“How would you piece together a murder?

Do you trust other people’s memories?
Do you trust your own?
Should you?

Princeton, 1987: renowned psychologist Professor Joseph Weider is brutally murdered.

New York, twenty-five years later: literary agent Peter Katz receives a manuscript. Or is it a confession?

Today: unearth the secrets of The Book of Mirrors and discover why your memory is the most dangerous weapon of all.”

I’m not entirely sure what is going on at the moment.  I’m a little confused as all of a sudden I seem to have the time to read non-blog tour books.  It’s a wonderful thing, and I hope it lasts…this must be what other bloggers feel like!

Literary agent Peter Katz receives a well written, thoughtful submission which piques his interest.  It’s about a murder, but it’s not just any old fictional tale.  It’s about a real life, high profile crime which took place 25 years ago.  As is customary in the world of publishing, Peter only has the first few pages of the manuscript.  But he knows he needs to read more.  Who killed Professor Joseph Weider? Is this the author confessing?  Or a complete work of fiction?

I loved the idea of this book.  Any book that’s, well…about books tends to grab my attention.  The story is divided into three parts and the story is told by three narrators; the literary agent, the investigative journalist and the retired cop.  Events take a turn for the worse when the manuscript Peter Katz is so desperate to find goes missing.  But he needs to know who killed Professor Weider.  Yes, his interest is professional but if he’s honest it goes much deeper than that now.

I enjoyed reading The Book of Mirrors but I’m afraid it didn’t have the wow factor for me.  At times, I wondered whether I had accidentally picked up a psychology textbook by mistake.  It was a fascinating read but not a very exciting one.  I really enjoyed the first part narrated by literary agent, Peter Katz.  I’m afraid I was stating to lose interest when the investigative journalist stepped up to the plate and by the time I had reached the third part narrated by the retired cop, I was completely lost.

Before I conclude this review I have to say something about Laura Baines.  For me she was the character that outshone every one else.  Laura is one of the characters who makes a regular appearance throughout the story.  And each and every time she does make an appearance she is a completely different person.  I loved that.  I loved grown-up, career driven Laura.  She made me shudder at one point with her icy attitude.

Would I recommend this book?  I would but it’s a slow burn of a novel.  The beginning is great, I found the end satisfying but it lost it’s way somewhere in the middle.

Three and a half stars out of five.

I chose to read and review an eARC of The Book of Mirrors.  Many thanks to Arrow Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy.  The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Book of Mirrors by E.O. Chirovici was published in the UK by Arrow Publishing on 26th January 2017 and is available in hardcover, eBook and audio formats with the paperback to follow in September 2017 | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Waterstones | Goodreads |

Inspired by false memories from his childhood and written in the author’s second language, remarkably The Book of Mirrors nearly wasn’t published at all.

Having been rejected in the US, E. O. Chirovici took the novel to a small UK publisher who advised him to try just one more time to get it to a wider readership. He did, and The Book of Mirrors was immediately signed by a literary agent, sparking a UK auction and world-wide rights sales.

E. O. Chirovici now lives in Brussels with his wife. He has had a prestigious and varied career in the Romanian media and has also published novels and short stories in his native language. The Book of Mirrors is his first novel in English and is being published in January.

Author Links: | Website | Twitter | Facebook |