You know that feeling when you haven’t spoken to a friend in a while but the second you start chatting you just slip back into an easy groove and it’s like no time has passed at all? That’s what reading The Cut was like for me. So, although it’s been a while since my last Chris Brookmyre read, his voice rang through the pages loud and clear and I was instantly back in very likeable territory. Crime territory.

The Cut is set (well, some of it anyway – there is a jaunt to Europe too) in Scottish author Chris Brookmyre’s hometown of Glasgow.

Our first lead character is Millicent Spark. She served 24 years in prison for the murder of her boyfriend and we meet her a year after her release, now a woman in her 70s. Incarcerated in 1994, the modern, digital age is a mystery to her. Before she was sent to prison, Millicent was a special effects make-up artist on films, specifically horror films.

Our second lead character is Jerry Kelly – a uni student and film (specifically horror) and metal buff. (The Cut is packed full of highly enjoyable film references due to this.)

When circumstances mean that Jerry takes a spare room in the house Millicent is also living in, their paths cross and their shared love of horror films ends up changing the course of their lives.

Millicent has always maintained her innocence and when she stumbles upon some hard evidence that may help her prove she didn’t kill her boyfriend, things get dramatic. All paths lead back to the last film Millicent worked on before she was sent to prison, a gory horror called Mancipium. A supposedly cursed film (in the vein of The Omen and others) due to what happened to several of the people involved in its creation.

What ensues is an exciting and clever cross-Europe chase for the truth, told by people linked to the film and in flashbacks to the 90s when the fateful film shoot happened.

What gave The Cut its soul were the character developments of Millicent and Jerry. It was fascinating to read from the POV of a 70 year old woman re-adjusting to life after being imprisoned for so long. She has to come to terms with once again having freedom and choice – while trying to prove she didn’t actually murder anyone.

Jerry is trying to overcome his imposter syndrome – being mixed race and from a working class background, he feels pressure and prejudice and struggles with feeling he is worth anything – while inadvertently getting himself very involved in Millicent’s mission.

I really enjoyed the class commentary that ran throughout too. The satirical and cutting take on the Tory government and people ‘born three-nothing up and convinced they’ve scored a hat trick.’ There were also some great observations about how society has got itself into such a state:

‘The reason people don’t value facts is because they belong to everyone,’ she replied. ‘Myths and rumours feel like secret knowledge, and so people prize them more.’

There were one or two coincidences in the plot that made me raise an eyebrow slightly, but hey, it’s 2021, so LITERALLY anything can happen. Nothing seems crazy anymore. The Cut also gets the accolade of being the first novel I’ve read that directly references the pandemic. Although only in the epilogue and not at the heart of the story. (I was wondering when the first refs would crop up, answer: now.)

Clever, very funny and with a rip-roaring pace that meant I just zipped through it. I loved the cursed horror film backdrop, all the great film quotes, scathing commentary on class, the plot that always throws a little more at you when you’re not expecting it and Chris Brookmyre’s highly readable voice. Excellent, witty crime fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Group UK for the arc of The Cut by Chris Brookmyre.

5 star read ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐-

One morning Millie Spark wakes up to find her boyfriend laid next to her in bed dead.... she was sentences to 25 years for his murder... shes always claimed her innocence and that she was framed for his murder.. 25 years later she is out on parole and she is living with her two friends whom are Carla and Vivian.... this was a great thriller i havent read anything like this before, but was amazing!!👏

I enjoyed this book, it was interesting to see the unusual friendship between Jerry and Millie. The sarcasm used berween the two of the was really good! There was a lot of movie references that movie lovers would appreciate.

It would have been helpful to have some kind of reference at the start of the chapters of what year was going to be covered as chapters went back and forth in time. Maybe that's my personal preference?

I also found that the epilogue was detached from the main history with the talk of the pandemic and being in lockdown. I got a bit lost in there to be honest.

In overall is a good entertaining book.

The cut by Chris Brookmyre is the first book that I have read from the author and I will be looking at his back catalogue after reading this.
Millicent Spark was a special effect makeup artist for mainly horror movies. Way before CGI was introduced. When she wakes up one morning to find her boyfriend Markus Laird dead in the bed beside her. She was sentenced for his murder for 25 years, even though she always claimed her innocent and claimed she was framed for his murder. 25 years on, she has been released on parole and lives with her friend Vivian and Carla. In the house she lives in there is a room to rent. So, when 18-year-old Uni student Jerry turns up and a movie buff wants to rent the room.
The ladies are adamant at first, but Jerry says he is used to lived with the older generation. He lived with his grandmother until she died. So, when they agree for him to take the room. The unlikely friendship between Jerry and Millicent begins and with his help decides to find out the truth what happened to Markus all of them years ago and to prove her innocence. The pair go from Glasgow to all love Italy to find out what happened to Markus but, they are not alone in their quest and they realised they are being followed.
The Cut for me at first was hard to get into. I found the first half to be a bit slow. But as you delved further into the story with the unlikely duo, I really enjoyed this. Not my normal type of thriller but I am now excited to see what other books this author has. Four stars from me.

