Big Sky, by Kate Atkinson, is the fifth entry in the Jackson Brodie series. Jackson Brodie is individualist ex-cop, now working as a private investigator in a “quiet” seaside village. Jackson is the quintessential anti-hero. He does not play by the rules. He follows his own moral code. He loves his children but is seemingly unable to sustain a relationship. He is the man you want to meet, and the man you want far, far away from your daughter.

Atkinson is a masterful writer. She can make you laugh out loud while she leads the reader down dark roads of unspeakable evil. She is painstakingly careful to set the stage and introduce her characters before advancing the plot. It is best to let Atkinson hold the reins. Trust me…every character has a part to play and all the loose ends will come together.

My only regret is that the story was so populated that it minimized the space allotted to Jackson’s point of view. I am looking forward to the next entry in the series. Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the opportunity to read an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a treat to have Jackson Bodie back again. As usual, Kate tells a fascinating, many faceted story. Love her work, and the great way she writes. She covers some tough topics here and did it so well. Kudos! Thanks to #NetGalley for this book.

I didn't realize how much I had missed the character of Jackson Brodie until I felt the real twinge of joy at the very first mention of his name in Kate Atkinson's new mystery. The plot is, at best, ramshackle, and at worst, indifferent. Coincidences and random connections drive the story, but that's been typical with the series. Atkinson is more concerned with characters, texture, and sense of place. She masters these three with ease.

“There were only so many washing-machines you could sell, but there was no limit on the trade in girls.”

Big Sky is the 5th novel in the Jackson Brodie series from Kate Atkinson. If you’ve read some (or all) of the series, then you know Jackson’s troubled background and his fractured personal life. This novel finds Brodie on the east coast of Yorkshire, split from actress Julia (did we ever think it was going to work?) and now involved with his teenage son, Nathan. Julia initially denied Jackson was Nathan’s father, but “now that the worst years had arrived, however, it seemed that she was more than keen to share him.” With Julia “ferociously busy” in her role as a pathologist in a long-standing TV series, that means Jackson has the care of Nathan and Julia’s elderly Labrador, Dido. Jackson is still doing PI work, but his already shrinking business has shrunk even further. Brodie Investigations might have a glamorous ring, but the reality of his day-to-day work is “either following cheating spouses” or with the assistance of a “particularly enticing yet lethal” Russian woman named Tatiana, constructing “the sticky insides of honeypots (or flytraps as Jackson thought of them.”

Big Sky

Series PI/detective novels juggle the personal lives of the main characters with the cases under investigation, so here Jackson spends quite a bit of time with his 13-year-old son Nathan, ferrying him back and forth to Julia. Reggie, a character from the third Jackson Brodie novel, When Will There Be Good News? also makes an appearance as part of a formidable two-woman police team: Reggie and Ronnie, known as the Krays. There are also scenes with Jackson’s daughter, Marlee and even Superintendent Monroe makes an appearance.

Two predators once hunted in this coastal region: Bassani and Carmody–two “council officials and respected charity supporters” who “shared an appetite for the same fodder.” They lured children “out of care homes and foster families or their own dysfunctional households.” They were lured with dangled opportunities: “amusement arcades and funfairs,” and the two predators organized “Christmas parties, outings to the countryside and the seaside, camping and caravan holidays.” There were “rumors of a third man. Not Savile.” Bassani died in prison, Carmody is about to be released, and some people in this seaside town wonder if he’ll “name names.”.…

Big Sky contains a large cast of characters, and it’s hard at times to place these characters in terms of the plot as culpability/roles are obfuscated for a great deal of the book. We’re initially introduced to two sisters who then disappear until about 3/4 of the way through the book, and then there’s this handful of golf playing, smug affluent men who smirk at each other while making obscure in-jokes. This construction: adding characters without placing them in the context of the plot was unfortunate, but Brodie is a great character, and after a while, I gave up trying to puzzle out who all these people were and how they connected and instead just enjoyed the read.

