Started Early, Took My Dog: (Jackson Brodie)

A day like any other for security chief Tracy Waterhouse, until she makes a shocking impulse purchase. That one moment of madness is all it takes for Tracy’s humdrum world to be turned upside down, the tedium of everyday life replaced by fear and danger at every turn. Witnesses to Tracy’s outrageous exchange in the Merrion Centre in Leeds are Tilly, an elderly actress teetering on the brink of her own disaster, and Jackson Brodie, who has returned to his home county in search of someone else’s roots. All three characters learn that the past is never history and that no good deed goes unpunished.

Reviews of Started Early, Took My Dog: (Jackson Brodie)

"Crime has given Atkinson the freedom to write an ambitious, panoramic work, full of excitement, colour and compassion" Sunday Times "Atkinson's finest novel to date. Indeed, it's one of the finest British novels, in any genre, to have emerged for years…sharp and dexterous, subtle and stylish, very funny and at time extraordinarily cutting…This is very much a state of the nation novel – far sharper and more observant and satirically understanding than anything else out there at the moment. And yet Atkinson also gives us humanity, insight and entertainment…a story that deserves to be read for decades to come" — Henry Sutton Mirror "The wonder of Atkinson's novels has been their joie de vivre, extraordinary given the high incidence of violent death. An irrepressible exuberance shines throughout..folds past and present together with Atkinson's customary flair…extraordinary combination of wit, plain-speaking, tenderness and control" Guardian "As ever, Atkinson's prose is diamond-cut to twinkle and slice by turns. Her playful sense of humour dances round the darkness of her themes. She skips through the difficult steps required to balance the reader's need for satisfying (and surprising) resolution with a realist's view of human nature and the messiness of real-life criminality" Daily Telegraph "A wonderful stylist…but she was never confined to the crime genre, has written in assorted other modes and excels at them all. Whatever she goes on to write, she leaves Jackson Brodie at a suspenseful and pivotal moment. Future installments are well worth waiting for" — Janet Maslin New York Times