Book Review: When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

As is apparently my pattern, I picked up this mystery/suspense book unaware that it was the third in a series, which may partially account for the fact that I was moderately confused during the first third of the story.  The other source of the confusion is the three separate plotlines, but the author adroitly weaves them together around page 100 or so.

Most of the main characters have experienced tragedy in their lives: ex-cop Jackson Brodie's sister died by murder and his brother by suicide; teen-aged Reggie lost her mother in a bizarre drowning; Johanna Hunter survived the massacre of her mother and two siblings (survivor guilt runs rampant in this novel).  Police detective Louise Monroe, trapped in a lackluster marriage and in her own sour defensiveness, is obsessed with a woman who escaped murder at the hands of her husband, and also wants to warn Johanna that the murderer of her family is scheduled to be released from prison. All these stories come together after a devasting train wreck.

Despite the complicated structure, this is a suspenseful page-turner, with interesting and believable characters.   I especially liked Reggie, an endearing, annoying Harriet the Spy type whose grief over her mother and affection for Joanna colors everything she does. She is relentless and focused when the adults around her are wallowing in their own stuff.

Comments

[Garage Equipment]

Jackson Brodie had cared about missing girls, he wanted them all found. Louise didn't want them to get lost in the first place.