BOOK REVEIW: When Will There Be Good News?

It is true. Sometimes a book is judged by the cover. I picked up WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS? by Kate Atkinson based on the cover as well as the title. This is an author I am very glad that I found.

The first chapter introduces us to 6-year -old Joanna and her family walking down a country road to their home where Joanna witnesses a horrific crime.

Thirty years later, we again meet Joanna. She is now Doctor Hunter, married, and with an infant son who is the most important thing in her life. Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe comes to warn Dr. Hunter that the criminal who had changed her life thirty years ago has been released from prison.

When Dr. Hunter goes missing, the only person who believes that some thing is horribly wrong is Reggie, Dr. Hunter’s “mother’s helper”. Reggie has more problems of her own than a sixteen year old should have to handle. Reggie's mother is dead and friends of her brother Billy are threatening to kill her.

Reggie is responsible for saving a man’s life at the scene of a massive train accident. The man, Jackson Brodie, private detective, is an old friend of Louise Monroe’s and may be more involved with the Hunters than is evident at first.

As with any good mystery, to give you more information might ruin the story for you. So as complicated as this must sound, Atkinson cleverly intersects all of the characters’ lives in a way that might surprise you.

Kate Atkinson may be considered a crime novelist, but she is a writer that is hard for me to pigeon hole. Her development of characters is superb; her ability to unravel complex plots never feels contrived, and her dark sense of humor is a refreshing delight. This is an author that I hope to find again.