It’s so nice to meet an old friend again, and Jackson Brodie really does feel like an old friend. I’ve followed his career with great enjoyment since ‘Case Histories’, the first book in the series. ‘Death at the Sign of the Rook’ could be read as a standalone, and it’s a lovely palate cleanser between heavier books.

The plot is a twist on the country house mystery, but for me the strength of Kate Atkinson’s writing lies in her characters: Jackson himself and his sort of sidekick Reggie, Simon the silent vicar and Sophie, the mysterious woman at the heart of the story. The ‘Woman with a Weasel’, though not a corporate entity, casts a spell over the whole book.

This book is just so much fun, I highly recommend it.
Many thanks to Transworld and Netgalley for the proof.

I was really looking forward to reading another Kate Atkinson book. But I found this one quite confusing. The narrative jumped between people and timelines as well as different crimes. But it could very well have been made more difficult by the fact that I have not read any of her previous Jackson Brodie crime novels. I will have to give those a read.

Joy abounding, Brodie mellowed, Chase triumphant

Reading a Kate Atkinson always has me infected by her joyous vivacity, vitality and humour, which runs through even the darkest of landscapes. This Brodie and Chase outing though, is not, in truth, that dark, as the trope inhabited is that of the country house murder (or other crime) mystery, and has many fond and glorious nods to the golden age of cosy crime.

Jackson Brodie and Reggie Chase have certainly moved through darker, murkier waters previously. In this one, the territory is the art theft world, and a more day to day inhabitation of human greed, family dysfunction, misplaced sense of entitlement and class – if not quite warfare, then certainly a kind of Robin Hood versus those with much more money and much less sense of fairness. So we, as readers, will certainly have more warmth towards the Robin Hoods – and so will Jackson Brodie

For readers who have never read any of Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie books before, this can of course brilliant be enjoyed as a standalone. As there have been long gaps between Atkinson’s journeys between the inevitably maverick policeman turned private investigator and his within-the-force sometimes partner, feisty young Reggie (Regina) Chase possibly many readers – including this one – may have forgotten the minutiae of previous outings anyway. Atkinson helpfully reminds in, in an ongoing way, of some of them as we travel along, as inevitably memories of the past for anyone, inhabit their minds in the present. All our pasts are present for us, in the now, even though some of our pasts are consciously forgotten.

Like all Atkinson’s book, her writings are deep, and also a romp!

Unfortunately, she then can make other writers seem a little pale and less than three dimensional for a while, so I had to abandon the next work of fiction I picked up, and wean myself away from expecting Atkinson’s multi-dimensional habitations, with non-fiction

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I have enjoyed previous books in the Jackson Brodie series and other titles by Kate Atkinson. This book started slowly for me and I found dome of the characters confusing as the storyline changed its perspective. However, it is a good murder mystery with a slightly surprising outcome.

The Jackson Brodie series is one of my favourites because of Kate Atkinson's careful narrative style, the complexity of the protagonist and the variety of the characters. In this sixth instalment, "Death at the Sign of the Rook", many of these characteristics are present, except for the development of Jackson Brodie's character, of whom we know nothing new about his family and emotional life.
The book begins very well for my taste, as we are introduced to a wide cast of characters: a vicar who has lost his faith, an ex-serviceman with post-traumatic stress disorder, and an aristocratic family on the decline. This introductory part, though rich in detail and depth, seems to have been less appreciated by other readers.
The central plot revolves around the theft of some works of art, a subject that in itself is not particularly intriguing. Rather, it seems to be a pretext for bringing all the characters together, including Jackson Brodie. Despite this, Atkinson's interweaving of the individual stories remains admirable.
The climax of the novel comes at the end, where all the characters converge in one location during an evening of "Investigate a Murder". This part is played out with humour and pays clear homage to Agatha Christie. However, it didn't quite fill me. I had the feeling that the ultimate aim was more to provoke laughter than to resolve the plot in a satisfactory way.
All in all, although the author's quality shows, I found this instalment a little disappointing. The lack of development in Brodie's personal life and a central plot that I didn't find intriguing enough meant that I didn't enjoy the novel as much as I had hoped. However, Atkinson's ability to create complex characters and lively situations is still evident.
Many thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers - Doubleday and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for review.

