One Good Turn

OK, I will give it to Kate Atkinson; she has a way of zinging an ending where you do not see it coming. There is always something at the end that makes your head do a whip-a-round and you find yourself saying, “Really, what did I miss that got us to this point”.

If you are one of those cheater types that reads the last chapter or paragraph before you start a book, then you will ruin this whole reading experience, so just take your time and get to the good parts in due course.

Like the previous book, there are multiple plotlines – an automobile accident with a brawl in the middle of the street; a home developer and his wife who have a problem with deceptive business tactics not to mention missing money; and then there is Jackson Brodie, the former cop and private investigator who while in Edinburgh to see Julia in a play discovers a body. Of course, this body cannot stay put and washes out to sea before the local constable can come to verify its existence, making Jackson look like a daft fool.

As the stories weave their way to the conclusion, the reader begins to see how each are interrelated. How even the slightest nuance actually has a point and the dry humor that is exhibited in the unlikeliest moments has you rereading wondering in this politically correct day and age if they can really say that.

Overall, I don’t think I liked this book as well as the first Jackson Brodie, Case Histories, I just couldn’t find myself attaching to the characters in the same way as I did the first time around. Though the writing and the stylizing of the stories are good, the overall enjoyment of One Good Turn was not the same as Case Histories. Will I read more, maybe one day, just need to take a break and wait until the feeling hits me again.

I do suggest that you read them in order since some of the characters flow from one into the next and you might feel that you are missing something even though Ms Atkinson does an admirable job of rehashing some bits from the previous story so you do not feel completely in the dark.

I do recommend that you do check out this series, from the beginning and be prepared for an enjoyable time and a thinking person’s adventure into storytelling.