‘Death at the Sign of the Rook’ (2024) – Jackson Brodie #6 by Kate Atkinson, narrated by Jason Isaacs – Highly Recommended

Welcome to Rook Hall.

The stage is set. The players are ready. By night’s end, a murderer will be revealed.

Ex-detective Jackson Brodie is staving off a bad case of midlife malaise when he is called to a sleepy Yorkshire town, and the seemingly tedious matter of a stolen painting.

But one theft leads to another, including the disappearance of a valuable Turner from Burton Makepeace, home to Lady Milton and her family.

Once a magnificent country house, Burton Makepeace has now partially been converted into a hotel, hosting Murder Mystery weekends.

As paying guests, a vicar, an ex-army officer, impecunious aristocrats, and old friends converge, we are treated a fiendishly clever mystery; one that pays homage to the masters of the genre—from Agatha Christie to Dorothy Sayers.

IN A NUTSHELL
Wonderful stuff. This had me smiling all the way through. I loved the carefully choreographed chaos, the gentle humour, the joy in language and the courage to introduce characters who will later be central to the plot by focusing entirely on them and their inner worlds without needing immediately to tie them to the narrative. Jackson Brodie has had some of his rough edges smoothed off but remains fundamentally himself and is proud of it.

‘Death at the Sign of the Rook’ is the sixth Jackson Brodie book. It’s one of the few series I’ve read out of order, but it hasn’t suffered for it. Each of the five books I’ve read so far (I haven’t gotten to the second book, ‘One Good Turn‘, yet) was a delight in its own right. It’s a series that started strong and has remained strong. I started with ‘Started Early, Took My Dog’, Jackson Brody #4, back in 2011, shortly after I started this blog. Kate Atkinson didn’t return to Jackson Brodie until (2019) with ‘Big Sky’ but it was worth the wait. Both books were outstanding.

After another long gap (five years this time), I hesitated to read ‘Death at the Sign of the Rook’ as the publisher’s summary made it sound like a pastiche of golden age fiction. Thankfully, it wasn’t. If you know golden age mysteries, you’ll find a few more things to smile at in this book than if you don’t, but you don’t need any background in mysteries or in this series to enjoy Kate Atkinson’s storytelling.

‘Death at the Sign of the Rook’ was a wonderful, joyous read. It had me smiling all the way through. I loved the carefully choreographed chaos, the gentle humour, the joy in language and the courage to introduce characters who will later be central to the plot by focusing entirely on them and their inner worlds without needing immediately to tie them to the narrative.

Jackson Brodie has had some of his rough edges smoothed off (perhaps by the jury of formidable women he carries in his head) but remains fundamentally himself and is proud of it.

I felt old when I realised that, over the course of reading these novels, I’ve watched Reggie grow up, just as Jackson has. I loved seeing the two of them fencing with each other with concealed but never doubted affection..

Jason Isaacs, who played Jackson Brodie in ‘Case Histories‘ the TV series based on the early Jackson Brodie books, was the perfect choice to narrate this book. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample of his work.