‘Big Sky’ a fine example of the Brodie mysteries
(Apr. 2, 2025) — I’m not sure who captures my reader’s heart more, Kate Atkinson, the writer, or Jackson Brodie, Atkinson’s almost not-to-be-believed private detective.
“Big Sky” is the fifth mystery in which ex-cop, now private detective Jackson Brodie saves the day by the skin of his teeth.
When finding a new mystery series to read, most people want to know if the novels need to be read in order. Based on my experience, I’d say that if you are an imaginative and trusting reader, you can read this one out of order – only because Atkinson fills in all the questions you might have about this detective by the time “Big Sky” ends. I do admit that “Case Histories,” the first Brodie novel, does give you the pattern for whatever follows.
Atkinson is a serious British novelist, and if you love cozy mysteries, “Big Sky” may be your chance to broaden your whole approach to the private detective mystery.
Do not expect the murder victim to be found within chapter one. Atkinson’s mysteries are basically literary jigsaw puzzles. By the time all the pieces (characters, living and dead, and events, current and past) are in place, you are halfway through the book with only a hint of the story’s criminal fabric.
Connections
“Big Sky” is awash with horrible criminal behavior involving politicians at all levels, respected businessmen, wives and ex-wives, sleazy seaside theater and amusement rides. Atkinson’s characters are loved, feared, admired and detested by each other and, yes, by readers, too.
First presented, the characters do not always appear to connect with each other, beyond the fact they all live in a British seaside community. And Brodie, while tracking a cheating husband, moves past infidelity into serious criminal behavior as characters, through steps and missteps, bump into one another, including Brodie.
Atkinson keeps the pieces coming and going with insight, surprising humor and, as we discover when the action turns nonstop, a clear direction of where the story is headed. Pay attention. Each character is important.
Brodie is a man who loves his two children. He has sad, haunting childhood secrets and not much luck with the women in and out of his life. He is compassionate, smart (but not too smart) and ultimately righteous when it comes to understanding law and justice.
The criminals in “Big Sky” are imprisoned or die. Some by natural causes, some by gunshots, golf club bludgeoning and drowning. The last chapters put the missing pieces together. We see the big picture and all the smaller details. Nothing is left unresolved or without its possible resolution. And the last chapter, “The Fat Lady Sings,” says it all.
I am already heading to the library to get a copy of Atkinson’s 2024 Jackson Brodie novel, “Death at the Sign of the Rook.” And I’ll be checking out library sales for the three Brodie mysteries I’ve missed.
Sunny Solomon
Sunny Solomon holds an MA in English/Creative Writing, San Francisco State University. She is a book reviewer for “The Clayton Pioneer” and her poetry and other writing has been published in literary journals, one chapbook, In the Company of Hope and the collection, Six Poets Sixty-six Poems. She was the happy manager of Bonanza Books, Clayton, CA and Clayton Books, Clayton, CA. She continues to moderate a thriving book club that survived the closure of the store from which it began. Sunny currently lives next to the Truckee in Reno, NV.