Big Sky, A Jackson Brodie Mystery

Emotionally drained by Ocean Vuong, I went in search of a light British mystery, my go to genre for the pleasure of a quick down and dirty, fully engaging read. But lately I just can't seem to escape the horrors of human trafficking. Maybe it's because Don and I are drawn to the dark British police procedurals on offer from Acorn TV or the BBC. Here I was, lulled into the beauty of the Yorkshire

coast, the setting of Kate Atkinson's "Big Sky," thinking that former policeman and current PI Jackson Brodie was pursuing a simple infidelity inquiry, when I was suddenly smack dab in the middle of a twenty-year-old crime that had never really ended.

Brodie, walking his ancient dog Dido on the cliffs while mulling over how to communicate with his confounding teenage son Nathan, comes upon a man who appears poised to jump. Brodie prevents a suicide but is soon embroiled in a sex trafficking ring that makes Jeffrey Epstein look like a boy scout. 

Atkinson is the master of red herrings and her convoluted plotline is full of quirky characters, a washed up drag queen, a formerly trafficked teen who married up, who may at first glance seem superfluous. All will become clear.

The subversive in me is drawn to Atkinson's Brodie because he is less interested in the rules and more interested in justice. He is known for making morally questionable decisions when retribution is called for and, though it might make a reader cringe, there's a certain satisfaction in seeing evil people staring down the barrel of a gun or at the mercy of a righteously vengeful wife.

All the reviews claimed that this novel, fifth in the Jackson Brodie series, could be read as a stand alone but I'll admit that I often felt like an outsider at a party. There were so many references to people and cases from Brodie's past that I would have enjoyed being privy to, in particular his relationship with a young policewoman named Reggie, not to mention Julia, the mother of the delightful Nathan. I will now go back to the library and snatch up "When Will There Be Good News," so that I can fill in the gaps. 

The sardonic, witty Atkinson who brings Brodie to life would seem like a very different writer from the one who brought us the profoundly brilliant historical  novels "Life After Life" and "A God in Ruins." Of course, it's to her credit that she's so versatile. You may not know what you'll discover when you open a Kate Atkinson novel but I guarantee you'll be properly entertained.