Chris Brookmyre

FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW THIS IS NOT THAT CRIME NOVEL You know Penny Coyne. The little old lady who has solved multiple murders in her otherwise sleepy village, despite bumbling local police. A razor-sharp mind in a Sunday best hat. You know Johnny Hawke. Hard-bitten LAPD homicide detective. Always in trouble with his captain, always losing partners, but always battling for the truth, whatever it takes. Against all the odds, against the usual story, their worlds are about to collide. It starts with a dead writer and a mysterious wedding invitation. It will end with a rabbit hole that goes so deep, Johnny and Penny might just come to question not just whodunnit, but whether they want to know the answer. A cross-genre hybrid of Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly, The Cracked Mirror is the most imaginative and entertaining crime novel of the year, a genre-splicing rollercoaster with a poignantly emotional heart.

The Cracked Mirror

I love it when authors mash up different sub genres and do it well!  With this beauty we get the cosy, vintage feel of a Ms Marple with the edgy, tightly packed thriller with a MMC who reminds me of Martin Riggs and every other "living on the edge" kind of detective!

Octogenarian Penny lives in rural Scotland and still has all her marbles, thank you very much.  

Johnny is the epitome of hard-charging, LAPD detective and like the great Dirty Harry, his partners kind of end up dead! But he's way out of his element when his investigation takes him to Scotland.

The story flows really well between these two POV and the different feel of the characters stays distinct and somehow just blends so well!  The plot twists are enticing and as with any good Marple, there must be multiple red herrings!

They may be complete opposites in just about everything but these two odd ducks make a forceful pairing!  The humour helps it to not be a completely straight forward crime novel and it really helps meld everything together.

Nicola Sarah Brooks

I love it when authors mash up different sub genres and do it well!  With this beauty we get the cosy, vintage feel of a Ms Marple with the edgy, tightly packed thriller with a MMC who reminds me of Martin Riggs and every other "living on the edge" kind of detective!

Octogenarian Penny lives in rural Scotland and still has all her marbles, thank you very much.  

Johnny is the epitome of hard-charging, LAPD detective and like the great Dirty Harry, his partners kind of end up dead! But he's way out of his element when his investigation takes him to Scotland.

The story flows really well between these two POV and the different feel of the characters stays distinct and somehow just blends so well!  The plot twists are enticing and as with any good Marple, there must be multiple red herrings!

They may be complete opposites in just about everything but these two odd ducks make a forceful pairing!  The humour helps it to not be a completely straight forward crime novel and it really helps meld everything together.

The Cracked Mirror

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