La serie de Jackson Brodie es una de mis favoritas por el cuidado estilo narrativo de Kate Atkinson, la complejidad del protagonista y lo variado de sus personajes. En esta sexta entrega, "Death at the Sign of the Rook", están presentes muchas de estas características, salvo el desarrollo del personaje de Jackson Brodie, del que no sabemos nada nuevo sobre su vida familiar y afectiva.
El libro comienza muy bien para mi gusto, ya que nos presenta un amplio elenco de personajes: un vicario que ha perdido su fe, un exmilitar con estrés postraumático y una familia aristocrática venida a menos. Esta parte introductoria, aunque rica en detalles y profundidad, parece haber sido menos apreciada por otros lectores.
La trama central gira en torno al robo de unas obras de arte, un tema que en sí mismo no resulta especialmente intrigante. Más bien, parece ser un pretexto para unir a todos los personajes, incluido Jackson Brodie. A pesar de ello, la forma en que Atkinson entrelaza las historias individuales sigue siendo admirable.
El clímax de la novela tiene lugar al final, donde todos los personajes convergen en una misma ubicación durante una velada de "Investiga un asesinato". Esta parte se desarrolla con humor y rinde un claro homenaje a Agatha Christie. Sin embargo, a mí no me terminó de llenar. Tuve la sensación de que el objetivo final era más provocar risas que resolver la trama de manera satisfactoria.
En resumen, aunque la calidad de la autora se nota, esta entrega me ha resultado un poco decepcionante. La falta de desarrollo en la vida personal de Brodie y una trama central que no me pareció suficientemente intrigante hicieron que no disfrutara de la novela tanto como esperaba. Sin embargo, la habilidad de Atkinson para crear personajes complejos y situaciones llenas de vida sigue siendo evidente.
Muchas gracias a Random House UK, Transworld Publishers - Doubleday y NetGalley por facilitarme una copia digital para su revisión.

This is a delightfully fun, comic, entertaining offering from Kate Atkinson, featuring her former cop and PI Jackson Brodie and DC Reggie Chase, based in Yorkshire, with Brodie in and out of Tatiana's abode. Brodie has new clients, siblings Ian and Hazel Padgett who want him to locate their recently deceased mother, Dorothy's missing Renaissance painting, Woman with a Weasel, which has been taken from her home. It is presumed to have been taken by Dorothy's carer, but there is something about his clients that has Brodie suspicious of them. In this story with its echoes of the golden age of crime and Agatha Christie, we have art, pillage, false identity and more. there is another art theft at Burton Makepeace.

Reggie is called in to the estate after a missing artwork and a missing housekeeper and companion, someone the Dowager Lady Milton was more fond of than her own ghastly children. Brodie feels there just might be a connection with his own case as he gets in touch with a Reggie he thinks of as family. We get introduced to a range of characters that include the PTSD suffering ex-military Major Ben Jennings, mired in depression after the loss of his leg in Afghanistan, now residing with his compassionate sister, and the offbeat, unable to speak vicar, Simon Cate. It is snowing heavily, there is a escaped armed two cop killer roaming free in the area, whilst at Rook Hall, guests have arrived for a murder-mystery weekend. What could possibly go wrong?

As might be predicted, murders, shambolic mayhem and chaos ensue, as the lines between fact and fiction become hopelessly entangled, whilst Reggie finds herself drawn to a Ben who suddenly finds himself in his element. This is a cracking, well observed, insightful and humorous read where pieces of the puzzle finally come together at the end, this will likely appeal to fans of the author and those new to this terrific series. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

A totally enjoyable murder mystery with an excellent, fast-paced plot, and which winds up as a classic “Country House” detective story. The characters are well-developed, and the dialogue very natural. I was surprised to find myself in tears of laughter in the final quarter of this book, and highly recommend this latest Jackson Brodie book by Kate Atkinson as a great read.

This is the first book in the Jackson Brodie series that I have read and I'm sorry to say I did not enjoy it. It was difficult to get in to and dragged on a lot and I struggled to keep up with who was who.

I would have sworn blind I'd read all of the Jackson Brodie books but Goodreads tells me different. Anyway, when I saw this ARC on Goodreads I jumped at the chance to read the latest instalment.

Jackson is a PI, his lucrative Russian clientele have fallen away and he is reduced to working for a rather unpleasant set of twins who claim their late mother's home help helped herself to paining which had sentimental value. Whilst Jackson can clearly see there is a place where a painting once hung, he is unconvinced by the frankly wooden explanations given by the pair and feels there must be more to the story. However, as he investigates he discovers that the home help used a burner phone, a fake reference, and a fake name. Could the painting be a lost master? Could it have been stolen during WW2, or was it seized by the Nazis (which of course is also stealing)? Jackson reaches out to an old friend and discovers that there may be some similarities with a theft two years ago of a Turner from Burton Makepeace, home to the Dowager Lady Milton and her family.

