Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Great thriller which I could not put down. Brilliant characters, and twists and turns. Highly recommend to others!

I have read the previous books in this series and enjoyed them however,I could not get on with this one. It jumped around and I just lost interest. Might have another go at it .

Thanks to Netgalley, Random House and the author for an Advance Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have read all the Jackson Brodie novels so far and I absolutely love them. The way the author writes is so appealing - poetic and stark simultaneously. Jackson, and all the characters, are so humorously human that you feel you know them. There's still a mystery, or two, to solve, but the characters, their views on life and the way they relate to each other make this so much more than a thriller or detective story.

So. I had a slightly tumultuous 2019, and as a result, a lot got put on the back burner. This review (and one that is yet to come) got put on a burner so far back, it fell off the stove entirely. Yikes. So, I would like to extend my sincerest of apologies to Netgalley and Transworld Publishers for the monumental delay on getting this review out into the world.

Before this novel, I had never read anything by Kate Atkinson. I have seen her name all over town, usually accompanied with fireworks of praise and admiration for her exceptional work. With this in mind, I was PUMPED to get to read one of her books, particularly because it was a crime novel and y’all know how much I love me a mystery.

I’m not gonna lie. I was underwhelmed. The story is told from multiple different perspectives, and slowly but surely (or rather, the exact opposite of that actually), coincidental connections between these characters begin to come to light and their lives become so intertwined it’s a wonder they can go anywhere without yanking the others along with them.

The story itself was certainly intriguing and well-written, but I found the constantly shifting perspectives and infinite connections between the characters to be chaotic and confusing. There was SO MUCH going on, it was hard to keep track of who was where when what happened.

Because of that, overall this was a 3-star read for me. I loved the premise, but the execution left me with a bit of a headache.

Thanks to Netgalley and Transworld Publishers for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book and I think it might be one of my favourite crime books of all time. Reggie and Dr Hunter made this book in particular for me. I got quite emotionally attached to them and was sorry to be finished with their story after devouring this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC

Thank you - we featured Kate Atkinson on Caboodle (website and newsletter) in 2019! We look forward to working with you in 2020.

Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked but did not love the first two books in the Jackson Brodie series but this one completely turned things around for me.

The characterisation was fantastic with Reggie in particular standing out, I connected with her from the start and found myself completely invested in her story. I also really liked Louise in this one but was a bit meh about her in the previous book.

The plot strands all work together cleverly and I was kept guessing until the end. I don't usually expect to get so emotionally involved in a crime book but I actually felt like someone had carved my heart out at the end of this one.

I wasn't sure if I would continue with this series but am now fully committed to finding out what the future holds for Jackson et al.

I didn't realise that this was the third book in the series, I will hold off reading it for now until I catch up from the beginning. I've read other reviews that state these books are best read in order. Thank you.

Kate Atkinson is a writer that never disappoints, another well crafted and engrossing read, her books are always well written with brilliant characterisation.
Would probably be helpful to read the Jackson Brodie books in order but they can easily be read as stand alone books without taking anything away from your enjoyment.

5★
“Twenty years ago she too would have found his moodiness attractive. Now she just wanted to punch him. But then she seemed to want to punch everyone at the moment.”

There’s a lot to be angry about in this third of Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series, and there were plenty of times I wanted to punch somebody too – or worse. In this instance, she is Detective Chief Inspector Louse Monroe, and he is a man suspected of fraud who’s just opened his front door and smiled sarcastically at her warrant card. I remember Louise from a past story, and there’s no way I would be looking sideways at her warrant card!

Hers is one thread of a story with many remarkably inventive intersections. Jackson is the main character, of course, and finds himself in Edinburgh despite his intention to have a nice, peaceful life with his lovely new wife. No stress.

But fortunately for us, Atkinson’s not going to let him off that easily. He’s a sucker for a damsel in distress, and it seems most of them are.

“‘You used to be a private detective. Right?’ she said.

‘Amongst other things.’

‘So you used to find people?’

‘Sometimes. I also lost people.’ <”

She’s not buying that. She is Reggie, a 16-year old schoolgirl, orphaned now with only her self-styled gangster brother, Billy, who's been beating up on her since childhood. But lately she has been very happy as mother’s help for well-to-do Dr Hunter and her baby boy, the three of them forming a tight, happy little unit.