I enjoyed the portrayal of the high-maintenance wives who choose to look the other when it comes to just how their husbands make all that money. These are women who just can’t walk away, so there’s a high price for all that luxury. One of my favorite characters was Crystal: a plastic construct of a living walking Barbie doll. Ex manicurist, ex-topless model, ex- a lot of things, she has emerged and pragmatically accepted her position; she might as well have sex with one man rather than hundreds. She’s a good mother and a good stepmother. Her predecessor died in a strange accident after becoming a bit of a nuisance, but still … Crystal thinks it’s best not to go there.

Crystal was hovering around thirty-nine years old and it took a lot of work to stay in this holding pattern. She was a construction made from artificial materials–the acrylic nails, the silicone breasts, the polymer eyelashes. A continually renewed fake tan and a hairpiece fixed into her bleached blonde hair completed the synthetic that was Crystal.

Review copy

Jackson Brodie is an ex cop turned private investigator in a quaint seaside village on the east coast of Yorkshire.
Sharing custody of his thirteen year old son Nathan, and a sweet older labrador named Dido, with his ex partner Julia. Working cases that mostly involve surveilling suspected cheating spouses.
While out running one morning, he encounters Vince Ives, about to jump off a cliff after losing his job and finding out his about to be ex wife Wendy was murdered, beaten to death with a golf club.
Jackson saves Vince and begins looking into the murder.
Crystal Holroyd, wife of Vince's golfing buddy Tommy, hires Jackson to find out whose been following her and leaving her threatening notes.
Steve Mellors, Vince's attorney, along with his friend Andy Bragg, and Tommy himself, are all involved in human trafficking.
As the large cast begins to interweave it's web of stories, we start to see how it all merges together.
Intricately plotted and told with roguish humor, despite the unsavory subject, the author lures us in to this intriguing tale with her superb writing.
With eight years in between Jackson Brodie books, I wanted him to be more central to the story, rather than a peripheral role.
But I still enjoyed this intricate mystery, with it's diverse assortment of characters. And I hope it won't be another eight years before the next Jackson Brodie book!
Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

It was nice to see Jackson Brodie back again. In fact, my favorite parts of this book were his quiet musings and his often humorous relationship with his son. Though his role was little more than that of a bit player, leaving me wanting more of his presence.There are though, many characters in this story and multiple threads. Atkinson without any doubt on my part always writes amazingly well. Also she took on some timely issues, such as sex trafficking. She does tie these threads together by books end, but unfortunately she also included something that is a big trigger for me. Something I try to avoid in my fiction, or even non fiction for that matter. Just hard for me to read, so I ended up skimming parts of the second half.

ARC from Netgalley.

This one was not for me. I had not read any of the other books in this series, but I do think it was ok as a stand alone. I just couldn't get into the story or the characters. The background from the other books may have helped make the characters more interesting. This book was a total miss for me, but read some other reviews because many readers found this to be a 5 star read.

I’ve read a few of the Jackson Brody crime novels and I like the plots more than I like the writing style. This book has way too many characters, many of whom are unnecessary to the main plot about human trafficking, and skips around among them in a manner designed to cause maximum confusion. However, some of the “unnecessary “ characters were actually a lot more entertaining than Brody. I loved “Transcription” though, so maybe I should just stick to the author’s non-genre fiction. 3.5 stars. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Although it has been ten years since the last one, this is the fifth novel in the Jackson Brodie series. It is the first one I have read. I did not find this to be a disadvantage, although I now want to go back and read all the prior ones.

Quite a few colorful characters and storylines are introduced, but as the novel progressed, they distinguished themselves from one another and, for the most part, were all woven into the plot line.

Well written, I enjoyed Kate Atkinson’s wry humor while tackling difficult subjects. I can see why she has so many fans; count me as one of them.

Picked this up because I enjoy reading the author. The first hundred pages or so were challenging. A laundry list of characters introduced, a plethora of points of view, and a difficult plotline almost had me giving up. However, more than halfway through things started to come together and make sense.

