Started Early, Took My Dog

As a new officer on the British police force, young Tracy Waterhouse and her partner investigate a complaint of a stench coming from an apartment. They break down the door to discover a young boy and the decomposing body of his murdered mother. A social worker whisks the boy away, and the murder investigation quietly peters out.

Twenty-five years later, the murder still haunts Tracy. Something wasn't right and she's not entirely convinced that her fellow officers on the force didn't have something to do with it.

Now retired and working as a mall security officer, Tracy comes across an old acquaintance from her days as a cop, a drug addict named Kelly Cross who is yanking a young child by the arm. Tracy impulsively offers to buy the girl from Kelly and, to her surprise, Kelly agrees.

Suddenly after years of loneliness, Tracy finds herself to be the "owner" of Courtney, and she decides to escape with Courtney to start a new life as mother and daughter. But when detective Jackson Brodie comes around asking questions about a woman with a mysterious past, the old murder case threatens to destroy Tracy's new life with Courtney.

If the plot sounds a little complicated, that's because it is. As with all the Kate Atkinson novels featuring detective Jackson Brodie, the plot begins with diverse threads that gradually weave together to make a cohesive story. At first things make little sense with seemingly unrelated characters and storylines. Yet little by little they begin to intersect until the full story of the murder and the characters' mutual histories are revealed.

I love Kate Atkinson's books. She's one of my favorite authors but her stories are not for everyone. The plot is filled with coincidences that can seem contrived. It's a character-driven mystery that relies on details, so readers looking for a fast-paced, traditional mystery will be disappointed.

That said, I highly recommend it if you're looking for something that's a little different, something that will kick your brain into gear as you try to keep things straight in your head. The characters are very well developed, especially Tracy Waterhouse. Jackson Brodie is back (featured in Atkinson's Case Histories, One Good Turn, When Will There Be Good News) with his signature, understated humor. My only disappointment was when the book ended.