Death At the Sign of the Rook

Yet another murder mystery! But Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels (this is number 6) are a very different beast from Dorothy Simpson's Inspector Thanet stories. There are a couple of murders, and a handful of near misses, but the real mystery centres on theft rather than murder, and the real pleasure of the story lies in Atkinson's witty, wandering, but tightly plotted style. Her characters loop in seemingly aimless spirals, playing with words, following diversions, colliding in implausible coincidences ('A coincidence is an explanation waiting to happen,' says Jackson Brodie), but Atkinson draws the strings tight by the end and ties up every dangling thread.

Death At the Sign of the Rook is full of in-jokes and references for fans of cosy murder mysteries, echoing Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, the cliches of Cluedo, and even newcomer Richard Osman, and probably others who went over my head. There are some lovely characters to linger with here: a vicar who has lost his faith and his voice; a drifting, depressed ex-soldier; a haughty, delightfully sterotyped lady of the manor. But for the regular reader, it's wonderful to be reunited with amiable detective Jackson Brodie and sharp little Reggie Chase. 

The Sign of the Rook has a feeling of belonging to an earlier time; though there are references to the pandemic and pocket trackers, it doesn't seem totally anchored in the modern world. But I'm not complaining.