Detective Brody is back in the delightful new story from Kate Atkinson A missing painting, a
number of sad or outlandish characters and a absolutely crazy murder mystery weekend
at the manor house make for a wonderful read.

It made my day when I saw Kate Atkinson had written a new Jackson Brodie mystery. I love this series! It’s quite different from the every day crime, mystery, or whodunnit we’ve all read before, and Jackson Brodie is definitely not your average ‘cop turned PI’. He's a somewhat quirky character, with a tough guy exterior, yet inside, he’s a humorous, compassionate soul.
What starts out as a humdrum case of a stolen painting, quickly escalates into a case of multiple art thefts, along with a dead body or three. (One of which may be a fake, a product of a Murder Mystery Weekend production held at a very large estate turned hotel). Definitely not lacking in offbeat, eccentric characters, reading these mysteries is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle; pieces scattered here and there, then as the story develops, these pieces seem to fall into place on their own. Well, maybe with a little help from a quirky P.I. who it’s always a delight to spend time with! Total fun!
Thanks to Doubleday publishers and NetGalley for early access to this book.

It has been such a long time. And totally worth the wait
I forgt how much I loved Jackson Brodie
Was excellent front to back.
And Lady Milton what a treat!

If you enjoy cozy mysteries, this is the book for you! There was lots of humor. For me personally, there was not enough action. It dragged at times especially in the middle of the book. But it was very well- written with wide range of characters.

Thank you to Net Galley and Doubleday books for the ARC to read and review.

This novel is delightfully funny. Kate Atkinson puts Jackson Brodie and DC Reggie Chase at a murder mystery weekend at a devolving estate with a vicar, an army major, a Countess, and the Dowager Lady Milton, and a crew of actors who manage this sort of entertainment. Oh! and a blizzard. Can't forget the blizzard. The result is hilarious, with people coming and going through doors and rooms with the verve and timing of a Feydeau farce.

And what brings these people together? Stolen art. It seems that a young woman has been taking jobs as companion to elderly women, making off with a piece of art when the woman dies or the situation shifts. What's so hard is that this (these) women were so kind and fun, definitely improving the lives of their employers, so caring until they just vanish. Brodie has been hired by the heirs of one women to find a painting now missing.

The first half of "Death at the Sign of the Rook" fights to keep your interest. There's a lot of introduction of characters who are not that compelling. There's not enough Brodie or Reggie. But stick with it, because the payoff is sublime.

Atkinson is such a gift. She can write period spy thrillers like "Transcription," extraordinary works like "Life after Life" and the Jackson Brodie series. She never disappoints--her use of language and creation of characters is marvelous, whole hearted and a little bit off, which keeps you paying attention.

Thanks to Knopf and Netgalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

OMG so snazzy, so hilarious. Every single paragraph has something snarky to make me laugh aloud.

In Death at the Sign of The Rook, Jackson Brodie returns to solving mysteries. In fact, Brodie finds himself in a actual murder mystery, both a theatrical production at a hotel as well as mystery and possible murder related to valuable art. Rook Hall is part of Burton Makepeace, a sprawling estate that is deteriorating with age. The incredibly tone death inhabitants are trying to stay financially afloat and have sanctioned off a wing of the estate for a hotel. On the night in question, a murder mystery is scheduled to take place. Due to the inclement weather only a few of the actors actually turn up. This makes for a confusing series of events and bring even more levels of hilarity to the story.

It's not long before Brodie needs to use his wits to catch the killer and solve the crime. This perfect story is filled with laughs in every paragraph, ironic sometimes blatant hilarity as well as utterly beautiful phrases. This is a novel that you can read again, and you will as you wait for the next installment in the Jackson Brodie series! #deathatthesignoftherook #kateatikinson #doubleday

Jackson Brodie at 70?! I guess we're all getting older. Which may explain why I had a little trouble following the multiple plotlines as they were introduced. Fortunately, Atkinson starts to bring them together rather quickly and we're off and running. Engaging characters and delightful hat tips to the masters of the mystery genre. It is more fun than I recall others in the series being, and works just fine as a standalone. Atkinson fans will not be disappointed.

