Kate Atkinson is one of the most versatile authors of the century! This hilarious mystery brings back Jackson Brodie, one of our favorite sleuths. Paintings, expensive and significant paintings have been disappearing from homes. Brodie has been tasked with getting to the bottom of a missing painting. In the course of his investigation, he finds a similiar crime-they have in common is the appearance in the households of a very helpful and kind assistant, who seems to disappear with the painting.. Wonderful, quirky characters support the plot. A single sitting read!

Hurrah! Jackson Brodie is back, and thank goodness he's brought Reggie Chase with him. If the previous book in the series was darker than the previous, more hardboiled, this one scampers off in another direction entirely, into the cozy world of between-the-wars mysteries where a large cast of suspects in an isolated place have to determine who killed a not-terrifically-sympathetic victim. Here she opens (and closes) with a fairly classic setup which might make readers check the cover to see if they've picked up the wrong book. But it turns out to be a scenario for a murder mystery entertainment to be performed for guests at a vast, moldering manor house that its impecunious owners are trying to turn into a hotel to raise funds before the roof falls in.

Meanwhile, (there is always a meanwhile in this series), Jackson Brodie is investigating a missing painting from the Renaissance which disappeared along with a carer from the home of a recently deceased woman. The heirs don't want to call in the police, which seems odd, but Jackson gamely gives it a go, eventually learning another painting, a Turner, has been stolen from the great house where the mystery entertainment is to be held, disappearing at the same time as a charming young housekeeper. Nothing to be done but to blunder into a theatrical during a massive snowstorm that traps the audience, the players, the dismayed audience, and the family, with the addition of a depressed war veteran and a vicar who has lost both his voice and his faith. Oh, and there's a prisoner who has escaped from a nearby prison and is very dangerous and entirely a prop rather than a character.

Two things distinguish this French farce of a story: the weird way it proceeds like a plot designed by a pinball machine, people ricocheting off in all directions, and the ways the characters are richly defined by their inner thoughts, which fill the pages between incidents. And, of course, the way it sends up Golden Age mystery conventions while providing Atkinson's usual weird and joyful take on how to write a mystery.

As always, I was excited to read a new Kate Atkinson book. Since I’ve read all of her novels, it was great to catch up with all my “friends “ from past novels. I am always charmed by Jackson Brodie and I loved the mystery he as hired to solve.

I did have a problem with this book, which was the group of players who wound up trapped in a local mansion during a blizzard with all the eccentric characters and criminals. I don’t like crowded books and I found this overcrowded with the names of the actors and the parts they were playing during this Murder Mystery weekend.

As always, Jackson and Reggie, impressively unwind a complex art theft. This was an excellent crime caper, marred by the overblown cast of characters.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this new Kate Atkinson novel.

As an enormous fan of Kate Atkinson, it was such a thrill to receive an advance PDF copy of Death at the Sign of the Rook from #NetGalley and #PenguinRandomHouse. I've read every book by this writer, including everything within the Jackson Brodie series, and my only challenge was that it's been a while since my last Brodie experience - Big Sky - with Shrines of Gaiety and Normal Rules Don't Apply in rotation prior. to this new book. That said, characters like Louse Monroe and Reggie Chase, along with mentions of Jackson Brodie's family, felt a little distant in my memory. If I were to revisit this book, I would do so after a review of the preceding books to maximize the experience.

Regardless, Atkinson's Brodie books are simply engaging, zany, wisecracking, and standalone fun -- always with a new "adventure" and many twists and turns. That's not to say that these books don't contain some dark and disturbing content (macabre murders, treachery, and madmen on the loose). "Death at the Sign of the Rook" is not hitting shelves until September and I would advise big fans of Atkinson (the Jackson Brodie series in particular) to take time to revisit the former books and get ready for more in this newest installment -- complete with a theatrical murder mystery, stolen artwork, family betrayal, and more side jokes than you can manage to count. These books are a lot of fun and I love this writer. I haven't seen the BBC series based upon these books but it is absolutely on my to-do list for the future.

I’m torn on this one, and it gets an extra half star for the humor alone. There are lots of laugh-out-loud moments to be found here. However, I just could not get into this. It dragged on and on, and there was zero action for much of the book. There were so many characters that it was difficult to keep them straight. I’m sure that if you’re into meandering cozy mysteries, you’ll enjoy this, but I’m afraid it just wasn’t for me.

I did laugh a fair amount, though, at the thought processes of various characters. I wouldn’t mind hanging out with Ms. Atkinson every once in a while, as I’m sure my stomach would hurt from laughing so hard. I just wished I’d liked the book more!

My thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Another highly entertaining novel with Jackson Brodie up to his old tricks. While I found the beginning a bit slow the tongue in cheek Agatha Christie has you laughing at the end with all the various red herrings, crazy characters, and a purely British manor. Well done!

Kate Atkinson returns with Jackson Brodie-and quite a return it is!!
A comedic troupe of mystery actors coupled with a real mystery (an art theft) plus the presence of a real escaped murderer. At times fun, at times an education in Renaissance art, at times Agatha Christie like (particularly so with the characters in the acting troupe). Every reader will have his/ her favorite character- for me it was Lady Milton followed closely by the disillusioned Anglican vicar. At times I wondered how Atkinson could possibly tie it all together but indeed she did.
My only advice is to read it in big chunks or you will be hopelessly lost. A good read.

I got an ARC of this book (thanks!!) and didn’t know much about it besides the synopsis. From the blurb I was expecting a bit of a straight ahead cozy mystery, so ended up a little confused early on. But once I realized what was happening, it was a great story, and I enjoyed it through to the end! Definitely will keep an eye out for more from Kate Atkinson.

This took me a little longer to get into than some of her other mystery novels. Jackson is always entertaining and I would love Reggie to get her own series. I didn't know if it was the galley/ebook format but at first, I kept thinking the Lady chapters were from one of the mystery novel they found at the scene of the "robbery" but she was also a potential victim. Something was off with the font on some of the pages and with so many characters, paintings and old houses it was a little tricky initially to keep it all straight. Still, once it got going, it was a fun ride. Not as fun as Jackson's new monster truck, but fun.