Four stars for content! Three stars for the formatting of this ARC! It's great to spend time with Jackson Brodie again. I liked this for its plot and great sense of humor. I found much of Brodie's back story--the bits and pieces thrown in randomly--disappointing and underdeveloped in their vagueness. I think this could have, and probably should have been, just a stand alone by Atkinson who remains a first rate storyteller.

I thoroughly not only enjoyed this story, but the writing style created characters with such amusing quips and dialogue that I found myself laughing out loud several times. Although I did get a bit confused with the abrupt changes in characters and time line, I was hooked from the beginning and this was a well crafted mystery. The tie-in with a modern day crime into an Christie type locked door snow-in romp just further added to my enjoyment. I don't want to give away too many spoilers but missing art work, scheming relatives and domestic intrigue all play their parts in this delightful romp. I did not realize this book was part of a series and although it can stand alone, I will definitely be reading more of Jackson Brodie's misadventures in the PI world.

I’ve always loved these books, and I’ve really appreciated how Jackson’s character has evolved throughout the series. Wonderful.

have enjoyed a couple of the author’s previous Jackson Brodie literary mysteries and, though I have skipped a few which meant there were a few references I didn’t get (or maybe I’ve just forgotten them), I happily ripped through this one.

Jackson Brodie is lackadaisically investigating an apparent art theft by an old woman’s home help. It takes a while, but this gets linked to another one with a similar MO of a Turner from a local stately home. This is just the McGufffin to get us thinking about loss, loneliness, and grief.

We are introduced to various local characters: Simon the vicar who has lost his faith and his voice; Ben, a war veteran, who lost his leg to an IED, the Milton family who have lost their fortune and whatever love that bound them. Private detective Jackson and local DC Regina “Reggie” King who have history (which I wasn’t clear on the specifics of) jointly and separately investigate the lost art works.

The plot culminates in a farcical murder mystery evening at Burton Makepeace House in a snowstorm, in which a world-weary troupe of has-been (or never-was) actors play out a script while a real-life murderer is on the loose.

The plot is slight but the character development is deep and moving. The author is far too smart to churn out a standard whodunnit, but uses the conventions and tropes of mysteries from Agatha Christie to Inspector Morse as the skeleton for a profound exploration of damaged human beings who are doing their best to carry on regardless.

Thanks to Doubleday and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Super fun to be with Jackson Brodie again, and the set up for this one is a treat. I particularly enjoyed the in-depth character studies -- the idea of taking "characters" from a murder mystery (the vicar, the Lady etc.) and turning them into such real, vivid people.

I can’t believe that this is the sixth Jackson Brodie novel! It’s always a jolt to pick up the latest in the series and realize that about as much time has passed in the books as it has in the real world. Jackson is now well into his 60s, reflecting on his mortality and rueing several of his less than excellent life choices.

Private investigation, however, is not one of those regrets, even if his latest clients, Hazel and Ian Padgett, are being rather shifty about the case they’ve brought to him. Their mother Dorothy has recently died, and a painting of hers has gone missing. Her carer, Melanie Hope, disappeared at the same time that the family’s possibly valuable portrait did. The younger Padgetts are insisting that they just want their family heirloom back, and don’t want to involve the police out of a desire to protect Melanie. Jackson is pretty sure that they’re full of it, but a paying case is a paying case.

His investigations soon put him on the trail of a con artist whose unusual modus operandi is to ingratiate herself into a household for several months before taking off with a valuable piece of art. Because of international rules of provenance, there’s virtually no legitimate market for the pieces that she’s stolen, meaning that the criminal Jackson’s after must have pretty good ties to the underworld.

Meanwhile, Detective Constable Reggie Chase is still missing her friend and former partner DC Ronnie Debicki, who has moved to London to join the Metropolitan Police. Ronnie encourages Reggie to make the move too, but Reggie has her own ambitions up here in Yorkshire, even if they do mean that she has to put up with the crushingly dreadful DC Tiffany Sellars:

QUOTE
‘Oh, “poppycock”!’ Reggie said, feeling a surge of lexical delight. ‘Do you know where that word comes from?’

‘Not really.’

What is this? School? Reggie heard Tiffany’s voice in her head. It wasn’t that Reggie wanted to teach people, she just wanted them to understand the pleasure of learning and the satisfaction of knowing. She’d fought against horrible odds herself to get an education. She loved quizzes, loved knowing the answers to questions. In what year did ITV commence broadcasting? What is the deepest lake in the world? Who won the Battle of Naseby? Why wouldn’t you want to know this stuff? (‘Because it’s boring?’ Tiffany offered.) And wasn’t that why she had become a detective? To have answers.
END QUOTE

It’s partly this that makes it hard for her to refuse when Jackson comes calling on her once more, asking about a case she worked on a while back. A housekeeper named Sophie Greenway had absconded with a valuable J. M. W. Turner from Burton Makepeace, the local manor house, before seemingly vanishing into thin air. Her disappearance had left a hole not only in the household, but also in the nearby village, many of whose inhabitants thought well of the good-natured but oddly indistinguishable woman.

