When Will There be Good News? - Kate Atkinson

This novel was chosen by a friend at book club recently, as she had heard Kate Atkinson speaking about it during the Hay-on-Wye festival. The book is something of an ensemble piece, where Kate Atkinson follows the lives of a group of disparate people, whose fates are intertwined through a few key events in the novel. The opening is written from the perspective of a child, and it is breathtakingly well written. Atkinson captures the tensions and arguments between two parents and the dramas of family life effortlessly. Then without warning the book is dramatically (devastatingly) catapulted forward to present day. The book's main theme ...  Read the complete review

This book was a bit of a double-edged sword to me. Bits I really liked and bits I pretty much didn't. What I did enjoy was some of the characters and also the winding plot that came quite nicely together at the end. What I didn't like was the author's often rambling chick-lit style and overuse of ironic "speech marks" at the beginning which at times became extremely irritating. My brain was almost melting when more or less a whole chapter was wasted on Louise Monroe's life depending dilemma - shall I buy some flowers or not? (she didn't). I really wanted to grab the author by her lapels and shout "IT DOESN'T MATTER! PLEASE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE!". ...  Read the complete review

I recently read "Case Histories" by Kate Atkinson and really enjoyed it so had hoped to read "One Good Turn" next, which follows on from "Case Histories". However I managed to get a copy of "When Will There Be Good News?" first, which follows on from "One Good Turn" so I've missed a step between the two. Ah well, never mind, I decided to read it anyway. This book features PI Jackson Brodie again, who is a well-rounded and interesting character. Atkinson always manages to write from his point of view with a great ease which shows that he is a character she is comfortable writing about. It was interesting to ...  Read the complete review

A third outing for Kate Atkinson's ex policeman-turned private eye Jackson Brodie who continues to be both the unluckiest and luckiest character and immensely likeable. I have read the trilogy in order as recommended and I would pass on the same advice as even though I'm sure you would be able to follow the plot and enjoy the story I think its even more enjoyable catching up with the characters and following their stories as the books progress. This book opens with an account of a 30 year old murder of a mother and two of her children, her middle daughter then aged 6 having made a miraculous escape. The novel then zooms forward to the present day at the time ...  Read the complete review

I am a massive fan of Kate Atkinson and having read the first 2 Jackson Brodie novels, I was expecting great things from this. I was not disappointed. Jackson is an ex-police officer who turned private investigator and is a hackneyed, cynical but strangely likeable scottish chap who does not always have the best luck in life. He finds himself entangled (often against his will) in other peoples crimes and is usually suspected of some involvement so working against the police as well as trying to prove himelf innocent at the same time as solve the crime. It was ever thus in crime fiction, but what makes this book (and its predecessors) so enjoyable is Kate ...  Read the complete review