The Milton family have been selling off their valuables to keep the house afloat, the new Lord Milton has turned one wing into a hotel, repurposed some buildings as Airbnbs, and sold off others. His latest venture is to sell Murder Mystery weekends with a small acting troupe portraying an Agatha Christie-esque story for the guests to solve. However, with laughable consequences, it turns out that a real vicar, sleuth, thief, murderer, and army major also arrive at the house unexpectedly.

This is the second detective novel I have read in the last few days which has played with the detective genre (by which I mean played 52-card pickup with the foundation stones) and I loved it. I loved seeing Jackson Brodie again. I loved everything about this.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Always lovely to read a story with Jackson Brodie and he is back on top form in this latest outing, all swallowed regrets and working on with nothing to prove.

Atkinson’s latest instalment is packed with characters old and new and towards the end the sheer number of them keeps your head spinning and your mind guessing as to who is who and what on earth is going on.

Really enjoyable, like popping back home for a comfy visit but with new things to learn too.

This was great fun and I had not read the previous books with this character so I will be searching them out. Would very much recommend! Many thanks

Such a great book and a very welcome return for Jackson Brodie. I read this after what felt like a long run of mediocre over-hyped books that didn’t deliver and it was therefore so refreshing to be able to get my teeth into a properly constructed and beautifully written narrative.

I love Kate Atkinson and I love Jackson Brodie so this was a fabulous read for me! Kate Atkinson spins a comedy murder set in a murder mystery with an over the top setting and larger than life cast of characters. It's a fun romp and I found it a little lighter than her usual offerings.

Recommended, as always! Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

Kate Atkinson is one of my favourite authors and she is back with Jackson Brodie. Combining a cast of new and familiar characters as well as art thefts this is an homage to Agatha Christie.
Well plotted, fun and with some laugh out loud moments I really enjoyed it!

So great to see Jackson Brodie back in action! Kate Atkinson weaves threads together like no other author. The premise of a murder mystery weekend whilst a real life escaped convict is on the run in the area is a perfect scenario. Jackson has grown older and his mindset has become more serious, but that lugubrious attitude has gone nowhere! I really enjoyed this and hope that there may bw another outing for this fabulous character. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy

I liked this book. It’s a cleverly plotted mystery and has a good, character-driven story. Jackson Brodie is back. He’s stuck into a country house with a cast of suspects a la Agatha Christie in an atmospheric setting. It's a fun read that blends mystery, humour and drama.

Welcome to Rook Hall! Jackson Brodie meets Agatha Christie meets cozy murders....add in comedy dialogue, a fun cast of characters and youv'e got a sure fire winner. I'd forgotten just how much I liked the Jackson Brodie series, thank you to netgalley, author and publisher for reminding me.
5 stars from me.

This was so so so so fun! Colourful characters and and attention grabbing plot! You can always rely on Kate Atkinson to give you exactly what you need, highly recommend!

I had such a fun time reading this book. Kate Atkinson is one of the most entertaining and beautiful writers, this book is full of so many asides and quips that brought a huge smile to my face. I’ve read some of the author’s previous titles though none of the Jackson Brodie series, so will definitely be going back to discover what I’ve been missing! That being said I still had a great time following this plot line; I loved the murder mystery troupe and how they were interwoven with the story, as well as the Ben character, especially when he gets rather too into a role he plays- I’ll let you read and find out! A huge hit.

Jackson Brodie is back!

He is joined by some familiar friends while he investigates a case of art theft. Predictably lots of unpredictable events happens with interesting tangents which all eventually lead to ah moments of realisation.

The premise of his case is that the relatives of a recently deceased woman believe that her carer stole a picture. Although apparently only having sentimental valve the offspring are very keen to recover it so they can fight about who will inherit it.

The book is set mainly in Yorkshire and in places I know. There's are a cast of additional characters adding to the story and enjoyment of the book. They are all very believable and show their human foibles. Kate Atkinson has got a gift for observing people and behaviours and making them come to life on the page.

Much as I enjoyed reading the book I prefer to listen to the Jackson Brodie books as the usual narrator is a perfect fit and I could imagine him saying some of the lines.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld for the DRC.