Started Early, Took My Dog

Starred review from January 17, 2011
British author Atkinson's magnificently plotted fourth novel featuring Jackson Brodie (after When Will There Be Good News?) takes the "semi-retired" PI back to his Yorkshire hometown to trace the biological parents of Hope McMasters, a woman adopted by a couple in the 1970s at age two. Jackson is faced with more questions than answers when Hope's parents aren't in any database nor is her adoption on record. In the author's signature multilayered style, she shifts between past and present, interweaving the stories of Tracy Waterhouse, a recently retired detective superintendent now in charge of security at a Leeds mall, and aging actress Tilly Squires. On the same day that Jackson and Tilly are in the mall, Tracy makes a snap decision that will have lasting consequences for everyone. Atkinson injects wit even in the bleakest moments—such as Jackson's newfound appreciation for poetry, evoked in the Emily Dickinson–inspired title—yet never loses her razor-sharp edge.

May 30, 2011
When Tracy Waterhouse, a recently retired police detective, sees a repeat criminal offender, Kelly Cross, aggressively dragging a small child through town, she impulsively decides to buy Kelly's child. Meanwhile, Jackson Brodie, a private investigator, also finds himself forcibly taking custody of a vulnerable beingâthis time it's an abused dog. Both Waterhouse and Brodie find themselves pulled together into a complicated mix of mysteries as they discover more about their new companions. Graeme Malcolm enriches the narrative with his deep, raspy, English-accented voice. When delivering the story from female points of view, Malcolm lightens his growl and shifts tone well enough to be convincing. The one drawback is that sometimes his delivery around quick exchanges between characters or even within the narrative text can be hard to follow. A Little, Brown/Reagan Arthur hardcover.

While Graeme Malcolm makes little effort to try to imitate the variety of memorable characters Atkinson gives him to work with, his narration is, nonetheless, sophisticated and nuanced. This is Atkinson's fourth outing with the semiretired, terminally lonely P.I. Jackson Brodie. Here he is looking for the seemingly nonexistent biological parents of a grown woman, a search that eventually connects to another long-ago missing child, a murder, and a police cover-up. As narrator, Malcolm is at once detached and intimate. One by one, he seems to dissect each of the characters, revealing the wonder of Atkinson's storytelling. M.O. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Starred review from July 1, 2011

This is English author Atkinson's (www.kateatkinson.co.uk) fourth novel to feature semiretired investigator Jackson Brodie, following When Will There Be Good News? (2008), also available from Hachette Audio and AudioGO. Jackson is back on his old stomping grounds of Yorkshire trying to locate the birth parents of a client in New Zealand when he spontaneously rescues a dog from an abusive owner, an act that invites considerable complications. Atkinson excels at narratives told from multiple points of view and along different time lines; she populates her novels with realistic, sympathetic characters whose lives intersect at crucial moments, often to disastrous effect. This work is no different, and it unravels beautifully in the skilled hands of actor/narrator Graeme Malcolm, who delivers the characters in an understated yet effective manner. An essential listen for fans of Atkinson and this series; recommended for anyone who appreciates a good mystery. ["This book will not disappoint Atkinson and Jackson Brodie fans," read the review of the Reagan Arthur: Little, Brown hc, LJ 1/11.--Ed.]--Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IA

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