As Jackson and Reggie join forces to investigate, they’ll have to contend with a Yorkshire blizzard, a murder mystery party and a serial killer on the loose, even as matters of the heart seek to complicate the proceedings. And then there is, of course, the unending complication that is Jackson Brodie himself:

QUOTE
Reggie was never sure whether Jackson Brodie and [her boss] Louise Monroe had been ‘an item’ (she hated that word!) but there had certainly been a lot of what you might call yearning between them. Louise had probably had a lucky escape.

Jackson Brodie’s MO was disruption. His attitude to the law was like that of a Wild West sheriff. All that coincidence-being-an-explanation-waiting-to-happen baloney was just a cover for not following procedure. Procedure was good, you knew where you were with procedure.
END QUOTE

Fans of Jackson Brodie and his world of grand coincidences will adore this humorous, often life-affirming novel. I was just glad to be back with my beloved Reggie, and to bask in the reflected glow of the warmth of her friendship with Jackson. I’ve loved watching their relationship grow and evolve from the very start, and having her take on the guise of being his daughter at various instances in this novel felt more like a truth pretending to be a lie than the other way around. Reggie, with her love of learning and her belief in justice, is so very dear to my heart. Given the way the timeline of these books leaps forward, I’ll be sad when Jackson must inevitably leave us, but hope that there will be many more of Reggie’s adventures to come.

Fantastic cozy mystery! Clever, funny, interesting and in-depth characterizations, with a few oddballs and bits of history. Charming and entertaining read.

Jackson Brodie is back after a long hiatus. Like the rest of us, Brodie has aged since we last saw him. This newest mystery from Kate Atkinson finds him somewhat retired, taking on some small cases to while away his time.
Brodie’s latest involves a missing painting, taken from the room of an elderly woman after she had died. Also missing is the young woman who was her caregiver. But wait, there is another unsolved case very similar to this one being investigated by DC Reggie Case, whom we know from previous Brodie novels.
Besides the missing paintings, we find all kinds of losses: a vicar who has lost his faith, a Lady of the Manor who has lost her wealth, a soldier who has lost his leg. There is also a motley cast of characters involved in numerous activities, from a mystery theater night at the manor to a murder in town, all as a blizzard swirls outside.
My thanks to NetGalley, Doubleday Books and Kate Atkinson for an advanced copy of this rollicking book. My opinions are my own.

Life is imitating art….or rather, death is.

Jackson Brodie, formerly a member of law enforcement who of late is a private detective of sorts, is a bit bored. The bulk of his client base (Russians who probably weren’t doing anything too illegal) have moved on from British soil for friendlier soil, and he is reduced to investigating the seeming disappearance of a small Renaissance painting from the bedroom of the recently deceased Dorothy Padgett. Her (elderly and rather annoying) children, son Ian and daughter Hazel, are convinced that their late mother’s caregiver Melanie Hope walked away with it on the day Dorothy passed away. They insist that its not a valuable painting, just something with sentimental value, yet don’t want to involve the police. While the situation strikes Brodie as being off, he could use the money and agrees to try to track down Melanie and/or the painting. Armed with only a photo of the missing portrait and the home address (which turns out not to exist) and phone number (burner phone, as it happens) which Melanie had provided, Brodie sets off to find answers. His path will collide with that of DC Reggie Chase, who has worked quite reluctantly with Brodie (who to Reggie’s mind is the personification of disruption and lack of adherence to procedures, and who she suspects was at one time romantically involved with her mentor Chief Superintendent Louise Monroe) in the past. Reggie has an open case of her own that shares some striking similarities with that of the missing Padgett painting, in this case a painting by Turner that was cut from its frame and vanished from Burton Makepeace House (family home of the Marquess and Marchioness of Milton) the same day that the housekeeper there, Sophie Greenway, left without notice. Both cases will come to a head one weekend when a murder mystery weekend is to be performed at Rook Hall, the portion of Burton Makepeace House that has been turned into a hotel. A sudden blinding snowstorm, a troupe of visiting actors, and the Agatha Christie-like novels of a lesser known mystery writer collide with an escaped killer, Brodie and Reggie. The deaths in the mystery play being performed may not be the only ones that take place at Rook Hall.
This is the sixth in author Kate Atkinson’s series featuring Jackson Brodie, stories that weave irreverent humor with intriguing puzzles and offbeat characters. This installment could certainly be read as a standalone, but having read the preceding titles will certainly give the reader a fuller appreciation of who Brodie is and the escapades in which he regularly finds himself. An astute investigator whose life is generally a hop, skip and jump away from being a complete hot mess, Brodie is never dull and is in fine form here. Reggie, whose background has led her to value order and following rules, is regularly exasperated by and frequently scandalized at Brodie’s actions, but when (as happens here) she finds herself in a bind, she knows that Brodie is someone upon whom she can count for assistance. Her love life is non-existent these days….she looks for the type of guy who doesn’t seem to exist anymore….but she may unearth a likely candidate amongst the many quirky characters who pop up during the case. No one would confuse the denizens of Burton Makepeace House with the inhabitants of Downton Abbey (more than a few are quite possibly mad as hatters, as a character observes), but they make for a lively and often funny story. Fans of the Brodie series will certainly be engaged by this latest in the series, and readers of Anthony Horowitz, Mick Herron and Ann Cleeves should also treat themselves to this installment (and, trust me, the other five as well). Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for allowing me early access to a copy of Death at the Sign of the Rook. Reading Ms Atkinson’s books is always a pleasure, and this outing was as well.

