Hall of Mirrors: A Novel

Nightingale Trilogy #2

by John Copenhaver

When a popular mystery novelist dies suspiciously, his writing partner must untangle the author’s connection to a serial killer in award-winning John Copenhaver’s new novel set in 1950s McCarthy-era Washington, DC.In May 1954, Lionel Kane witnesses his apartment engulfed in flames with his lover and writing partner, Roger Raymond, inside. Police declare it a suicide due to gas ignition, but Lionel refuses to believe Roger was suicidal. A month earlier, Judy Nightingale and Philippa Watson—the tenacious and troubled heroines from The Savage Kind—attend a lecture by Roger and, being eager fans, befriend him. He has just been fired from his day job at the State Department, another victim of the Lavender Scare, an anti-gay crusade led by figures like Senator Joseph McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover, claiming homosexuals are security risks. Little do Judy and Philippa know, but their obsessive manhunt of the past several years has fueled the flames of his dismissal. They have been tracking their old enemy Adrian Bogdan, a spy and vicious serial killer protected by powerful forces in the government. He’s on the rampage again, and the police are ignoring his crimes. Frustrated, they send their research to the media and their favorite mystery writer anonymously, hoping to inspire someone, somehow, to publish on the crimes—anything to draw Bogdan out. But has their persistence brought deadly forces to the writing team behind their most beloved books? In the wake of Roger’s death, Lionel searches for clues, but Judy and Philippa threaten his quest, concealing dark secrets of their own. As the crimes of the past and present converge, danger mounts, and the characters race to uncover the truth, even if it means bending their moral boundaries to stop a killer.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Historical, Crime, LGBT

333 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2024

About the author

John Copenhaver’s historical crime novel, Dodging and Burning, won the 2019 Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel and garnered Anthony, Strand Critics, Barry, and Lambda Literary Award nominations. Copenhaver writes a crime fiction review column for Lambda Literary called “Blacklight,” cohosts on the House of Mystery Radio Show, and is the six-time recipient of Artist Fellowships from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He grew up in the mountains of southwestern Virginia and currently lives in Richmond, VA, with his husband, artist Jeffery Paul (Herrity).

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous book! I better believe it; I wrote it. : )

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an atmospheric, tense historical mystery set in 1950s Washington DC featuring queer and/or Black characters and investigating the complexities of passing. The setting is very vivid, and there is an excellent twist (and a twist on the twist!).

At the beginning we witness the aftermath of an apparent suicide of one half of the novel’s gay couple - or was it suicide, or is it linked to the work of a serial killer the lesbian couple have been chasing after.

DEFINITELY read book one before this, which is book two in a planned trilogy. I did not, and I had a lot of trouble orienting myself and there are a few details that never became clear to me that I know would have if I had read the first book.

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pretty impressed by Hall of Mirrors. Apparently it's the middle volume in a mystery trilogy. It's set in DC in the 1950s. It's built around two gay couples.

The "main" couple (who I think feature/will feature in the first and third books) are lesbians, one of whom has fairly recently discovered she's half Black. She spent her early childhood in an orphanage, then was adopted by a white family. She has now met the Black half of the family she wasn't aware of. She's uncomfortable with them, but has made friends with her half sister, who is critical of her choice to pass—which she's been doing all her life without realizing she's doing it.

The other couple are two gay men, again one white and one half Black. The white one worked until recently for the State Department, he's now been caught up in the McCarthy purge. The two men together have also created a pen name for themselves and have been publishing detective novels.

The female couple is on the trail of a serial killer who they first encountered in book one (which I haven't read) and the male couple become involved as well once they meet.

It's an interesting group of central characters and using 1950s DC as the setting is interesting. My one complaint is that the book jumps back and forth in time with different characters as narrators. Each chapter is headed with a year and a month, but I'm not good at retaining that info, so I'm having to stop fairly regularly to think about where each chapter fits along the timeline on which events play out. The author uses this to advantage, though, parceling out information a little at a time and creating some tension among the characters because some of them know more about what's going on than others.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judy and Philippa are back with new friends! I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book!

Unlike a lot of new mystery novels coming out today, Hall of Mirrors doesn’t include gratuitous violence or overly graphic scenes for the sake of shock value. Every detail lends itself to the story and the 1940s & 50s time period in Washington, D.C. The author does an incredible job of continuing to develop a diverse and complex group of characters; some of which carry over from The Savage Kind, and others are new to Hall of Mirrors.