It’s been almost ten years since we last got to spend time with private investigator Jackson Brodie. I loved getting to reconnect with him in Big Sky and was immediately reminded why I loved the earlier books.

It’s important to know going in that these books aren’t a fast paced roller coaster mystery. It’s more of a slowly unfolding deeply layered mystery.

For the first third of the book - we are following a variety of different characters without a clear path to see how they connect with each other - but little overlapping breadcrumbs. Then right around 35% into the book - we start to really see it coming together and I got really into it.

However, there were some parts for me in the middle that got a little slow and I kept wanting to get back to Jackson. I also didn’t love some of the resolution.

I would recommend this book if you love Jackson and are excited for a reunion! If you haven’t read the others in the series yet, I would recommend starting with the first book. While the stories can stand alone, I think you’ll get more from it having the background.


Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a solid entry into Atkinson's series featuring Jackson Brodie. The main story lines are compelling and interesting, although the framing device--the wedding of Brodie's daughter--seems completely tacked on and unessential. There's also quite a bit of fatphobia, which depresses me, because Atkinson is so often a more sensitive writer. But all in all, the book will appeal to her regular readers as well as mystery/thriller readers.

So nice to have another Jackson Brodie book! Kate Atkinson is one of my favorite writers. Thank you for letting me read it.

I know I have read the rest of this series but I realized as soon as I started this one that I don't remember much about it. This starts off just dumping characters and backstory, sometimes oversold backstories, on the reader. I found I was being introduced to so many characters that I couldn't be bothered to care. Some you never did need to care about.

I thought I remembered liking these stories and this character. It tool me a long time to remember why. There are too many coincidences, too many things sitting neatly together when all is said and done. It's nice to wrap up most things, not all things, but it needs to not go from 1,000,000 stories to 10 quite so quickly. And, as one character points out, Jackson Brodie doesn't always do much. He is just there for most of it. I honestly can't remember if the other stories were like this too. I don't know if I care enough to reread.

In the end, I went up to three stars for the awareness of a few of the characters and for the overall theme of the book. It almost went back down for the fact that most male characters only related to the female characters nd their plight as it related to them. "What if it were MY daughter?" kind of thing. How about, just for fun, think of them as humans who don't deserve to be abused and sold like property? I guess we aren't there yet.

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson is the very highly recommended fifth book in the Jackson Brodie series. It is good to see him back, working as a private investigator in a seaside village.

Coincidences are the key to a great return of Jackson Brodie. As with the last Brodie novel (Started Early, Took My Dog, 2011) there is a large cast of characters and a whole lot going on that has little to do with Brodie - until it does. Brodie is part time father to his son, Nathan, and caring for his aging lab while on a case documenting the actions of a cheating spouse when he gets tangled up in a cold case involving human trafficking and the sexual abuse of children that isn't so cold after all. DC Reggie Chase returns, working with DC Ronnie Dibicki

There are complete stories and background information involving all of the characters that eventually all intertwine into a complicated plot. There are some great characters here, some villains, but others that are simply unknowingly entangled in the mystery. Harry is a great character, and it will surprise you how much you will like Crystal. Atkinson slowly introduces her characters, develops them, and then allows them to interact and connects all the pieces of the mystery together.

This is an exceptional, well-written mystery with multiple storylines, complicated well-developed characters and an intricate plot. In some ways I think it is better to read Big Sky with little background information and just experience it for yourself. At first you may not know how all these random people and stories are all connected, but as more information is disclosed and characters begin to interact, it will begin to become more apparent and the action and pace of the novel will escalate.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Little Brown and Company.

http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2019/06/big-sky.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2873072020
https://www.librarything.com/work/22679051/book/170262769

I really enjoyed this fifth book in the Jackson Brodie series - and I am even more glad that I re-read all of the preceding volumes, because it's been almost nine years since the last time I read them! After reading them consecutively, though, I would almost say that if you are looking to refresh your memory, you can probably just read When Will There Be Good News (the third book) and then this latest, as this one feels more like a follow-up to that, then a continuation of Started Early, Took My Dog (in fact, that book's unanswered questions are not addressed here). I was surprised that this one takes place in 2019 - the character's ages are all adjusted accordingly (and there is even mentions of Brexit), so this addition to the series feels quite up-to-date! It's a satisfying addition to the series. The plot ties together nicely and it has more of the lightness and humor found in the earlier installments of the series.

