Kate Atkinson takes obvious delight in creating memorable characters and she’s at it again with her latest. All the main players here are given colourful backstories, and even those with walk-on parts are skilfully sketched with a quick swish of her pen (one character is described as “an alarmingly coquettish woman hard-wired to flirt with men and dogs.”). ‘Death at the Sign of the Rook’ is the sixth story featuring Jackson Brodie, Atkinson’s no-nonsense detective. He’s a man, now in his sixties, who believes in justice slightly more than he believes in the law. The tale begins with Brodie being summoned to the house of Dorothy Padgett. She’s recently deceased and her offspring – Ian and Hazel – have done the summoning. They think that Dorothy’s carer, Melanie Hope, has vanished along with a painting from the house, a painting they believe may have some value. We’re then introduced to Lady Milton (whose crumbling pile is also missing a painting of note – a Turner, no less) and her nefarious brood. Also in the mix is a vicar who has lost his faith; an ex-army man missing a leg (along with his purpose in life); and Red Herrings – a theatre troupe given to staging murder mystery weekends. It’s a rattling good yarn and the extended denouncement, at the home of Lady Milton during a calamitous staging of a Red Herrings performance, is sure to see readers forgiving any plot contrivances simply because the sheer fun on offer is truly abundant. RM

Published by Doubleday