I also love every subtle nod to the fashion and interior design of this time period. Judy, Philippa, Lionel and Roger all exude class and sophistication. Their clothes, hair, and apartments help paint such a beautiful picture over the reality of living such difficult and dangerous lives by simply being themselves.

Thank you so much to John for the ARC and sharing this story (and The Savage Kind) with the world!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will write my review soon, but that ending was 💯

Happy Pride month and this marks my 150th book of the year!

What a way to kick off Pride month with a book that brings shows what it was like to be in the LGBTQIA+ community and having to endure racism and homophobia in the 1940s-1950s.
Hall of Mirrors was the second book in the Nightingdale Trilogy, and it was full of twists and turns. While I did not read the first book in the trilogy I was not left behind. It is set in Washington DC with Judy and Philippa seeking justice for girls being murdered by a serial killer. They attend a lecture that Roger Raymond is speaking, and they quickly become friends. A month later he is found dead in his apartment. His lover and writing partner, Lionel, is left at a loss and struggles throughout the book to grasp what happened. Judy and Philippa come to Lionel’s side, but they are hiding secrets of their own.
The ending had me staying up way past my bedtime.
Thank you, John Copenhaver, for the eARC

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was competently written but for some reason I wasn't very interested in the characters. Perhaps the jumping back and forth limited any deep dive or maybe there just weren't enough triggers for me to make a connection with them.

[Gary Sosniecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of John Copenhaver ever since he interviewed me about my first-and-only true-crime book almost four years ago. His first two novels deservedly earned five stars each. But, despite Copenhaver’s brilliance in describing settings and characters, “Hall of Mirrors” was not an easy read. As in his prior books, each chapter is in the voice of one of the characters. That’s not a problem. However, the chapters are not in chronological order. Chapter 25 is a conversation with a character who may — or may not have — died in Chapter 1. That’s jarring. With each new chapter, I found myself thumbing back through the book, trying to figure where it fit in. And, Copenhaver’s ambitious character development in the early chapters pushes the bulk of the crime story to the second half of the book. It’s a good story; it just takes too long to get going.

[Debbie Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I would have realized that there was another book prior to this one. I was still able to enjoy this one but reading that one first would have been helpful. I will read it next.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A big thank you to @JohnCope74 and @BookSparks for the free copy of this one 💖.

✨What is is about:
When a popular mystery novelist dies suspiciously in 1950s Washington D.C., his writing partner must untangle the author’s connection to a serial killer.✨

💭My thoughts:
This is the second book in The Nightingale series and it was amazing! Set in the ‘50s, the author transports you to that time effortlessly. The descriptions of the decor, fashion, and the surroundings were superb, and it felt like I was there in the middle of the story the whole time. This was a complex and captivating novel that grabbed me early on and once it did, it never let me go !. It really kept me on my toes the whole time!. The thought behind all the chapters, and the amount of attention to detail in each one was incredible. The pacing felt right, and the weaving of the different points of view along with the alternate timelines, was expertly executed. This book was SO MUCH FUN to read!

5 ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
🕵️ Murder mysteries
🕵️ Historical thrillers
🕵️ LGTBQ+ representation
🕵️ Intricate plots
🕵️ The 1950s

⚠️CW: Homophobia, murder, death.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author, John Copenhaver and Pegasus Crime (Simon & Schuster) for an ARC in exchange for a fair review. This is the middle book of a trilogy, featuring Judy Nightingale and Philippa Watson on the search for a serial killer. This is set in Washington DC in the 1950s, amid the fear and paranoia of the McCarthy hearings, which were supported by the FBI. As well, racism continues to linger as court cases are forcing desegregation without much progress. Living in the shadows as a young couple, both Judy and Philippa have leftover business from the the first novel in this series, The Savage Kind. Justice has been completely warped as the FBI allows an informant to continue killing pre-adolescent girls without any punishment or acknowledgement. Enlisting help from friends to push their case, they all become targets. John Copenhaver describes every outfit and meal, but more importantly, captures the racism and homophobia that permeated the mid 1950s. Cannot wait for the third in this trilogy.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise was good. History wasn’t detailed but you do get a little bit of a sense of the issues with race and LGBTQ bigotry of the times. There were different viewpoints which was fine; having different fonts helped with that. But the timeline was all over the place and confused me a lot. I had to keep going back to figure out when something happened. I almost wish I had had a written out timeline of notes to go along with it…which wouldn’t have worked for spoilers. The plot was interesting enough that I wanted to get through it. The very end of the book ( which wasn’t the end time-wise) I couldn’t figure out who did what though maybe the font was a clue?. Everything else was clear of perspective but the last chapter was more oblique and referencing mirrors…as far as a tie in to the title and the couple ‘mirror’ references in the book, it was weak IMO.

