Big Sky (Jackson Brodie) by Kate Atkinson

This book marks the return of Jackson Brodie, protagonist of four of Kate Atkinson’s previous novels, the last of which, Started Early, Took My Dog, was published some nine years ago.

All of Atkinson’s customary ingredients are present: plausible characters; a labyrinthine plot (well, it is more a case of several different plots all interlaced with each other); the threat of gruesome crimes never far away in the background, but without direct and gratuitous violence on the page, and a string of hilarious one-liners, often quite at variance with the unfolding action.

Although Jackson Brodie features throughout, he is not exactly the central character. Indeed, there isn’t really one central character: the story moves about flitting from one developing storyline to another, focusing on a succession of different characters. While this may all sound chaotic, it actually works very effectively, and is, after all, one of Atkinson’s traits. In addition to Brodie, another welcome return from a previous book (in this case, the excellent When Will There be Good News?) is Reggie Chase. Ten years on from that story, Reggie (née Regina) is now a Detective Constable in North Yorkshire, and still as engaging as ever.

The various plots are difficult to summarise without strewing inadvertent spoilers, but they are all played out effectively. Atkinson is always adept at weaving the various storylines together, and the resultant tapestry is alluring, despite the grim themes that it encompasses, including murder, violence, kidnapping, child abuse and human trafficking.

This review originally appeared on GoodReads.

Big Sky (Jackson Brodie) by Kate Atkinson is available to buy on Amazon.