I started reading this and wasn't sure if Millicent was a ghost. However, as the story progressed I realised that she had been leading a very sheltered life for a while. The beginning of this book was slow, but it was building into a roller coaster of a book. Once Millicent and Jerome came together, it was all action after that.
I really enjoyed this.

The latest crime noir release from the genius of Christopher Brookmyre is a great addition to his canon.

Focussing on the unlikely pairing of a recently released ex-con geriatric make-up genius and a young misfit horror film fan who survive multiple attempts on their lives before embarking on an unlikely road trip to clear their names.

Along the way they encounter many ghosts of the past as well as uncovering a cover-up that involves politicians at the heart of Westminster.

This book will not disappoint Brookmyre fans (and to be clear that should be everybody) who will enjoy the smartly drawn characters, the authentic dialogue and the sparkling wit.

Ocht, just buy it.

4.5 stars! I had only read Black Widow by Chris Brookmyre before and I found that one so very, very clever that it made it into my top 10 the first year after starting the blog. So when I saw The Cut and read the first line of the novel ('Millie Spark can kill anyone') I was immediately intrigued and wanted more than only this sublime catchphrase.

Millie and Jerry prove to be a brilliant and dynamic combination in this novel, even if you wouldn't put them together at first sight. On the one hand there's Millie (Millicent) who is in her seventies and lives with two other older ladies after her release in prison where she spent 25 years after being arrested for killing her partner. At the start of the novel she isn't anyone's best friend, her reactions keep everyone at a distance but at the end of the novel she's transformed into a much friendlier woman, someone who can make jokes and have fun after all, and it might just be that Jerry did play a role in making that transformation happen. Jerry is a student who studies film. He's always been extremely interested in horror movies (or video nasties as they are called) and he knows just about every movie title and every actor. The story starts with alternating plotlines introducing these two characters and it was fun to see how their lives intersect and seeing them discover how much they have in common in their passion for the job on a movie set for Millie and love for the end product the actual film, for Jerry.

The story really kicks off when Millie - in Jerry's company - finds a photo of her boyfriend of the time and doesn't know who the other people in the photo are. A quick phone call only raises more questions about the night the picture was taken and unwittingly she happens to draw the attention to herself by someone who doesn't wish her well exactly. She and Jerry don't really have a choice but to embark on a thrilling and dangerous adventure in search of answers about who her dead boyfriend really was, while trying to figure out who is coming after them and why. 

The Cut is a story that plunges the reader into the movie business, horror movies in particular, and it entails everything from a little history about how the genre came to life to urban legends, while also making you feel as if you're a fly on the wall on a movie set. Even though it's not my genre to watch at all, I thought it was very interesting to read about.

The status of horror movies is negative by association. There are rumours of people dying who watched a horror movie or worked on one, and have you never heard media say that crimes that were committed stem from watching this type of movies? In the book they also talk about some cult movie, Mancipium, which was never shown because it's supposed to be too disturbing for the public. Is it a myth, is it real, who knows? It does play a role in the story but not how I had anticipated at all. I did struggle a little bit following the political influences involved and the powers financing a movie and I thought it would lead me towards such a path of destruction and danger but I could never have been more wrong so you don't need to worry when it sounds a bit complicated because the author created some wonderful red herrings only to lead you to the truth in the end, and what a stunning and shocking revelation it is! Much to my satisfaction, I loved how the story ramped up on speed and tension and the story turns out to be something completely different than I had thought, but in the best way. 

The Cut is another great book by Chris Brookmyre, it's one to sink your teeth in! Very compelling, highly recommended. I can't wait to read more of his books after reading this one!

