysteries in Los Angeles and Scotland, it seems like The Cracked Mirror is two books, or sub-genres, in one. Then Penny and Johnny’s worlds begin to mesh, as she answers a mysterious wedding invitation at a Scottish manor, and Johnny trails a person of interest to the same venue.

As the oddball pairing are thrust together, The Cracked Mirror becomes a helter-skelter thrill ride that will have readers furrowing their brow and whirring through the pages. Are the echoes among some tragic suicides coincidence or something worse? Why are Penny’s local police targetting Johnny, a fellow cop even if one from across the pond? It’s a tale with storytelling at its heart – the trail snakes through screenwriting, book publishing, and video games companies – and with plenty of heart among the hurly burly.

A terrific tale that’s unlike anything else you’ll probably read this year.

[This review was originally written for publication in Good Reading, an Australian-based monthly books magazine]

When you starting reading this, it seems familiar, an Agatha Christie-like protagonist in Penny Coyne who lives in a sleepy town and assists in solving murders. The story then moves to Los Angeles to a brash LA detective, Johnny Hawke, who has a habit of losing his work partners and working to slve homocides in his own belligerent way. There could not be two more differing protagonists. Penny and Johnny appear to be in two different times and in two different worlds, until both end up in Scotland. The pace then picks up as they become embroiled in crime solving. The story is mesmerising and intriguing and what a cracker! A very clever novel that is truly original. It is hard to review it without giving away the plot, but honestly, it is a must read.