so, when i heard kate atkinson had a new book i thought "yayyy!!" and then when i found out it was another jackson brodie novel i said "boooo!!" i thought the first one was great, but the second was a lot weaker. there's a reason i tend not to read genre fiction like sci-fi and mystery - because i just don't want to commit to ten books about the same world. i would rather read one book that is self-contained and never visit the characters again.(and yes i know - Donald Harington is exempt from this preference because no one can write like him) that being said - i loved this book. it's true that there seem to be a lot of characters in atkinson's books who have all had one or more family members murdered in horrible ways, which seems like an unlikely coincidence, path-crossing-wise, but she really can do it all - write a convincing multi-plot mystery novel with exceptionally interesting and flawed characters, as well as a pretty incisive psychological study of these people. so - jackson brodie redeemed, which is good i suppose, since it doesn't seem like this will be the end of this character. i'm in it for the long haul now.