I Felt as Trapped as Jackson Brodie

Despite the fact that Kate Atkinson is a clever murder mystery writer, reading about Jackson Brodie reading about art theft prompted me to work at keeping my eyes open. The setup was intelligent, a murder mystery weekend in a pompous English home. There is a too-large cast of characters at the introduction. And that’s before Atkinson jumps back to introduce the reader to Jackson’s latest clients, who happen to be the twins of the late Dorothy Padgett. They apparently believe that a Renaissance painting was stolen from their mother’s bedroom. Too many characters for me and none of them were interesting despite the long chapters devoted to them.

I ended up reading about Brodie reading about the nuances of art theft. I could not stick around for the probable good ending. Atkinson not at her best for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Kate Atkinson never disappoints, and Death at the Sign of the Rook, her sixth in the Jackson Brodie series, is one of her best!

Departing in mood from the previous book in the series, Death at the Sign of the Rookie opens with Brodie at a murder mystery weekend. Brodie, nearing 60 and a now a recent grandpa has been enlisted by middle age twins Hazel and Ian to find a painting belonging to their recently deceased mother that they believe was stolen by her seemingly devoted caretaker.

In a different storyline, the house-poor Lady Milton, inadvertently hilarious at all times, bemoans the loss of both her housekeeper and her most valuable painting.

As the story lines converge, as they always do in the Jackson Brodie books, returning characters like Reggie Chase and Louise Monroe appear and many other well-rounded, quirky characters are introduced. The plot is fast-passed, clever, and witty. While some pieces seem to fall into place, as always, Atkinson has some twists and turns up her sleeve.

While this can be read as a stand alone, her series is so enjoyable that I recommend starting with book one and reading them all.

Even though I was not familiar with Atkinson's character, Jackson Brodie, I still found myself ensnared by the writing and the plot. Atkinson weaves together many different characters into a well-designed novel. Missing paintings and non-descript caretakers leave readers wondering about who the perpetrator really is and what could their motive possibly be.

Jackson Brodie teams up with Reggie again, much to her dismay. A down-on-on-its-luck country manor has taken to hosting a murder mystery weekend to make ends meet. A large cast of characters - beyond the actors in the play - make for a deliciously complex cozy worth the wait. Fans of humorous mysteries will enjoy it.

I am a die-hard Kate Atkinson fan, and I was so excited to get a copy of this new Jackson Brodie novel. It did not disappoint, and I loved the reappearance of familiar characters. It prompted me to reread the other in the series. Charming, well-written and enjoyable as ever.

Kate Atkinson writes books I know I'll love, even when it takes me a bit to get lost in it. Her sense of humor, her quirky people, and her inventive plot lines always make it a fun read.

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson

After 8 years, Jackson Brodie is back! This series are my favorites of Atkinson’s novels so I was happy to have received an ARC in exchange for my feedback.
The story has a slow start, little action – setting up the story – which made it easy to put down. On the other hand, about halfway through the book, a snowstorm hits during the Murder Mystery weekend and the pace – and humor - picks up. During the storm, a prisoner escapee, townspeople lost in the snowstorm who find their way to Rook Hall, some no-shows to the event made it was hard to put down – along with the action, I had several laugh out loud moments – quite the madcap mystery. This led to my 4 star rating - average of 3 (first half) and 5 (second half).

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Atkinson and Doubleday for an advanced copy of this book. Review posted on Goodreads (link below) and on Amazon (reviewer name Springfever).

