Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series, part 2
While on holiday I finished the last three books in Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series, Started Early, Took My Dog, Big Sky, and Death at the Sign of the Rook. Each deals with different issues: the first kidnapping, the second sex trafficking, and the third art theft, and in Atkinson’s signature way, each connects all of its characters neatly at the end, metaphorically similar to tying a bow at the last chapter.
As I mentioned in my discussion of the first three books, what initially drew me to them was mention of Brodie’s character development from an ordinary guy—one who maybe thinks a little too much of himself—to one whose perspective has shifted entirely by the end of the sixth book to one of feminism. While I think that might be a stretch, even though Brodie even refers to himself as a feminist in one of the books (can’t remember which), it is entertaining to see how much mental correction he does in his own brain. The voices of his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend echo in his mind correcting his paternalistic and sometimes sexist inner monologue, and what emerges from this is, indeed, a better man, mainly because at no point in time does he question their corrections, innately he accepts them and moves on.
The other thing that really does endear the reader to Brodie is that he just wants to do the right thing, even if this leads him into comical and/or dangerous situations. Overall I enjoyed these books, and would recommend them, especially to readers who normally don’t read detective novels, as is the case with me. I really hope these won’t be the last that Atkinson writes about Brodie, because there are a couple of unfinished matters that I would like to see resolved, and I am sure I’m not the only one!