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In
this ambitious fourth novel from Whitbread winner Atkinson (Behind
the Scenes at the Museum), private detective Jackson Brodie-ex-cop,
ex-husband and weekend dad-takes on three cases involving past crimes
that occurred in and around London.
The first case introduces two middle-aged sisters who, after the death
of their vile, distant father, look again into the disappearance of
their beloved sister Olivia, last seen at three years old, while they
were camping under the stars during an oppressive heat wave. A retired
lawyer who lives only on the fumes of possible justice next enlists
Jackson's aid in solving the brutal killing of his grown daughter
10 years earlier. In the third dog-eared case file, the sibling of
an infamous ax-bludgeoner seeks a reunion with her niece, who as a
baby was a witness to murder.
Jackson's reluctant persistence heats up these cold cases and by happenstance
leads him to reassess his own painful history. The humility of the
extraordinary, unabashed characters is skillfully revealed with humor
and surprise. Atkinson contrasts the inevitable results of family
dysfunction with random fate, gracefully weaving the three stories
into a denouement that taps into collective wishful thinking and suggests
that warmth and safety may be found in the aftermath of blood and
abandonment. Atkinson's meaty, satisfying prose will attract many
eager readers.
...[E]legant, subdued jacket art should remind readers that Atkinson
crosses genres, attracting readers of literary fiction as well as
thrillers.
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