Find the doctor (When Will There be Good News? - Kate Atkinson)

Member Name: tallpete33

Product:	When Will There be Good News? - Kate Atkinson
Date:	15/09/09 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quite a good plot and some of the characters are good

Disadvantages: Bit confusing, too many characters

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!". Thankfully it got a bit less "flowery" (oh dear, it's catching) and more concise as it approached the business end.

It centres on Doctor Joanna Hunter, the only survivor of a murder that saw her mother and young siblings killed one day in Devon many years ago, an event that bore too many similarities to the real-life Josie Russell case for me. Her (on the surface) seemingly idyllic new life with a husband, career, baby son and nanny (Reggie Chase) was turned on it's head when DCI Louise Monroe turned up on her doorstep to inform her that the perpetrator, Andrew Decker, was being released after 30 years at Her Majesty's pleasure. The good doctor goes missing, her dodgy husband won't co-operate, a train crashes and the plucky nanny won't take no for an answer and is determined to solve the mystery.

A string of coincidences move the story on nicely but a large cast can make it pretty confusing in parts, not helped in the least by another similar family murder years ago occupying DCI Monroe. Her previous boyfriend (Jackson Brodie, ex policeman and character in previous Kate Atkinson novels apparently) coincidentally turns up on the scene (half dead) via the unfortunate train and we are given all the details of his past and present loves even though they play no part in the story. DCI Monroe is a pretty dry, generally pessimistic character. I kept thinking Caroline Quentin. The not so good doctor is a closed book unsurprisingly, but Reggie the wee nanny stole it for me. Tiny but tough, with a dog in tow, she would do whatever it took to find the doctor and the baby with only a sharp tongue and quick wit in her armoury.

As I said, I enjoyed the book in the end but the style of writing was a bit mixed to start with - witty chick-lit or crime fiction? Make up your mind please Ms Atkinson as for me the two don't really mix. The plethora of characters did have me back-tracking and a bit confused from time to time too. That said, it all tied up nicely at the finish and was quite an entertaining read. (7/10)

(also posted on amazon)

Summary: Doctor goes missing but it's not why we think!