[Alison Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still reeling from how much I loved this book—honestly, it’s a top contender for my favorite of the year (and I rarely use the word masterpiece, but this one earns it). It’s a wonderfully complex story that blends a gripping murder mystery with a powerful exploration of identity, passing, and the reasons people concealed who they were in 1950s America. The author masterfully unpacks what it meant to be Black, queer, white, or straight during such a socially conservative and oppressive time—and how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go.
Bonus points: love a hometown author and setting—RVA represent! 🙌📚

Favorite Quote(s): Will you live in the light or the shadows?
Never let them shame you. Never let anyone shame you.

Overall Rating: 5/5 ⭐️

Recommended? 100%

[Dana K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Booksparks for the gifted copy. All opinions below are my own.

When a writer is killed in a mysterious fire, his partner and friends are sure that things are not what they seem. However, the more they investigate, the more they are sure that there is a serious cover-up going on. The four of them were hot on the tail of a serial killer and it seems like the cops will do anything to stop them from digging up any details on the case.

This one is a cross between great historical fiction and a serial killer cat and mouse mystery. I wasn't expecting this one to have the big twists that it did but I was pleasantly surprised. There was real depth in the characters who had real growth in their acrs. It was also a social commentary on the times reflecting on both the queer experience and the impact of race. Read this one if you like a more steady paced mystery with great clues and action.

[Lydia Horan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took me so long to finish this book due to the fact that it wasn’t interesting. It’s a mystery but at no point was I really intrigued. The story has potential but the characters were dull and the way it was written left me feeling confused. I wish I would’ve realized it’s book 2 in a trilogy because otherwise i definitely wouldn’t have read it - my fault lol.

[Mark Slauter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the jacket says you don't need to read the 1st book, I have the feeling that I was missing out on something. Book 2 can stand alone, but I think reading the 1st book would be good. I enjoyed the story, and Copenhaver deftly weaves this murder mystery tale. I liked the characters and the setting. I found the writing pulled me forward through the story.

[Anna (Literaria Luminaria) · Rating 4 out of 5]

But I know that weakness can pose as bravery in our world, and strength can be forged in tears.


Book 2 of the Nightingale trilogy, John Copenhaver’s Hall of Mirrors is a riveting dive into 1950’s McCarthy-era Washington, D.C., with a thrilling blend of mystery, historical depth, and complex characters. Copenhaver’s talent for painting a vivid picture of the time period shines through every page, making this novel not just a story, but a rich historical tapestry.

The plot kicks off with a bang as Lionel Kane’s life is upended by the suspicious death of his lover and writing partner, Roger Raymond. The official ruling is suicide, but Lionel’s guts tell him otherwise. This sets the stage for a gripping investigation that intertwines the fates of Lionel, and the dynamic duo from The Savage Kind, Judy Nightingale and Philippa Watson. These two heroines, with their tenacity and troubled pasts, add layers of intrigue and tension as they cross paths with Lionel.

One of the standout aspects of the book is its multiple perspective narrative. Told mostly from the viewpoints of Judy and Lionel, the story unfolds with a deep, personal touch. Judy, a half-white/half-black woman who passes as white, and Lionel, a black man, provide unique lenses through which we experience the oppressive atmosphere of McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare. The representation of the LGBTQ+ community and African-Americans during this period is both poignant and powerful, highlighting the social injustices of the time.

Copenhaver’s meticulous research is evident, and as a historian, I greatly appreciated the effort put into accurately depicting the era. The author’s descriptions are detailed and evocative, though at times, they verge on the overly descriptive. While I usually crave more detail in historical fiction, there were moments when the narrative could have been tighter.