I had a very hard time putting this one down! I practically read it in one sitting. It's fast-paced and I love Atkinson's characters - both the returning series characters and the newly introduced ones. The plot isn't as twisty or as shocking here, (and of course there are still a few things left hanging) but I thoroughly enjoyed it! I most sincerely hope, too, that the wait isn't as long for a sixth addition to the series!

I think that I am at a disadvantage, never having read prior Jackson Brodie mysteries. While I enjoyed Big Sky, there was a lot to keep track of in this novel. There are quite a few side stories and characters that didnt seem to move the main story along. The main character was likable enough, always mysteriously in the right place at the right time. The side characters were interesting on their own, and if I knew some of their back stories, I might have been more invested in their storylines. I think I;m going to seek out the first book in the series and give this Jackson Brodie a chance!
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

It’s been a long time since the last Jackson Brodie novel. Jackson has aged. His daughter, Marlee, is grown, and his son, Nathan, has turned into a surly teenager. Jackson currently lives near the Yorkshire coast to be within a reasonable distance of his ex, Julia, with whom he shares custody of Nathan and Julia’s elderly dog, Dido. Jackson gets caught up in an investigation of a decades-old human trafficking operation involving rich and powerful people. In the process, he meets with someone from his past – my favorite character from the previous Jackson Brodie novels.

Atkinson seems to have based characters in this novel on Jimmy Savile, the disgraced British entertainer who was never called to account for sexual abuse and child molestation. Atkinson has a gift for creating quirky but sympathetic characters, especially children and teenagers. Although they’re presently down on their luck, readers know that, with the right breaks, these characters can make something of their lives. Crystal Holroyd and her stepson, Harry, are standouts in this series installment. Jackson Brodie’s many fans will be happy to find that he hasn’t lost his touch. Nor has Atkinson!

This review is based on an electronic advance reading copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Kate Atkinson does a great job of starting a novel by throwing the reader off kilter and the rest of the book the reader is trying to right themselves. Great story, tight writing, fast paced.

“Big Sky,” by Kate Atkinson, Little, Brown and Company, 400 pages, June 25, 2019.

Jackson Brodie is a former policeman turned private investigator. He lives in North Yorkshire, a seaside region, to be near his son, Nathan, 13. His former partner, Julia Land, is an actress filming a crime series there.

Most of Jackson’s work involves catching cheating spouses. While on an outing, Jackson and his son witness what appears to be the abduction of a young teen. Jackson is involved with Nathan, so he is distracted and doesn’t report it until later.

This is told from the perspective of multiple characters. Nadja Wilk, 23, and Katja, 21, are sisters who live in Poland. Katja has a degree in hospitality management. Both work at a hotel. They have connected with a placement agency to get jobs in London.

Vince Ives’ golf buddies are Steve Mellors, Tommy Holroyd and Andy Bragg. Vince’s estranged wife, Wendy, is murdered and he is the main suspect. Tommy is married to Crystal. While Crystal is driving with their little girl one day, she thinks a car is following them. She has seen this same car following her several times before. She hires Jackson to find out what is going on.

Two female police officers, Detective Constables Reggie Chase and Ronnie Dibicki, have been sent to the coast to look into a child abuse and pornography ring case that had been closed 10 years earlier because new accusations have come up.

There are numerous threads to this novel, which tie together in the end. While the topic is grim, Kate Atkinson’s writing is excellent. This is another outstanding installment in this series. This is Atkinson’s fifth Jackson Brodie novel. She has also written seven stand-alone novels.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.