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Jackson Brodie books in order

Have you met Kate Atkinson’s private investigator Jackson Brodie yet?

A former soldier and policeman, Jackson Brodie is a tough guy with a big heart. He’s unable to resist coming to the rescue and increasingly he becomes a magnet for the bereaved, the lost and the dysfunctional. His ability to connect comes from his own tragic childhood that still haunts him.

Kate’s four bestselling Jackson Brodie novels became the BBC television series Case Histories, starring Jason Isaacs, that had us glued to our screens back in 2011.

Here’s a taste of all the Jackson Brodie books in order…

Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie books in order:

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

1. Case Histories (2004)

Cambridge is sweltering, during an unusually hot summer. To Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, the world consists of one accounting sheet – Lost on the left, Found on the right – and the two never seem to balance.

Surrounded by death, intrigue and misfortune, his own life haunted by a family tragedy, Jackson attempts to unravel three disparate case histories and begins to realise that in spite of apparent diversity, everything is connected…

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

2. One Good Turn (2006)

It is summer, it is the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident – a near-homicidal attack which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-police, ex-private detective, is also an innocent bystander – until he becomes a murder suspect.

As the body count mounts, each member of the teeming Dickensian cast’s story contains a kernel of the next, like a set of nesting Russian dolls. They are all looking for love or money or redemption or escape: but what each actually discovers is their own true self.

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

3. When Will There Be Good News? (2008)

In a quiet corner of rural Devon, a six-year-old girl witnesses an appalling crime. Thirty years later the man convicted of the crime is released from prison.

In Edinburgh, sixteen-year-old Reggie, wise beyond her years, works as a nanny for a GP. But her employer has disappeared with her baby, and Reggie seems to be the only person who is worried. Across town, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe is also looking for a missing person, unaware that hurtling towards her is a former acquaintance – Jackson Brodie – himself on a journey that becomes fatally interrupted.

Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson

4. Started Early, Took My Dog (2010)

A day like any other for security chief Tracy Waterhouse, until she makes a shocking impulse purchase. That one moment of madness is all it takes for Tracy’s humdrum world to be turned upside down, the tedium of everyday life replaced by fear and danger at every turn.

Witnesses to Tracy’s outrageous exchange in the Merrion Centre in Leeds are Tilly, an elderly actress teetering on the brink of her own disaster, and Jackson Brodie, who has returned to his home county in search of someone else’s roots. All three characters learn that the past is never history and that no good deed goes unpunished.

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson

5. Big Sky (2019)

Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village in North Yorkshire, in the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son Nathan and ageing Labrador Dido, both at the discretion of his former partner Julia. It’s a picturesque setting, but there’s something darker lurking behind the scenes.

Jackson’s current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife, seems straightforward, but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network—and back into the path of someone from his past.

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson

6. Death at the Sign of the Rook (Coming August 2024)

The stage is set. Marooned overnight by a snowstorm in a grand country house are a cast of characters and a setting that even Agatha Christie might recognize – a vicar, an Army major, a Dowager, a sleuth and his sidekick – except that the sleuth is Jackson Brodie, and the ‘sidekick’ is DC Reggie Chase.

The crumbling house – Burton Makepeace and its chatelaine the Dowager Lady Milton – suffered the loss of their last remaining painting of any value, a Turner, some years ago. The housekeeper, Sophie, who disappeared the same night, is suspected of stealing it.

Jackson, a reluctant hostage to the snowstorm, has been investigating the theft of another painting: The Woman with a Weasel, a portrait, taken from the house of an elderly widow, on the morning she died. The suspect this time is the widow’s carer, Melanie. Is this a coincidence or is there a connection? And what secrets does The Woman with a Weasel hold? The puzzle is Jackson’s to solve. And let’s not forget that a convicted murderer is on the run on the moors around Burton Makepeace.

All the while, in a bid to make money, Burton Makepeace is determined to keep hosting a shambolic Murder Mystery that acts as a backdrop while the real drama is being played out in the house.

There you have it – Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie books in order! How many have you read? Let us know in the comments below…

Books like Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie:

13 Comments

    Wonderful characterisation and really witty dialogue, some of them become my friends while I’m immersed in the story (not the villains!) so want to get back to them each night. Just finished Big Sky and heading back to reread earlier ones. Hope Kate will write another one at least, (maybe three more.)

    Just finished the 5th ,sad to find it’s the last one!
    Loved them ,gritty and wishing there were really people like that !

    Read all five. Most in a couple of sittings. Waiting patiently for the next! Please KA – can we have more Brodie ? We’re restless and hungry! lol

    Just finished Big Sky which was excellent! More Brodie needed soon with his cast of family and friends.

    I’ve read all five. They are splendid. It’s good not to put too much space between the books since the characters reoccur and it helps to remember how they relate to Brodie. The books are well written and hard to put down. Mysteries are interesting and usually multifaceted. There are a lot of British references and terms that may be tricky for American readers.

    Just finished reading Big Sky- after the first page I remembered why I love all the Jackson Brodie stories so much! I am a huge fan of all Kate Atkinson’s books but Jackson has a special place in my heart- I am now going to re-read them all!

    Re reading them all again before I start on Big Sky. Love all of Kate Atkinson’s books

    All of them! So excited for Big Sky and to find out what Jackson is up to no.

    I’ve read them all, but love her other books just as much, all brilliant

    READ THEM ALL WHEN O WHEN DOES HE RETURN BRODIE MADE KATE ATKISON

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