One Good Turn

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson, 418 pages

Former police officer and private investigator Jackson Brodie is in Edinburgh to support his actress girlfriend, who is performing in Edinburgh's famous Fringe Festival. But this is Jackson Brodie on holiday, so of course seeing odd performances and festival-goers is the least exciting thing to happen; instead, Brodie witnesses a road rage incident that sets off a series of linked mysteries concerning a nebbish cozy mystery writer, a "cleaning service" that does much more, a corrupt developer's wife, a past-his-prime stand-up comedian, and a newly minted police inspector with a shoplifting son and a dying cat. Once again, Atkinson turns in a stellar mystery full of compelling characters that fit together like a difficult but oh-so-rewarding jigsaw puzzle.

One Good Turn / Kate Atkinson 418 p.

This is the second in the Jackson Brodie series, and it's just as good as all the others I've read.  It's tempting to say that Atkinson just writes mysteries to give herself a scaffold for developing her intriguing characters.  The problem with that theory is that Atkinson doesn't 'just write' anything.  Her mysteries are so darned good: well-plotted, perfectly paced, and full of great surprises.  This one features a Scottish mystery writer who spends most of his life in a dream state which ends when he crosses paths with a psycho with a baseball bat at an Edinburgh drama festival.  Throw a marauding real estate developer and a highly dubious housecleaning service in and you have all the ingredients for a satisfying read.