I admire how Chris Brookmyre manages to continually reinvent and stretch himself as a writer, but he can be frustratingly inconsistent. From his early explosive Tartan terrorism, incompetent killers and Jack Parlabane works he slipped into a series of inoffensive Jasmine Sharp crime thrillers lacking in any real personality and then spun off in all kinds of directions. Lately though we’ve seen some of his best work in such diverse genres as science-fiction (Places in the Darkness) and period medical drama thrillers co-written as ‘Ambrose Parry’ (The Way of All Flesh, The Art of Dying). Black Widow won awards and acclaim but didn’t convince me, while on the other hand in his last brilliant thriller Fallen Angel may have been his best writing yet. Whatever else The Cut might be then, you can be sure it’s going to be unpredictable.

Brookmyre opens The Cut with two amusingly confrontational characters and a conventional prologue that promises some murder intrigue involving both. While both stories clearly have issues and backgrounds that explain their behaviour, neither Millicent nor Jerry seems to be involved in anything that is going to turn deadly, but things are definitely approaching a dead end or point of no return in their lives. Millicent has social problems that give her no end of trouble when having to communicate with the general public. Living with two older ladies, Millicent is definitely a bit of a handful, leaving people little room for interpreting what she thinks of them. There is, we will soon discover, good reasons why Millicent is the way she is, not least of which is a murder conviction in her past.

As for Jerry, well he also has social problems or maybe sociability problems, coming from a troubled background of petty crime, theft and burglary. He’s a bright lad though and is trying to pull his life together doing film studies at university, but feels a bit of a fraud and is made to feel out of place amongst all the well-off students. There’s almost something self destructive in his actions as if he wants to be found out and told to get back where he belongs. Jerry needs to get out of the toxic environment of the halls of residence and an opening appears that seems too good to be true; sharing a house with three older ladies, one of whom happens to be Millicent.

There’s another interesting connection and element to The Cut that presents another variation on the title. Before the unfortunate incident in her past that has left Millicent unable to function in a social environment, she used to be a make-up artist in the movie business, specialising in special effects for gory giallo murder thrillers. One film she was involved with, her last film before her career and life were destroyed, was Mancipium, a horror film that was supposed to redefine the genre. Now, it has the status of a cursed film, all prints destroyed, or at least believed to have been destroyed. What film student and horror aficionado Jerry wouldn’t do to get his hands on a copy of that film. And suddenly he finds that the Millie Sparks who worked SFX on the film is the batty old lady in the house where he now lives.

Although it’s a conventional cheat, promising a dramatic death in the prologue, The Cut doesn’t need that gambit, as you find yourself intrigued enough by the characters, the issues they have and how they come together. Even if you’re not a horror movie giallo fan, the intriguing glimpse into the murky world of film financing and promotion is also intriguing. The use of movies is well employed in other ways, with references thrown in not just for show but as a useful tool for getting out of cinematic situations. There are lots of film-buff quotes, nothing too obscure, all fairly mainstream-friendly, which is where you would place The Cut as it evolves into part mismatched buddy movie and part road movie.

There are however rather too many convenient dramatic developments that connect Jerry and Millicent. Although it’s enjoyable to read if you can put up with such contrivances, there’s the feeling that The Cut is Brookmyre on auto-pilot. It helps when he has a social issue that he wants to get on his high horse about, and there is perhaps a little bit of the old fire still here. The ‘video nasty’ hysteria of the 80s and whether they influence behaviour is an old story, even though it still crops up now in relation to video gaming, but perhaps more relevant, Brookmyre reserves his ire this time for the media barons and their influence over government. It’s still relatively mild stuff for this author, but The Cut is no less enjoyable for that.

The Cut is set around films and horror ones particularly. It has two narrators. Jerry, young, and a rather light fingered student of film. Millicent, far older, and was a make-up artist on 80s horror films; she was accused of murdering her boyfriend and served a long sentence for the crime. As I write this I'm thinking that this does not sound like my sort of book. I'm not a "film" person and dislike horror particularly. However these rather off the wall ingredients made for a decent read in my mind.

The chapters follow Jerry and Millicent's stories. Some are in current time and some relate to earlier periods in their lives. In the case of Millicent she tends to be known as Millie in her pre prison life. However when we meet Jerry he is a new student who is not really getting on with his fellow students. He used to be something of a burglar and is still light fingered. Millicent is living with two other older ladies and is clearly rather agoraphobic. She is considering suicide. This is not really giving anything much away as this is all revealed within the first 3/4 chapters.

I've been a fan of Brookmyre's books for some years now. Up until this some of the more recent ones have not grabbed me in the way that his early work did. For me parts of this hark back some of the first books I read which I found highly entertaining. Indeed some aspects of this - particularly the interactions between Jerry and Millicent - are really very funny. They are an unlikely "couple" however they are well written and I found them perfectly convincing. They are actually rather edgy characters too.