“‘How’s my treasure?’ Dr Hunter asked, nuzzling the baby’s neck (‘He’s edible, don’t you think?’) and Reggie felt something seize in her heart, a little convulsion of pain, and she wasn’t sure why exactly except that she thought it was sad (very sad indeed) that no one could remember being a baby. What Reggie wouldn’t have given to have been a baby, wrapped in Mum’s arms again. Or Dr Hunter’s arms, for that matter. Anyone’s arms really. Not Billy’s obviously.”

And the pay is pretty good, so things are looking up. Until this.

“She’d identified a dead body, had her flat vandalized, been threatened by violent idiots and it wasn’t even lunchtime. Reggie hoped the rest of the day would be more uneventful.”

Of course, Atkinson’s back stories are always intriguing to the point that once I get caught up in one, it’s a shock to find myself back in the present and then, next thing I know, I’m deep into someone else’s history. Wonderful stuff!

Her style is her own, and I love it – the surprising juxtaposition of ideas, the everyday and the exceptional, all thrown in together.

“Everything about her life was just lovely. Apart from the whole family massacred in childhood thing.”

I don’t know how she combines affection with disdain, but while I’m snickering knowingly behind my hand at some dowdy character, I’m also kind of warming to them.

“The therapist, a hippyish, well-intentioned woman called Jenny who looked as if she’d knitted herself. . . ”

She’s quite a contrast to Ms MacDonald, an unwell lady who’s helping Reggie with her school studies.

“Ms MacDonald was in her fifties but she had never been young. When she was a teacher at the school she looked as if she ironed herself every morning.”

And then there’s a woman on the train “leafing indifferently through a celebrity magazine, was a fortyish blonde, buxom as an overstuffed turkey. She was wearing siren-red lipstick and a top to match that was half a size too tight and which burned like a signal fire in front of Jackson’s eyes. Jackson was surprised she didn’t have ‘Up for It’ tattooed on her forehead.”

Jackson’s love for his daughter Marlee and his affection for wives and women in his past all mingle together. Also mingled together are his memories of the army, the police force, and his private cases. Under it all is his sorrow.

“Not his real home, his real home, the one he never named any more, was the dark and sooty chamber in his heart that contained his sister and his brother and, because it was an accommodating kind of space, the entire filthy history of the industrial revolution. It was amazing how much dark matter you could crush inside the black hole of the heart.”

This current story touches on all of them and then some. I love it, but then I’m a pushover for everything she writes, I think. This was a re-read before I read the latest, #5, so thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Transworld/Black Swan for the copy for review. Even if I’d remembered critical plot points (which I admit I hadn’t), I’d have enjoyed it just as much for her writing alone.

Such a brilliant book!
Kate Atkinson is such a clever and innovative writer. I love her historical fiction and these Jackson Brodie murder/mystery/crime novels are equally enthralling.
A young girl is found hidden amongst the wheat having fled from the decimation of her family. She grows up to become a doctor, with a family of her own; and then, the perpetrator of the crime against her family is released and everything descends into chaos. Jackson Brodie gets caught up in a train wreck and is soon inveigled into the disappearance of the doctor and her child. There is so much going on in this book, with so many leads, and it is enthralling! I could not put this book down!
Definitely recommend this!

Thirty years ago Joanna Mason’s family wandered down a country lane & their lives changed for ever. In the present we meet Jackson Brodie in the middle of a train crash, a missing GP, drug dealers, a police officer who perhaps cares too much? Linking all of this together is 16 year old Reggie.

Reggie is a fantastic character. 16 years old & used to taking on the world. Bought up in a difficult part of Edinburgh with a dysfunctional brother, Billy and a high IQ. Life is not easy for Reggie but she is out to kick the world & fight for the people she cares about.

There are several great characters in this book. Louise is a police detective who cares too much about her job and not enough about her husband, Patrick, and his stuck up family. Jackson is not someone who sticks to the rules – he won’t even die on time! There are plenty of other interesting characters – quite an eccentric bunch.