Jackson Brodie is a grandfather now but is still defending justice - not necessarily in a legal manner. This story plays with the trope of a huge moth-eaten Northern manor that’s home to a murder mystery. Atkinson introduces us to a gallery of characters, starting with unlikeable middle aged twins whose mother has just died. They think her carer has departed the house with a painting of ‘sentimental’ value (really a Raphael?) so they hire Jackson to find it and her. Why not just go to the police? Ah well …
The variety of endearing characters come together when, during a blizzard, the Milton family try to run a murder mystery weekend to fill the coffers. But there’s an escaped killer on the loose. Mayhem ensues. Written with Atkinson’s trademark wit and polish, this is a totally enjoyable book. You should read it.

I was so delighted to find out that a new Jackson Brodie book was on its way--and with Reggie at that! I love everything Kate Atkinson writes, and I only hope there will be more Jackson Brodie/Reggie books.

Kate Atkinson never disappoints me. After an interval of five years, Jackson Brodie--ex-serviceman, ex-policeman, and once-in-awhile private detective--is back. It’s been twenty years since we first met, and in the interim, we have aged, mellowed, succumbed to aches and pains, and become grandparents. Now in our sixties, I can tell you that if anything ever happens to him, I will be devastated.

Atkinson’s novels are rich in diverse characters that circle around several plots, and each other. In Death at the Sign of the Rook, our hero, Jackson Brodie, is contacted by Ian and Hazel, the middle-aged children of the recently departed Dorothy Pagett. As they pillage their mother’s estate, they find a painting has been cut out of its frame. Has it been stolen, and is Dorothy’s missing caretaker, Melanie Hope, responsible? Meanwhile, DC Reggie Chase is investigating a similar case at Burton Makepeace, the crumbling manor of Lady Milton. A painting and Lady Milton’s personal assistant, Sophie, have disappeared. Is Sophie responsible, or is it one of her greedy children pilfering her possessions? Are the missing paintings our plot? Is there a connection between the two sets of rapacious offspring? Or is it something else? Like the escaped murderer on the loose?

You can’t help being pulled into the lives of the characters. There is Simon, the atheistic vicar of a dying church. Realizing he has nothing left to say, and no one to say it to, he loses his voice. Then there is Ben, an ex-serviceman living with his sister and her wife in a converted dairy cottage at the Burton Makepeace estate. Suffering from PTSD and depression, he finds he connects best with the bees in his apiary (people suck). Lady Milton is a snobbish relic of the landed gentry who must sell off parts of her estate (Burton Makepeace) to stay afloat.

And then, there are DC Reggie Chase and Jackson Brodie. Reggie—despite referring to Brodie as her “bête noire” (a person that one particularly dreads)-- who never ignores Brodie’s call. However, when he pretends to be her dad, she finds herself deeply moved. This is a complex relationship that started when, as a teen, she saved his life (book three). Brodie is a magnet to people who are grieving or lost (Reggie being one). He is eternally optimistic and empathetic, where justice overrides law: a canon that often puts him—and Reggie—at odds (and in danger).

I have learned that I don’t care that much about finding the plot because I know that it will all coalesce...eventually. I want the very, human characters. I want them to get what they deserve. That could be love, comeuppance, a blind-eye, murder, or the arm-of-the-law. In this latest of the Jackson Brodie series, we get it all.

Like any worthy mystery, the denouement occurs on a dark, and stormy night (Snoopy) when...

I would like to thank Doubleday and NetGalley for the opportunity to read, enjoy, and review this novel.

“Death at the Sign of the Rook,” by Kate Atkinson, Doubleday, 320 pages, September 3, 2024.

People sign up for a murder mystery weekend at a country house in England. The play’s characters include Major Liversedge, Sir Lancelot Hardwick, the Rev. St. John Smallbones, Guy Burrows, Countess Irina Voranskaya and Detective Rene Armand.

What the others don’t know is that among them are private detective Jackson Brodie and Detective Constable Reggie Chase. Two weeks earlier, Brodie got two new clients, twins Ian Padgett and Hazel Sanderson. They hired Brodie because a painting is missing from their late mother’s home. Their mother, Dorothy, had a caregiver, Melanie Hope. Melanie was to return to help with funeral arrangements and getting the house ready for sale, but didn’t come back.

The murder mystery weekend is being held at Burton Makepiece House, headed by Lady Milton. Two years ago, a valuable painting by Joseph Mallord William Turner was stolen. The housekeeper, Sophie Greenway, who disappeared the same night, is suspected of stealing it.

Chase is one of the officers who responded after the theft. She and Brodie are stranded at Makepiece because of a snowstorm. The Rev. Simon Cate also ends up stranded there. Chase has a constant nagging voice in her head, that of know-it-all Brodie, who himself has “A Chorus of Women” in his head.

This is like Agatha Christie meets a game of Clue. It is humorous as Kate Atkinson pokes fun at the cozy mystery genre. It does have a lot of characters, but several are wonderful, especially Lady Milton and Ben Jennings, a neighbor who is an amputee from his service in Afghanistan. This is book six in the Jackson Brodie series.

I rate it four out of five stars.

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.