I am going with 3.5 stars for this book which is my first Jackson Brodie book. This book had clever writing and lots of laughs, but it really dragged for me. After the first few chapters I found myself speed reading through a lot of characters and no interesting action. When I got to the last 40 or so pages, I thought I could’ve skipped the middle 150 pages and still been alright. Pretty satisfying ending but as others have remarked there are references to previous books and relationships that I was not privy to. The murder mystery play just added so much more confusion and characters that I wish it had been left out. It was just comic relief being added.
I can see why Kate Atkinson is a popular writer and I will probably try more of her books but this one, well not the best for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and Doubleday books for allowing me to read an ARC to review.

I’m a big fan of Kate Atkinson and a huge fan of her Jackson Brodie character, so I was eager to read an ARC copy of her upcoming novel (#6 in the Jackson Brodie series) Death At the Sign of the Rook, to be published in early September 2024.

I enjoyed reading this newest entry in the Jackson Brodie canon. I always love spending time with Jackson as he sleuths his way into explanations for all those coincidences (!), and all the supporting characters were interesting, quirky, and quite funny. (Lots of laughs in this one.) That said, I found this to be the weakest entry in the Jackson Brodie series. There was just . . . too little Jackson! And a rather convoluted storyline that did quite a bit of (maybe too much?) meandering. It did, of course, come together in the end of course (we are talking about Kate Atkinson, after all).

I recommend this novel for fans of the author – and for all the Jackson Brodie fans out there. (Even a “weaker” entry in the series is a blessing for Jackson’s fans). For readers who aren’t familiar with Jackson Brodie, I recommend starting back at the beginning (with Case Histories) and reading each installment before picking up this one, as it will help you understand Jackson’s character and operational style. While Death At the Sign of the Rook can certainly stand on its own, Atkinson is really depending on her earlier work for Jackson’s character development and backstory.

Thank you to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on September 10, 2024.

3.5 stars, rounding up to 4.

Kate Atkinson is one of the most versatile authors of the century! This hilarious mystery brings back Jackson Brodie, one of our favorite sleuths. Paintings, expensive and significant paintings have been disappearing from homes. Brodie has been tasked with getting to the bottom of a missing painting. In the course of his investigation, he finds a similiar crime-they have in common is the appearance in the households of a very helpful and kind assistant, who seems to disappear with the painting.. Wonderful, quirky characters support the plot. A single sitting read!

Hurrah! Jackson Brodie is back, and thank goodness he's brought Reggie Chase with him. If the previous book in the series was darker than the previous, more hardboiled, this one scampers off in another direction entirely, into the cozy world of between-the-wars mysteries where a large cast of suspects in an isolated place have to determine who killed a not-terrifically-sympathetic victim. Here she opens (and closes) with a fairly classic setup which might make readers check the cover to see if they've picked up the wrong book. But it turns out to be a scenario for a murder mystery entertainment to be performed for guests at a vast, moldering manor house that its impecunious owners are trying to turn into a hotel to raise funds before the roof falls in.

Meanwhile, (there is always a meanwhile in this series), Jackson Brodie is investigating a missing painting from the Renaissance which disappeared along with a carer from the home of a recently deceased woman. The heirs don't want to call in the police, which seems odd, but Jackson gamely gives it a go, eventually learning another painting, a Turner, has been stolen from the great house where the mystery entertainment is to be held, disappearing at the same time as a charming young housekeeper. Nothing to be done but to blunder into a theatrical during a massive snowstorm that traps the audience, the players, the dismayed audience, and the family, with the addition of a depressed war veteran and a vicar who has lost both his voice and his faith. Oh, and there's a prisoner who has escaped from a nearby prison and is very dangerous and entirely a prop rather than a character.

Two things distinguish this French farce of a story: the weird way it proceeds like a plot designed by a pinball machine, people ricocheting off in all directions, and the ways the characters are richly defined by their inner thoughts, which fill the pages between incidents. And, of course, the way it sends up Golden Age mystery conventions while providing Atkinson's usual weird and joyful take on how to write a mystery.

As always, I was excited to read a new Kate Atkinson book. Since I’ve read all of her novels, it was great to catch up with all my “friends “ from past novels. I am always charmed by Jackson Brodie and I loved the mystery he as hired to solve.