The interplay between the main characters and the sinister figure of Adrian Bogdan, a serial killer shielded by powerful forces, is compelling. Judy and Philippa’s history with Bogdan is a crucial part of the plot, and while the book can be read as a standalone, I felt a stronger connection to their story would unquestionably come from reading the first book in the series. Their relentless pursuit of justice, driven by past obsessions, adds a thrilling edge to the narrative. However, the conclusion felt a bit anticlimactic. After such a buildup, I expected a more dramatic ending. Despite this, the journey there is filled with tension, danger, and moral quandaries that keep you reading more.

In summary, Hall of Mirrors is a well-crafted mystery set against a richly detailed historical backdrop. It’s a story of love, betrayal, and the fight for justice in a time of widespread fear and prejudice. While not without its flaws, it’s certainly a book that makes an impact!

Content warnings include racism, homophobia, violence, and death.

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[Erica Burn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book reminds me of grading undergrad papers. Parts feel like a summary of background research, other parts are very literal, and the student is cramming a lot of themes in without anything interesting or insightful to say about it.

This is the set up, okay? Two young girls, one white one mixed, both with aspirations to become a writer, are in love. They pursue a real life serial killer, which lead them to befriend a mystery writer. This mystery writer turns out to be a writing duo, gay lovers, one white one mixed. In one dinner scene Copenhaver writes:

A hall of mirrors.

In a flash, I understood why I’d never relaxed into the evening, why all the booze failed to mellow me. Lionel and Roger were us, a reflection of us, a vision of our future.

Having such a perfect, one-to-one parallel between two pairs is already too much, now a character is directly commenting on it. This is what I mean by saying that the book is literal. At one point one character tells another "you’re wearing a white mask" because she's mixed but she could pass. The serial killer's modus operandi is thuddingly literal too, but I won't spoil that. Everything is literal, and explicit, and a little clumsy, which may be an editor's note, I don't know, but the end effect is that the book feels too anxious to not have itself be misunderstood.

It's kind of okay to write like that, but you have to be insightful or interesting about it. HALL OF MIRRORS was neither. About McCarthyism, the main character said:

It was all an invention on McCarthy’s and Cohn’s part, and most people knew it. They were creating villains because they needed them.

Another person, a sort of voice of reason and mentor to the main character:

The free world didn’t create totalitarianism. Capitalism didn’t create communism.

Capitalism did create communism. Marx diagnosed capitalism and prescribed the dictatorship of the proletariat. In Vietnam and Cuba, communism prevailed. It was a real threat to the US! I'm not here to debate political theory but I was going crazy because communism was not a boogeyman in the time of the Soviet Union, and anti-communist fervor was not merely bigotry in disguise. Believe people when they say they want to destroy communism! They do.

Maybe the characters are only thinking about McCarthyism this way because they are queer and they are persecuted by it in this specific way, maybe. Still doesn't make it a particularly insightful thing to say about McCarthyism though.

Look, let me say here that I enjoyed this book more than I disliked it. HALL OF MIRROR moves well, reads fine, and aspires to be more than a forgettable entry in a marketable genre. I'm only being so harsh now because it wants to be more. It references Christie and Chandler. It wants to be more! And I'm judging it like that.

Speaking of, there are multiple instances of this:

Drawing inspiration from my creation P. I. McKey, who, in one of the novels, tells another character “to let the evidence speak for itself” (I wrote those words, I think)

What is so special about “to let the evidence speak for itself” that you need to draw attention to it like this? This book is full of unremarkable writing that the author repeatedly finds worthy to remark on for whatever reason. Stop. This is way too petty for me at this point but like, this happens multiple times!

Then there's the research summary. A sample:

Southwest DC was primarily a working-class Negro neighborhood. Bart and Edith—as well as, I imagine, Philippa’s parents—considered it a blight on the city. Many wealthy Washingtonians did. In their view, the blocks of old brick row homes and storefronts standing between the Mall and the confluence of the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers marred great monoliths like the Washington Monument, the Capitol, and other gleaming marble and granite government buildings. Since the war, cities were getting funding from the Feds to renew the slums, but—as Iris had explained—in many cases, it’d become an excuse to force out Negro families and business owners, raze the old structures, and build new city blocks and neighborhoods, populated with white families and businessmen.

Yeah. Again, some of this is okay, but there are ways to make it sound less like a student paper. There are specific passages on identity too, which were no more subtle than this.