When I read this book I wasn’t aware that it was the third in a series of book centering around Jackson Brodie. This had no bearing on my enjoyment of the book and it is quite easy to read as a stand alone book. Even now I wouldn’t say this book was about Jackson Brodie – more about Reggie as she is the glue that binds everyone together.

I really enjoyed this book. It is complex with a lot of threads. Some of these turn out to be immaterial but most of them do reach a conclusion at the end. The ones that don’t get neatly finished I suspect continue into the next Jackson Brodie book. However I am not too worried. I really enjoyed Reggie shouting at the world & getting things done.I also liked the fact that not everything worked out in a neat “Happily Ever After”. A great read which has reminded me that I must read more of Kate Atkinson’s books.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley

It is some time since I read this book originally and some of my comments will now be coloured by the fact that I have now read its successor "Big Sky"

I personally enjoyed the various locations of the novel as i live in Devon but know Edinburgh quite well.

As usual Atkinson weaves together (adeptly) several plot strands. It starts with a shocking crime in Devon. Another strand is the disappearance of Dr Joanne Hunter and her baby with her spirited young babysitter Reggie worrying about this.

Reggie is an engaging character even with her troubled history so it was great to re-encounter her again in Big Sky, all "grown- up" with an interesting career choice.

Brodie is counterbalanced by DCI Louise Monroe and the dynamic between the pair is always intriguing.

Jackson Brodie is his usual hapless, sardonic and sensitive self. Who can resist him?

Atkinson herself is also sardonic in her wit and offers up some great one liners that make you laugh whilst juxtaposing this wit with dark content.

A very entertaining read with some important underlying messages

I've recently read this whole series in one glorious gulp. This is my actual favourite so far, great plot, wonderful characters, literally perfect.

Intelligent, tautly plotted murder mystery featuring the familiar characters of the brooding, enigmatic investigator, Jackson Brodie and his counterpart in the Scottish Police Force, DI Louise Monroe. At the heart of this riveting mystery is the brutal murder thirty years previously of a young family and the sudden disappearance in the present day of a doctor which coincides with the release of the murderer on parole. Sixteen-year-old Reggie Chase is one of life’s survivors, refusing to be beaten by tragedy. Her tenacity and intelligence leaps of the page and chimes perfectly with all the other female characters in the novel who have refused to be defined by their individual tragedies. This for me was the most stirring aspect throughout the narrative. As you might expect from Kate Atkinson, all the characters are made credible through their flaws and it is her masterful ability to evoke all the foibles, idiosyncrasies and frailties of the human psyche which makes this (and all her other stories) so compelling. I was kept guessing right until the final page and was immersed in the various narrative strands and how they might be connected.

Kate Atkinson goes from strength to strength with the Jackson Brodie detective novels. The pacing on this was fabulous, slowly building from a meander to a gallop. Some of the characters are returnees, like Louise the police officer and some are new, like Reggie, and the amazing Dr Joanna Hunter, but I hope to see more of them in the next instalment. Or other new characters, I'm not really fussed I just want to know what happens next.

I got a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I don't really know why they were offering this book, since it was originally published in 2008, but I was happy to receive it, since I'm loving this series.

Although this is the third in the Jackson Brodie series by the always wonderful Kate Atkinson, potential readers should not be deterred if they have not read the earlier books , this works perfectly well as a stand alone story.
The book opens with a woman and her young children walking in the countryside, but this idyll does not last long, instead in a gut wrenching turn of events that leaves only one survivor , they are brutally attacked by a stranger.
The book then flashes forward almost 30 years and the reader is reunited with the survivor, Joanna, now a doctor working in Edinburgh with a young baby of her own. The news that the man who attacked her family is due to be released as his prison sentence is complete is sure to disrupt her attempts at a normal life.
Meanwhile we meet Reggie, a bright young girl from a difficult background who is now employed as a "mother's help" by Joanna , and who has come to care for her young charge and his mother deeply, an attachment that is due in no small part to the tragic loss of her own mother.
Former soldier, cop and P. I. Jackson Brodie is on a train,it is crowded and running late , and unfortunately for him , not headed where he thinks it is, but his day is about to get a whole lot worse. When the train derails , Reggie is the unlikely heroine who comes to his aid and keeps him alive until help arrives and when her beloved Joanna goes missing under suspicious circumstances she turns to him for help.
This book is a masterclass in mystery and misdirection. It is a testament to the consummate skill of the author that I found myself surprised again and again as events unfolded As is to be expected all the characters are well developed but I have to admit that my heart belongs to Reggie, she is smart, feisty,courageous and loyal.
The plot ducks and weaves its way into a satisfying conclusion, but it does require patience of the reader, this is a book that will reward careful reading , not just in terms of the complex plot but also with exquisite turns of phrase and unexpectedly witty and sharp observations.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher,all opinions are my own .

