Mystery and Suspense Challenge
After Case Histories, I wanted to read some more Jackson Brodie mysteries, and Started Early, Took My Dog is the latest in the series. I like this series because the mysteries are well written, with several strands and stories to juggle for a while. Picture three or four overlapping circles, gradually getting closer and closer together until they are one big circle. (I must have a math exam on Venn diagrams to make up) Eventually, Brodie appears in the story, generally quite a ways along in the plot, but his appearance keeps surprising me, and I greet him with a smile.
They had made an attempt to clean themselves up a bit in the garage toilets. He noticed that the woman no longer had blood on her hands. Jackson felt there might be a metaphor hiding in there somewhere. p 236
More missing girls for Jackson to brood over, both past and present. His life is falling more and more apart. Three books, three exes. He spends this book single, but there are references to Louise from the last book. I wish I remembered more about the last book in the series, When Will There Be Good News?, because there is a lot more related to what happened to Jackson in this book.Atkinson peppers the story with cultural references - I'm sure I miss many of the British ones, and her style is very humorous. More than once I found myself rereading a line that made me smirk.
Pick up a book in this series if you like intertwining mystery stories, humorous writing, and plots that don't tie up perfectly at the end. The way this book ended, I think there will be another Jackson Brodie book in our future.
