Sloppy
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I've not read any Atkinson before, and I will only bother again because other reviews suggest this is not her best work. I'm afraid I gave up at Chapter 10 - and I rarely jettison a book once started. I did so for a number of reasons. Principally I wasn't remotely interested in any of the characters. They all seemed 'false' and cliched. It was the bloke suffering a heart attack in a hotel room with a call girl that really did it for me. This struck me as so hackneyed, so cliched that I simply couldn't be bothered to go on.
Early in the novel, there's mention of those soft focus, Sunday evening TV dramas which create a soothing but not quite believable world. I felt this novel was trying to do much the same thing. But I found it less soothing, than dull and irritating.
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Excellent Sleuthing, Marred by Coincidence
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One Good Turn is a tremendous book, in which top class writing fleshes out an involving and engaging plot. A sequel to Atkinson's impeccable 'Case Histories' Case Histories 'OGT' sees Jackson Brodie becoming embroiled in a complex murder-mystery, after witnessing a violent road rage attack. The story then follows various crimes and misdemeanours through the eyes of Jackson and other witnesses of the incident. As the novel progresses, the many interconnecting strands become increasingly entwined, until they are all tied together and the story reaches it's somewhat over-convenient conclusion.
Atkinson's eye for the minutiae of everyday life and relationships, both romantic and family, is second to none, which in crime writing is something of novelty. The characters in this novel are far beyond the drunken navel-gazers that one associates with most fictional sleuths; the plot of 'One Good Turn' is excellent but this book is about so much more than 'whodunnit'. The world Atkinson paints is rather bleak and is made all the more depressing, by being an accurate portrayal of modern life. There are few writers finer at displaying the futility of modern life.
Where I think 'One Good Turn' loses its fifth star, is in its over-reliance on coincidence. The plot is complicated and draws together nicely, but for me, everything is tied together a little too neatly. One character, who is largely peripheral until the final pages, seems to have an unreasonable amount of information about what's being going on. She gradually drip feeds her knowledge to the other characters with no real explanation of how or why she is able to do so. This is frustrating and considering the deftness of the rest of the novel, clumsy. One reviewer has described the 'OGT' as being full of 'ironic twists of fate', but I felt there were so many of them that 'beset by implausible coincidence' would be a more accurate assessment. Jackson Brodie states that 'A coincidence is just an explanation waiting to happen,' well for me there was altogether too much explaining.
This gripe aside, 'One Good Turn' is an excellent and enjoyable novel. Unlike most novels in the genre where the writing style is normally rather clunky, Atkinson's prose is a joy to read. For me the enjoyment of 'OGT' wasn't found in the destination, but was present in abundance throughout the journey.
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Entertaining complications
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This novel has more comings and goings than a French farce, but is an entertaining read, with sobering moments of pathos and drama.
In a series of interlinked scenarios based around the Edinburgh festival, the novel chronicles the life of retired detective Jackson Brodie, Russian call girls, local property developers, a crime writer, his unwelcome (and horribly murdered) stand up comedian guest and a local dog owning hard man involved in a particularly unpleasant road rage incident. So... how do all these characters, and a number of others, come together? Well in an entertaining and structured narrative which will keep you turning the pages while questioning the level of coincidence with a smile.
Recommended good read for those who aren't purists for realism!
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What a muddle!
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I was so infuriated by this novel that I had to get out of bed to write this at once, having just finished it. Fragmented, confusing plot; uninteresting two-dimensional characters; odd inconsequential flashbacks; a rushed and unsatisfactory ending; coincidence upon coincidence. What on earth was all the hype about? Have I missed something? I know Kate Atkinson is capable of so much better. What on earth was she thinking of? Altogether, a great disappointment.
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Brilliant, highly recommended
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I agree with another reviewer who has questioned how anyone could give this book just one star. I thought it was great, funny in parts, sad, mysterious, tragic with bucket loads of plot twists. I only wish I could write like Kate Atkinson. I could not put this book down.
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