Part of Jackson Brodie
First published 2007
Jackson Brodie is retired, newly rich, and trying to enjoy the Edinburgh Festival when a man beats a driver nearly to death in the street in front of him. Jackson steps in. That decision pulls him into contact with a group of strangers who turn out to be anything but unconnected: the wife of a crooked property developer, a comedian whose best days are behind him, a crime novelist riding her success, a Russian woman with no clear past, and a police detective working cases that keep circling back to the same people. Each of them carries a secret. Each wants something, whether money, love, a clean escape, or a second chance. As Jackson digs deeper, the separate threads begin to pull toward a single knot. He is not looking for trouble. Trouble finds him anyway. Kate Atkinson builds her plot with precision, but the engine running underneath it is human: people making bad choices for understandable reasons, and paying prices they did not expect.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary
Vibes: character-driven, darkly-humorous, interconnected-narratives, intricate-plotting, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, interconnected-stories, reluctant-hero, web-of-secrets
Setting: Edinburgh, Edinburgh Festival
Period: Contemporary
418 pages · Paperback · Back Bay Books
Content warnings: death, violence