The most regrettable thing is that the mystery wasn't as good as the one in THE SAVAGE KIND. HALL OF MIRRORS has one suspect, one, who they knew was the killer from the beginning, and it doesn't have the quintessential thrill of serial killer fiction either. THE SAVAGE KIND had more possible suspects, more twists, and more mystery about how people feel. What did Judy and Philippa feel for each other? They used to challenge and surprise and be understandable but ultimately unknowable to each other, and now that their love is assured the mystery is gone. You can have them be in love, but having them be so knowable like this is not that fun.

Again, I did enjoy the book. Maybe I brought too much expectation into it, and I will defend things I liked! I liked that the first book was so important to reading this one. It's a trilogy, not one of those endless Plucky Girl Detective #57 book series or something. And I liked the tone. The tone was fine, it was the prose that was a bit uneven. Jumping back and forth in time and between POVs is a bit cliched by now, but it was done well, and the information layering is good! If anything the jumping and forth in time makes the otherwise straightforward plot more interesting. Okay, I'll stop giving backhanded compliments now, but honestly, mechanically, this mystery was perfectly fine.

[Heather Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hall of Mirrors is an excellent sequel to Copenhaver’s The Savage Kind, which also follows the intrepid lesbian duo Judy Nightingale and Philippa Watson, this time during the heart of the McCarthy-era. This is a heart pounding ride that explores racism and LGBTQ issues during the 1950s while trying to solve the possible murder of a popular mystery writer who happens to be gay. Don’t miss it!

[Timothy Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Hall of Mirrors, the second novel in his Nightingale Trilogy, John Copenhaver once again seduces his readers with false but believable leads, characters uncertain about their own motives, and a surprise ending that makes perfect sense when the clouds lift enough to reveal it. If ‘tricky mysteries’ were its own genre, Copenhaver would be its king.

When the novel opens, two lesbian amateur sleuths, Judy and Philippa, stand on the street with their new friend, Lionel, as they watch his upper floor apartment belch fire and smoke. Where is his lover, Roger, if they dare even to use that word? It’s the early 1950s, McCarthyism is at its peak, as is the nation’s tolerance for homophobia and racism.

Roger had recently lost his job at the State Department when a lie detector test revealed him to be a homosexual. The police instantly assume he’s committed suicide out of shame. They are even less little interested in pursuing an investigation when they realize that Roger had been shacking up with mixed-race Lionel.

Judy and Philippa are convinced it wasn’t suicide. In the first novel of Copenhaver’s trilogy, The Savage Kind, they teamed up to identify a serial killer of young girls, who was never arrested. Bogdan had been an invaluable spy for the U.S., so he’d been made untouchable.

By the opening of Hall of Mirrors, he’d started his trademark killings again: young girls, murdered nearby rivers and lakes, with writing on their bodies. Intent on stopping Bogdan, Judy and Philippa had anonymously sent out their investigation’s conclusions to journalists and police; and to Roger who, as a part-time crime writer, might hopefully reveal the true story of the serial murders.
Had they brought Bogdan to him?

Hall of Mirrors is titled for a passage in the novel where a room of mirrors forces everyone to find themselves in others’ reflections; not unlike the ‘instant of recognition’ inside the Magic Theatre in Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf when Harry Haller recognizes the many aspects of himself in the broken chards of a mirror. It’s the moment he finally overcomes his self-loathing.

In Copenhaver’s novel, Philippa, too, struggles with an element of self-loathing. She’s not as confident about her sexuality as Judy and that tension feeds their story all along. In Philippa’s Magic Theatre moment, fortunately she has her own epiphany.

So she and Judy will both be back for the last book of Copenhaver’s trilogy. And so will many of his readers!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

HALL OF MIRRORS by John Copenhaver is my thrilling third read from @booksparks #GameSetRead Summer Reading Challenge!

This extremely clever suspense had me engaged from the very first chapter. It is May day in 1954, but instead of flowers, Lionel sees the smoke coming from his apartment. The worst is confirmed when his partner in writing and in life, Roger is presumed the victim in a suicide/fire, but it just doesn't fit.

A month prior, Judy and her partner, Phillipa meet the writing genius they think can help them with a true crime they've been following for years that the police and FBI are ignoring. They come to discover that the writer is actually the duo of Roger and Lionel, but since Lionel is Black, Roger is the face of Ray Kane. As a mixed race adoptee herself, Judy finds a lot to process as she and Lionel get to know one another and the writing duo look at the story.

Unfortunately, the FBI isn't ignoring the story, and as the crew get close to this killer of young girls, the threats are very real and it becomes clear, lines will have to be crossed to stop him.

