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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Although this book has received "lesser light" reviews from Atkinson aficionados, I liked it a lot--as much or more than "Case Histories." The plotting is a bit more subtle, but still intricate, and Jackson Brodie is a wonderful character, even more appealing here than in CH.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love the way she pulled all the characters together.
Solid, easy read. I'm a big Atkinson can and find everything she writes worth the time. Her Jackson Brodie crime mystery stories unfold without flash and thriller suspense, but the last few chapters (at least in the first two books in the series) pick up the pace and end neatly.
Equally enjoyable, and I liked that it took place during the Fringe Festival. And the ending was terrific.
I read "Case Histories" earlier this year, which I loved, and "One Good Turn" is just as good, although a bit different in tone. Less private eye-ish, more crime procedural meets French farce, if that's not stretching it. Anyway, I love Jackson Brodie and I love a good set of believably rendered coincidences, so this was perfect almost-holidays reading.
This time the action is set in Edinburgh, where Jackson has travelled with actress girlfriend Julia (one of the sisters from the first case in "Case Histories"--beautiful characterisation by Atkinson) for the Festival. He has recently come into money, retired as a private eye and is suffering an identity crisis.
The action opens with a violent road rage incident, which Jackson witnesses, as do a handful of other characters whose stories, of course, will prove to be inextricably interwoven. Atkinson handles all these threads and the afore-mentioned coincidences with incredible dexterity, and leaves not a thread untied. Highly recommended.
This time the action is set in Edinburgh, where Jackson has travelled with actress girlfriend Julia (one of the sisters from the first case in "Case Histories"--beautiful characterisation by Atkinson) for the Festival. He has recently come into money, retired as a private eye and is suffering an identity crisis.
The action opens with a violent road rage incident, which Jackson witnesses, as do a handful of other characters whose stories, of course, will prove to be inextricably interwoven. Atkinson handles all these threads and the afore-mentioned coincidences with incredible dexterity, and leaves not a thread untied. Highly recommended.
The way Atkinson weaves together robust stories of so many different and fully realized characters makes her books so much more than mystery novels. While the level of coincidence is sometimes a little hard to swallow, as the main character says, "Coincidence is just an explanation waiting to happen." This is my least favorite of her three books featuring Jackson Brodie--mostly because I so disliked Julia--but it's still a great read.
I like the sound of Atkinson's voice, and it was fun to see how she was going to connect her apparently unconnected characters this time around, but the plot was wholly and completely preposterous. In fact, the killer is the one person whose motives are unexplained, while the other characters explore their own at length, in free association. I'm going to try one more in this series and if it doesn't pan out, I'll go to her non-genre books, like [b:Life After Life|15790842|Life After Life (Todd Family, #1)|Kate Atkinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358173808i/15790842._SY75_.jpg|21443207], which I've heard is fabulous.
I don't know if I liked this book or was appalled by it. A little bit of both.
This was a confusing mishmash of characters and the book takes forever to get going.
Jackson and Julia are toxic as anything. There's a scene we get via Jackson and we learn about him and Julia and I just wanted to scream and drop the book right there. Also I don't even know what to say about Jackson. Or we supposed to feel sorry for him due to his sister or brother? Cause he sucks a lot I realized. And he really didn't investigate much in this one, just had remarkable coincidences happening.
Louise (inspector) was more interesting than Jackson and her interest in him didn't even seem believable.
Good lord, Martin. I just....I am going to need to sit and think on him a bit.
Gloria is also as terrible as her husband Graham I have to say. I just think it's hilarious she doesn't realize it. Or maybe she does when you get to that ending.
The writing was eh and the flow was so bad that I started to just want something to happen. And then there's just plot holes left unaddressed by the end of this book.
I needed a yarn wall at the 60 percent mark because seeing how everything and everyone was linked was a lot and I started to think the whole thing was just ridiculous after a while.
This was a confusing mishmash of characters and the book takes forever to get going.
Jackson and Julia are toxic as anything. There's a scene we get via Jackson and we learn about him and Julia and I just wanted to scream and drop the book right there. Also I don't even know what to say about Jackson. Or we supposed to feel sorry for him due to his sister or brother? Cause he sucks a lot I realized. And he really didn't investigate much in this one, just had remarkable coincidences happening.
Louise (inspector) was more interesting than Jackson and her interest in him didn't even seem believable.
Good lord, Martin. I just....I am going to need to sit and think on him a bit.
Gloria is also as terrible as her husband Graham I have to say. I just think it's hilarious she doesn't realize it. Or maybe she does when you get to that ending.
The writing was eh and the flow was so bad that I started to just want something to happen. And then there's just plot holes left unaddressed by the end of this book.
I needed a yarn wall at the 60 percent mark because seeing how everything and everyone was linked was a lot and I started to think the whole thing was just ridiculous after a while.