Big sky (by Kate Atkinson)

(Amazon UK link)

I hadn’t previously read anything by Kate Atkinson. But she’s a bestselling author, and her book ‘Big sky’ has several positive recommendations on the cover. I understand that it’s fifth in a loose series involving a private investigator called Jackson Brodie, but it isn’t necessary to have read the earlier ones. 

I doubt if I would have picked this up even if I’d seen it secondhand, but it was this month’s read for our local book group. So I bought it (used) last year, and have been reading it over the past week. It’s quite a long book - nearly 500 pages in my paperback edition - and we’ve been quite busy with guests. 

In addition, it really didn’t grab me. If it hadn’t been for the upcoming book group, I would probably have given up after about fifty pages. The first chapter is gripping: two Polish girls are video chatting with a man in the UK who is promising to find them work in hotels in London. They’re quite wary, but everything seems authentic. And he’s even going to pay for their flights. At the end of the chapter, we learn that he is not who he says he is…

But that storyline is then pushed into the background. Jackson Brodie appears in the second chapter. He’s out, trying to entertain his grumpy teenage son. We’re told a bit about his past, and about his son’s mother, but nothing much seems to happen. 

Then each subsequent chapter introduces another new person (or group of people). None of them seem all that interesting, and the plot didn’t seem to be going anywhere. There are people playing golf, a glamorous woman with a past who has a very likeable teenage stepson called Harry, and a three-year-old daughter. There are a couple of young policewoman who never seem to get anything interesting to do. 

There are back-trackings and back stories, and so many characters that I gave up trying to remember any of them.

By the time I was a hundred pages in, I was starting to skim as it all seemed so tedious. Then there’s an unexpected murder, and a few of the threads start to come together; but I still found it very difficult to remember who was who. None of the characters is particularly well-rounded or even likeable, other than the teenage Harry. 

The underlying story, relating back to the first chapter, is sordid and horrifying. Perhaps such things do still happen in the UK; if so, then it needs to be brought to light, and stopped. There isn’t any gratuitous detail, but the hints given are enough to make me feel almost nauseous. The writing is good, and there’s some tension making this a thriller, I suppose, without too much stress.

It’s not, however, a mystery story as the book suggests. Jackson Brodie might be a great detective, as one of the commendations on the back states, but he doesn’t really do any detecting as such. We see him following up on some of his current cases, but I could not see how any of them are relevant to the main plot. He plans to meet someone who is grooming a young teenage girl… but that storyline fizzles out. 

Then, when the murderer is eventually revealed, there’s no problem-solving, or clues beforehand; we’re just told what happened, and why. The perpetrator concerned didn’t seem to have any other part to play in the story - perhaps he was one of the people mentioned in one of the earlier chapters, but I hadn’t remembered him at all. And I didn’t care sufficiently to go and check.

What’s almost the most disturbing thing about this book is that there are some low-key attempts at humour and light-heartedness. That doesn’t fit at all with the overall theme of the book, and feels out of place. Not that I found any of it amusing. 

I kept reading; towards the end the pace is faster, and I did start to wonder what was going to happen. It was easier to remember at least some of the main characters, although the frequent viewpoint switches mean that there is very little depth to anyone. 

Then, almost at the end, there’s a chapter with a scene that was presented in the prologue without any context. This chapter appears to have absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the book, other than containing one of the characters. 

It finishes quite abruptly. The least unpleasant characters are taking positive steps to move forwards, and the main criminals are in jail or dead. But there are a lot of unfinished threads… and really nothing that makes me want to read anything else by this author.

Don’t necessarily take my word for it: this book (and, indeed, the whole series) is very highly rated. But I wouldn’t, personally, recommend it. 

Review copyright 2026 Sue's Book Reviews