I was riveted to the cat/mouse story here. The conspiracy and cover-ups, the passing issues of both race and sexual identity, and the pace of this suspense gripped me in ways I didn't expect. I really can't imagine the threats...and yet it feels like this is all coming around again, with the same government backing. I wasn't sure which enemy was around the corner.

I really enjoyed all the thrilling parts of this story. The suspense was enough to hold my attention through the relational backstories that are not usually my thing, but I understand the need. This would be a perfect choice for a Pride Month read as well!

Thank you Booksparks for sharing this compelling story with me. The pub day was June 4th, so it is available now!

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his sequel to The Savage Kind, John Copenhaver reprises some villains as well as now twenty-something protagonists Judy Nightingale and Philippa Watson. As the novel opens, it's May 1, 1954 and a new character, Lionel Kane returns from an afternoon of research to see firefighters trying to contain a blaze in the ninth floor apartment in Kalorama he shares with Roger Raymond. Together they have published a series of noir mysteries as Ray Kane. Its readers do not know Ray Kane is a gay couple, one white and one African American. Their discretion was essential due to Sen. Joe McCarthy's hunt for communists and homosexuals.

Non-sequential timelines and shifting narrators demand the reader's attention, but do pay dividends. Judy and Philippa navigate their emerging relationship plus explorations of Ledroit Park, Southwest D.C., Dupont Circle, Chevy Chase (D.C. or Maryland? Copenhaver never tells us which side of Western Avenue they are on), and rural Virginia. And there are a few, a very few, bars in Woodley Park and the U Street corridor that welcome clientele regardless of race or gender identity.

Despite the death of new pal Roger Raymond, Judy and Philippa do not give it singular focus. In Hall of Mirrors, pre-pubescent girls are still being murdered and the FBI seems to have completely forgotten the Lindbergh Act. Judy still blames doyenne Moira Closs, but her animadversions are now more diffuse. Philippa is still strident about Bogdan. This makes the epilogue all the more intriguing.

I look forward to the third Nightingale mystery with high hopes that Judy and Philippa will have lunch at Reeves, continue to use D.C. Transit, and learn about the "gun exchange" at the Greyhound terminal.

[Kay Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating rounded up from 4.5 stars because the writing is skilled and the book made me think. Also the McCarthy era touches of queerphobia then are being played out in some US states now.

I've been reading Hall of Mirrors and the prequel The Savage Kind in tandem because the characters and stories are so closely intertwined. That, and the the time sequencing which goes backwards and forwards, makes it harder to follow who knew what, when. That seems to be a deliberate choice by the author. Even more of Judy Nightingale's tale is likely to be revealed in the not yet published third book in this trilogy.

In many ways this book reminds me of the films Knives Out or The Glass Onion where the apparent mystery isn't the only puzzle. The back in time flashbacks are needed to tell what's going on but they're also frustrating for someone (me) wanting a simpler historical mystery with LGBTQ+ characters for an escapist read. This isn't that book. It's better written and more complex and yes, I will read the third in the trilogy but I'll also keep looking for simpler fare.

I also hope to see more of Lionel as he's a very likeable character who deserves to be centered in his own book. Hall of Mirrors is more about resolving the story started in The Savage Kind than I'd expected too.

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to be the odd one out. I was a fan of the first book, which saw plucky school girls Phillipa and Judy search for a murder, for answers about Judy's heritage, and discover things about themselves. I can't imagine that someone who did not read that will be able to follow this. In fact, I got lost because this goes back and forth in time so much and is so reliant on details about the villain and events from The Savage Kind that I almost gave up. The key here is to focus on Roger and Lionel, a biracial couple in 1950s DC who live, love and write together until Roger is killed in a fire. Or is he? This has interesting commentary on LGBT life during the period as well as on racism but the mystery about murdered girls, so twisty, was less satisfying to me because, again, the back and forth in time etc. This a good part of the plot that would have benefited from being laid out more clearly. Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. Regardless, this is said to be part of a trilogy and I'm looking forward to the next one.

[Angie Miale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable, well written book. It is second in a series of which I did not read the first, but it did not impact the story for this reviewer.