In anticipation of Atkinson’s new release, Big Sky, due out this week, I thought I would reacquaint myself with Jackson Brodie by re-reading the third in the Brodie series, When Will There Be Good News?

In When Will There Be Good News? the reader is shocked from the outset by the brutal murder of a Devon family – a mother and two of her three children, who are murdered in broad daylight. There is one survivor, the woman’s six year old daughter Joanna, found unharmed.

Andrew Decker, a stranger to the family, was convicted of the heinous crime. Joanna went on to live her life and become a General Practitioner in Edinburgh. She is now married to entrepreneur, Neil and has a young son. 16 year old Reggie Chase is her mother’s helper. Reggie lost her mother in a drowning accident. Her brother is hanging round with the criminal fraternity and Joanna is a mother substitute and role model for Reggie.

Now, 30 years later, Decker is to be released having served his sentence.

Jackson Brodie is working as a private security consultant. Now re-married, his wife Tessa is a museum curator who has gone to New York for a conference. By chance, Brodie boards the wrong train – he meant to go to London but ends up on a train to Edinburgh. There is a bad train crash and Brodie is left seriously injured and it is Reggie who finds him. Also on the train is Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe, a previous romantic entanglement of Brodie’s. Louise too has recently married a surgeon and her encounter with Brodie throws up a host of emotions that draw the pair inexorably together. Louise is trying to help Alison Needler, a victim of a violent crime whose nerves are in ribbons and whose husband and attacker is still on the loose, as well as worrying about Decker’s release and investigating a case of arson.

Joanna Hunter goes missing and Reggie is determined to get the police to treat her disappearance seriously. Tenacious, honest, engaging, Reggie is a shining beacon of loyalty in the midst of a host of betrayals around her. It is only Reggie’s insistence that something must have happened to Joanna that finally makes Brodie and Louise take notice.

Atkinson weaves together several plot lines; not all of which end up in a satisfactory resolution. Her main plots though are handled with a sure hand; deftly layered, well tied together and resolved with aplomb.

Atkinson introduces apparently unconnected characters and then cleverly reveals their stories showing how each links to the other through their personal stories. Her characters are brilliantly drawn and so engaging.

She is an emotional storyteller, yet dazzles with her literary references and poetic quotations and this book is both funny and very sharp. She sets out to deliberately obfuscate through a mixture of time changes and sudden interjections of seriously violent events, so that the denouement when it comes is bloody, surprising and quite shocking.

Verdict: Through a myriad of coincidences, this is a book about hope and resilience and the indomitable spirit of those who seek justice; even if they have to break every rule in the book to get it.

I must admit that I have thoroughly enjoyed all the books featuring Jackson Brodie, and my one complaint is that there are not more! When Will There Be Good News? follows three different stories that will intersect, making for a thrilling story.
Six-year-old Joanna Mason is the sole survivor, after a family walk towards home. Yet, thirty years later, the person convicted of the crime against her family is released. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Reggie Chase, worried about the disappearance of the GP whose daughter she cares for as a nanny. It is only Reggie’s persistence, that brings PI Jackson Brodie back, together with Chief Inspector Louise Monroe.
I am always captivated about how all the seemingly separate lives, are tenuously linked together. Kate Atkinson manages to weave such a fascinating series of events together, so seamlessly. Whilst the character of Reggie, is pivotal, drawing together all these stories, it is Jackson Brodie, whose character has always fascinated me. His ability to lose himself in his work, makes it easier to lose oneself in the storyline.
I am looking forward to the new book by Atkinson, due out this month. It has been too long between books in this series. I received an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.