It’s about exploitation, the abuse of vulnerable women and greed. This is an excellent novel, timely with the #metoo movement. “Living with Nathan was like living inside an argument.” Every minor character has colour and life, starting with the opening pages, and two Russian sisters hired via Skype to work in an English hotel, completely unaware they’ve been dangerously conned. I personally loved Brodie’s surly son Nathan and had numerous laugh-out-loud moments reading his chapters. Other richly drawn characters include Bunny an ageing drag queen, and Crystal, a client.
There are apparently appearances from characters that featured in earlier novels. Atkinson’s writing is taut, polished, often funny, often heartbreaking, always excellent. There are many characters introduced early in the book, each with their own storyline that eventually weaves together to a masterful conclusion. Jackson’s current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife, is fairly standard-issue, but a series of events leads him into the much darker territory of human trafficking. It’s picturesque, but there’s something darker lurking behind the scenes. In Big Sky, former soldier and policeman, turned private investigator, Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village, so he can spend time with his son.
However, you don’t need to be familiar with the series to read Big Sky. I’m not sure how this happened and, after reading Big Sky, this error will be rectified immediately with me playing catchup. Here’s where I must admit to something – I’d never read a Jackson Brodie mystery prior to this. Now, nearly a decade since her last Brodie book, this wonderful character returns in Big Sky.
Since then, Atkinson has concentrated on a number of novels set during the war, including Life After Life, A God in Ruins and Transcription. Three in the series followed with the last one published in 2010. Stephen King called it, “The best mystery of the decade”. In 2004, Kate Atkinson wrote the first Jackson Brodie novel, Case Histories. A brilliant new literary crime novel from number one bestseller Kate Atkinson: Jackson Brodie makes a highly anticipated return.
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