Primary category is historical mystery, secondary category is LGBTQ romance, tertiary category is serial killer fiction. This is multiple POV with short time jumps and takes place between 1952 and 1954. Themes also include institutional racism and cultural movement and acceptance of the gay community. I found the dialogue to be very readable and descriptions to be thought provoking. Lionel and Raymond are a author team called "Ray Kane" writing mystery. Raymond is white and so it is his masculine photo on the book jackets, but his writing partner is also romantic partner Lionel, who is black. When a body is found burned and badly damaged, it is assumed to be Ray and Lionel the "roommate" may be a suspect.

Phillipa and Judy have been working together in following a terrible serial killer who targets young women. Their story intersects with Lionel as they begin to work together.

[Anne Osmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I brought Hall of Mirrors with me as a vacation read, and it did not disappoint! After thoroughly enjoying The Savage Kind, the first book in this trilogy, what a pleasure it was to spend time again with Judy Peabody/Nightingale and Philippa Watson. Hall of Mirrors deliciously brings even deeper nuance to these favorite characters, along with distinct new characters to fill out a fast-paced, thrilling story with twists and turns that titillate. As Judy and Philippa grapple with stopping a child-killer on the loose, entangling new friends Lionel Kane and Roger Raymond in their search, questions about love, race and moral boundaries intersect and influence their quest. Exquisite period details immersed me in the scenes, heightening my pleasure in reading this polished prose. I skipped naps in order to keep reading, and that is really saying something! I can’t wait for the next installation of this trilogy.

[Candy Wood]

By now I certainly know better than to read a book 2 of a trilogy when I haven’t read Book 1, so some of my negative reaction to Hall of Mirrors could be my own fault and not the quality of the book. However, there are so many references to previous activities of the characters that it’s pretty clear what must have gone on in The Savage Kind except for some details. The gimmick of having different fonts for each of the three narrators is not especially helpful, but the dates at the beginning of each section do help keep track of the flashbacks as they approach the opening date of May 1, 1954. While apparently Book 1 focuses on a younger Judy and Philippa, some of the flashbacks here go as early as 1948. Some plot points are resolved by the end, with enough mystery about Judy’s childhood remaining for Book 3. Even though I like the idea of exploring queer and biracial lives in 1950s D.C., I don’t at all feel compelled to complete the series.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a minority- I did not like this book- partly my fault, I did not realize it was number 2 of a trilogy- I felt like I came in in the middle of a movie. I started keeping track of characters, dates, trying to understand why I was missing so much, then I read the high lights of the plot and realized why I was so lost. Even as I got the gist of the plot I still had a struggle to keep up with people, timelines, and plot clues, made further difficult because I was not connecting to most characters- except Lionel, I was completely sympathetic to him and irritated that the women, Phillipa, Judy, and Iris were keeping him in the dark. So many plot characters, so many continuations of plot details I had no inkling of- I thought of reading the first of the trilogy but doubtful because I really didn’t like many of the characters.

[Kerry]

John Copenhaver’s historical fiction novel Hall of Mirrors looks into the death of a mystery novelist during the McCarthy era in Washington, D.C. Two young women wrote to the writer about their theories concerning an active serial killer seemingly protected by political powers, and once the writer died, they turned their attention to helping his partner discover who killed him, and why. This work examines baseless fears and prejudices along with the thrilling story. Rich in historical detail, filled with societal ills, well written, and with a plot that compels and surprises, Hall of Mirrors is sure to entertain and inspire.

[G.P. Gottlieb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lionel Kane watches the fire department douse his destroyed apartment, his heart breaking because the police claim that the body inside was Roger, his lover and writing partner. Lionel sees clues that suggest otherwise. They’d recently met Judy and Philippa, whose anonymous packet connecting the murders of a serial killer inspired their latest novel-in-progress. What none of them know is that the killer is also a spy protected by the FBI, who doesn’t want his story told. All their lives are threatened in this twisty and gripping mystery about McCarthyism, friendship, writing, small-minded 1950s racism and homophobia. https://newbooksnetwork.com/hall-of-m...

[K.T. Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hall of Mirrors is the gorgeous sequel to The Savage Kind. It picks up the story of Judy Nightingale and Philippa Watson, a queer couple now in their early twenties and is set in Washington, D.C. during the Lavender Scare in 1954. Copenhaver immerses us in the era, the world, through visual details and sumptuous descriptions of the fashion, decor, and food of the time. You feel as though you are in the story itself and not reading a historical mystery book. The characters stay with you long after you finish reading. I cannot wait for the third part of this trilogy!