Today’s book review is of Kate Atkinson’s newest Jackson Brodie novel, Death at the Sign of the Rook. Read on to find out what I thought…
Title: Death at the Sign of the Rook
Series: Jackson Brodie #6
Author: Kate Atkinson
Publisher: Doubleday
Synopsis:
The stage is set. Marooned overnight by a snowstorm in a grand country house are a cast of characters and a setting that even Agatha Christie might recognize – a vicar, an Army major, a Dowager, a sleuth and his sidekick – except that the sleuth is Jackson Brodie, and the ‘sidekick’ is DC Reggie Chase.
The crumbling house – Burton Makepeace and its chatelaine the Dowager Lady Milton – suffered the loss of their last remaining painting of any value, a Turner, some years ago. The housekeeper, Sophie, who disappeared the same night, is suspected of stealing it.
Jackson, a reluctant hostage to the snowstorm, has been investigating the theft of another The Woman with a Weasel, a portrait, taken from the house of an elderly widow, on the morning she died. The suspect this time is the widow’s carer, Melanie. Is this a coincidence or is there a connection? And what secrets does The Woman with a Weasel hold? The puzzle is Jackson’s to solve. And let’s not forget that a convicted murderer is on the run on the moors around Burton Makepeace.
All the while, in a bid to make money, Burton Makepeace is determined to keep hosting a shambolic Murder Mystery that acts as a backdrop while the real drama is being played out in the house.
My review:
I absolutely love the Jackson Brodie novels, so of course I was incredibly excited to get to read and review Kate Atkinson’s latest release, Death at the Sign of the Rook.
I soon realised this is quite a different novel from the others in the series. The mystery element rather takes a back seat, I felt. Jackson is called to investigate a missing painting, but for me this aspect of the story didn’t really interest me much so I didn’t really care about the progress for Jackson there. This is unusual for me as I would normally find myself drawn in the most by any element of mystery in a plot, but in this novel, the array of characters provided more entertainment than the mystery.
We‘re following a strange mix of people, many of whom seem to be plucked straight out of a golden age crime novel – Kate Atkinson is definitely nodding to this genre heavily, with the incredibly wealthy old lady, a vicar, a housekeeper who may or may not be who she says she is, and the jaded Detective Jackson Brodie himself. I enjoyed the references to other writers too, which popped up throughout the novel.
There’s also a lot of humour in this novel – much more than previous books in the series. The focus is on the interactions between the characters but because there are so many characters I lost track of who was who quite a lot which meant the middle section of the book dragged on for me. So it didn’t end up being my favourite Jackson Brodie novel, because the standard is so high, but an enjoyable, entertaining read all the same.
Still, it’s a fresh, different kind of release in this series and die-hard fans of the Jackson Brodie books are bound to enjoy it!
My rating: 3.5/5
Many thanks to the publisher, Doubleday, for providing a copy of this book on which I chose to write an honest review.