There is often a very dark dry wit present here and it makes for an entertaining read in the main. I did find parts, particularly of the historical side of Millie's story, a little slow/convoluted at times. Other parts were pacey, edgy and amusing. Long term fans of Brookmyre should enjoy this and it is perfectly accessible to those new to the author.

I’ve been a fan of Brookymyre for 20+ years now, and The Cut is up there with his best - he’s always good, but there’s something particularly Scottish about his alignment of thriller and humour that I’ve missed in the last decade or so. This captures the tight plotting of his recent work with the pop culture of his earlier work to excellent effect, and I particularly enjoyed the references to giallo and horror films more broadly.

Convincing characters (not easy to pull off as on the face of it I’d describe it as an unlikely pairing...!), some cracking twists, genuine emotion and enough threat to sustain tension- another great read.

An enjoyable read with a good plot and interesting characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy.

Brookmyre has done it again.
A book that sucked me I,and had me rooting for our unlikely duo to find the truth,and find some sort of justice.
Littered with film references (of which I got few) and enough humour to have me smiling often,this book lived up to my already high expectations.
I say it often,he has yet to write a book I didnt enjoy

Brilliant title in so many ways. As soon as I started reading this I wanted to finish it, in a good way! Enjoyed the 'cutting' back and forth between dates and locations. Definitely keeps you on your toes! I guessed a few connections early on but it did not spoil my enjoyment. Really wanted a good outcome for the main characters. A new author to me so thank you Netgalley, for the introduction.

The Cut by Chris Brookmyre brings together 2 unlikely protagonists, 18 year-old student Jerry Kelly and 72 year-old former horror movie makeup artist Millicent Spark, who find their paths crossing as housemates. Both characters have "history", Millicent has only recently been released from serving a long prison sentence for the murder of her boyfriend,that she's always denied, and Jerry's past as a thief catches up with him. Both are also struggling to fit in,Millicent to a totally different world to that when she was jailed and Jerry ,from the "wrong side of the tracks",giving up on trying to fit in with the "posh kids" at University.

The book starts quite slowly as we meet and learn about Jerry and Millicent before a fateful night when both of their pasts collide and a typical Brookmyre take really gets into it's stride.
The less than dynamic duo are forced to go on the run from people determined to stop Millicent's probing into the truth of what happened to her boyfriend and their adventures see them travelling far from their shared house in Glasgow.
There's a dual timeline that covers both the hot pursuit and the tale of events leading up to Millicent's imprisonment.

This is an involving book ,the present day chase and Jerry and Millicent's evolving relationship combined with an evolving tale of debauchery,dodgy deals, murder political scandal and the sleazy Italian movie industry before she was jailed offer plenty of twists and turn to keep the reader on their toes.

The book does lag at times but mostly it's very entertaining and I particularly enjoyed the way the main characters bonded , interacted and appreciated each other despite the massive age gap.

There are cuts aplenty in Chris Brookmyre’s latest entertaining and aptly named thriller. ‘The Cut’ begins in Glasgow but the two unlikely protagonists, septuagenarian former make-up artist and recently released prison inmate, Millie, and first year Film student, Jerry, travel to France and Italy to escape their pursuers and in search of truth. Why has Millie served a prison sentence for a murder she didn’t commit and how has Jerry become embroiled in her quest for evidence?
The narrative moves back and forth between the current day and the 1980s when Millie’s particular skills were in demand on ‘video nasty’ sets, now recognised by Jerry as a fascinating piece of cinema history. Over the course of the narrative, Brookmyre slowly reveals the grubby wheels within wheels in the film business. However, for my money the intricate plot does become a little convoluted and, at times, is in danger of including too much (slightly tedious) detail. I found myself looking forward to the switches to the present day where the focus is on ‘odd couple’ Millie and Jerry. Both are lively, amusing, thoughtful characters, with more heart than at first appears, and they support each other in the most unexpected ways. In particular, Brookmyre’s exploration of Jerry’s imposter syndrome is credible and thought-provoking.
Overall, there are some memorable moments. The author is a skilled writer and, in particular, I loved the scenes following on from Glasgow’s railway station near the end of the novel and the emotionally satisfying conclusion.
My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

I have been a longtime admirer of Chris Brookmyre’s entertaining crime novels - and never encountered a dud. This one has his trademark signature of comedy noir and intricate plots so cleverly constructed you cannot spot the joins, Here we have a refreshingy unlikely couple, reminiscent of Buchan’s ‘The 39 Steps’, on the run from the villains.
I loved the banter between these two with the running gag of the younger protagonist gaining points with every cinematic allusion he can outwit the older one.
Brookmyre fans will not be disappointed!