I did have a problem with this book, which was the group of players who wound up trapped in a local mansion during a blizzard with all the eccentric characters and criminals. I don’t like crowded books and I found this overcrowded with the names of the actors and the parts they were playing during this Murder Mystery weekend.

As always, Jackson and Reggie, impressively unwind a complex art theft. This was an excellent crime caper, marred by the overblown cast of characters.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this new Kate Atkinson novel.

As an enormous fan of Kate Atkinson, it was such a thrill to receive an advance PDF copy of Death at the Sign of the Rook from #NetGalley and #PenguinRandomHouse. I've read every book by this writer, including everything within the Jackson Brodie series, and my only challenge was that it's been a while since my last Brodie experience - Big Sky - with Shrines of Gaiety and Normal Rules Don't Apply in rotation prior. to this new book. That said, characters like Louse Monroe and Reggie Chase, along with mentions of Jackson Brodie's family, felt a little distant in my memory. If I were to revisit this book, I would do so after a review of the preceding books to maximize the experience.

Regardless, Atkinson's Brodie books are simply engaging, zany, wisecracking, and standalone fun -- always with a new "adventure" and many twists and turns. That's not to say that these books don't contain some dark and disturbing content (macabre murders, treachery, and madmen on the loose). "Death at the Sign of the Rook" is not hitting shelves until September and I would advise big fans of Atkinson (the Jackson Brodie series in particular) to take time to revisit the former books and get ready for more in this newest installment -- complete with a theatrical murder mystery, stolen artwork, family betrayal, and more side jokes than you can manage to count. These books are a lot of fun and I love this writer. I haven't seen the BBC series based upon these books but it is absolutely on my to-do list for the future.

I’m torn on this one, and it gets an extra half star for the humor alone. There are lots of laugh-out-loud moments to be found here. However, I just could not get into this. It dragged on and on, and there was zero action for much of the book. There were so many characters that it was difficult to keep them straight. I’m sure that if you’re into meandering cozy mysteries, you’ll enjoy this, but I’m afraid it just wasn’t for me.

I did laugh a fair amount, though, at the thought processes of various characters. I wouldn’t mind hanging out with Ms. Atkinson every once in a while, as I’m sure my stomach would hurt from laughing so hard. I just wished I’d liked the book more!

My thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Another highly entertaining novel with Jackson Brodie up to his old tricks. While I found the beginning a bit slow the tongue in cheek Agatha Christie has you laughing at the end with all the various red herrings, crazy characters, and a purely British manor. Well done!

Kate Atkinson returns with Jackson Brodie-and quite a return it is!!
A comedic troupe of mystery actors coupled with a real mystery (an art theft) plus the presence of a real escaped murderer. At times fun, at times an education in Renaissance art, at times Agatha Christie like (particularly so with the characters in the acting troupe). Every reader will have his/ her favorite character- for me it was Lady Milton followed closely by the disillusioned Anglican vicar. At times I wondered how Atkinson could possibly tie it all together but indeed she did.
My only advice is to read it in big chunks or you will be hopelessly lost. A good read.

I got an ARC of this book (thanks!!) and didn’t know much about it besides the synopsis. From the blurb I was expecting a bit of a straight ahead cozy mystery, so ended up a little confused early on. But once I realized what was happening, it was a great story, and I enjoyed it through to the end! Definitely will keep an eye out for more from Kate Atkinson.

I enjoyed another great entry in the Jackson Brodie series, it had everything that I was hoping for and enjoyed the overall private eye elements. It had a strong story and always had a great overall concept. I enjoyed how mysterious the cover was and how everything worked in this story. Kate Atkinson always does a great job in writing this and can't wait for more.

This took me a little longer to get into than some of her other mystery novels. Jackson is always entertaining and I would love Reggie to get her own series. I didn't know if it was the galley/ebook format but at first, I kept thinking the Lady chapters were from one of the mystery novel they found at the scene of the "robbery" but she was also a potential victim. Something was off with the font on some of the pages and with so many characters, paintings and old houses it was a little tricky initially to keep it all straight. Still, once it got going, it was a fun ride. Not as fun as Jackson's new monster truck, but fun.