Barbara M. reviewed on 6/13/2019 + 147 more book reviews

I wasn't sure how to rate this book. I had read reviews of a book by a different author and one of the reviewers mentioned she thought Kate Atkinson's books were better. So, I put the first three books of the Jackson Brodie series on my paperbackswap.com wishlist and within about two weeks had gotten all three. After finishing the first chapter of this book (Book 1 in the series), I was confused when the second chapter was not related in any way to the first one. Same with chapter three. Jackson didn't make an appearance until chapter four.

Well, it turns out that none of the three stories are related other than someone from each contacts Jackson about their cases. This isn't a mystery so much as a character study. The author spends a lot of time getting in the heads of the characters and what each is thinking. Sometimes the characters are thinking in the present and other times they drift back to when the "big event" happened in their lives. Consequently, it can be confusing. I wasn't really all that interested in their random thoughts on life in the present. I don't feel those added much to the story.

None of the characters (except Theo, the father of a murdered girl) is very likable. The resolutions to the cases are all quickly wrapped up at the end--almost as if the author didn't want to spend much time on that part of the book. I also found it somewhat ludicrous that Theo, the despicable sisters (Amelia and Julia), and Jackson all happened to cross paths (at different times) with a homeless girl in a park. She's described as having custard yellow hair. I've never been to Edinburgh, where the story takes place, but the population is nearly 500,000 so it must cover a lot of territory yet most of the action in this story seems to take place within a very small geographic area. The sisters lived elsewhere but had returned to their childhood home after the death of their father. It's unclear if the homestead is anywhere near the park. Ditto with Theo and Jackson.

About 2/3 of the way through the book, I figured out who the homeless girl was. She had a tie to one of the cases that Jackson had taken which is just too coincidental. It also was quite convenient that one of Jackson's longtime clients lived right behind one of Jackson's new clients. And, the longtime client never talked to the new clients so she didn't refer them to Jackson.

There are also a couple attempts on Jackson's life which aren't described in much detail--almost like the author didn't want to bother with that.

The author has some skill at writing but the storyline seemed disjointed to me and wrapped up too neatly. Hopefully, Books 2 and 3 are better.

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