Millicent Sparks was a special effects make up artist for movies especially containing violence. One fateful morning she woke up to find her boyfriend Markus Laird had been murdered as she lay asleep beside him. She denied killing him but served twenty four years in prison for murder. She now lives in Glasgow with loyal friend Vivian and when an advertisement for a room to rent in her house brings student Jerry Kelly, a film buff, into her orbit. They develop a rapport and after a chance discovery they set off on a dangerous journey to prove Millicent is innocent.

I think the thing I like most about the book is the characters of Jerry and Millicent. When they first meet it’s a highly entertaining game of verbal tennis with Millicent’s hapless jobsworth social worker rushing to get the lobs. There is much good dark humour between them. It takes a while to get into the story but after the chance discovery the mystery deepens and becomes more intriguing and you have many questions about where it all starts to go wrong for Millicent. It appears to link to the making of an unreleased and violent film called ‘Mancipium’ in 1993. The story of the making of the film is very dark and unsavoury, think Weinstein and you get the picture. There are some interesting reflections on the impact of video nasties on key court cases at this time which is thought provoking. There are some good sections where there is fear, some jaw dropping discoveries and it gets twisty and twistier with some excitement such as that which Hollywood may produce. The end is clever and unexpected as we’ve been led up some blind alleys.

However, much as there are some really good elements it cuts from one time frame to another which makes the cutting choppy. There is so much going on it’s convoluted and there are so many characters and threads my head spins with the effort of keeping up. There are sections especially in the making of Mancipium that are longwinded and don’t especially interest me. There are way too many film references between Jerry and Millicent which someone more au fait with movies may enjoy more than I do.

Overall, it’s good though I think it’s overloaded. There are lots of dark undertones such as racism, plenty of obvious overtones like control, blackmail, secrecy, faceless enemies and lack of morality in movie making at points in time but at its busy core is an interesting story of murder, coverups and corruption.

With thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for the arc for an honest review.

Another mind bogglingly amazing book from Chris Brookmyre. This is a standalone novel, so a whole load of new wonderful characters for us to meet. The Cut stars Jerry, an 18 year old film student obsessed with all things horror, and Millie who has just been released from jail after 24 years for killing her partner. She's always protested her innocence, but nothing has come of it.

The two become housemates and slowly uncover secrets and lies and untruths all bundled up together in a wonderfully convoluted tale that will keep you guessing until the very last minute,

Chris Brookmyre evokes the feeling of 1960s Italian film sets as brilliantly as he does the current way of life, I loved every page.

The Cut feels like the type of book that made me an avid Brookmyre reader so many years ago. It keeps you guessing and takes you on an adventure all in a bad scottish accent I read aloud in my head..

Whether you like the characters or not you are really drawn into their journe adn the potential peril that lies ahead. Millies defensive nature makes her hard to warm to, Jerry a theif is interesting thanks to his love of horror movies. You naturally wouldnt put the two togther but as Millie opens up to Jerry the benefit for both of them is clear.

If there was a best character descption in a book award I'd be voting for The Cute everything, thanks to the words "looked like slendermans mum". Using references like this, BUffy the Vampire Slayer and even some political drama this book grabs you and reels you in.

Like a lot of people, I look forward to Chris Brookmyre's releases so was delighted to get an ARC from Little, Brown and Netgalley.

This is a standalone novel and it's hard to summarise the story without spoilers.
The premise brings together horror movie and metal fandom, youthful indiscretions, miscarriages of justice and high level corruption. The setting roams from Glasgow to other great European stories. There is a lot for fans and new readers to love - Brookmyre signatures of tight plotting, witty dialogue and wry descriptions, maybe even a bit of profanity (to be honest I've lived in Glasgow so long I no longer notice a wee bit of swearing).
Millicent Spark is another in a long line of Brookmyre's complex, fully realised female characters I loved her relationship with Jerry, her co-conspirator in the race to uncover truths buried a lifetime ago.
I raced through this, reading long into the night because I could not wait to see what happened next. I laughed, I held my breath, I mentally cheered at the denouement.
Unfortunately the epilogue seemed to be a little muted and tacked on, perhaps reflecting our current times in mood. In the movie this section can be over the credits, with small vignettes about what each character is doing now.