Death at the Sign of the Rook is the 6th Jackson Brodie novel by Kate Atkinson and was a #1 Sunday Times Bestseller.
Plot
Welcome to Rook Hall.
The stage is set. The players are ready. By night’s end, a murderer will be revealed.
Ex-detective Jackson Brodie is staving off a bad case of midlife malaise when he is called to a sleepy Yorkshire town, and the seemingly tedious matter of a stolen painting. But one theft leads to another, including the disappearance of a valuable Turner from Burton Makepeace, home to Lady Milton and her family.
Once a magnificent country house, Burton Makepeace has now partially been converted into a hotel, hosting Murder Mystery weekends. As paying guests, a vicar, an ex-army officer, impecunious aristocrats, and old friends converge, we are treated a fiendishly clever mystery; one that pays homage to the masters of the genre―from Agatha Christie to Dorothy Sayers.
Review
Chosen as our latest book club read, a number of members had read some of the previous Jackson Brodie series and were keen to read this one. As someone who had not read Jackson Brodie’s previous adventures I came to this with no prior knowledge of his story. From listening to their comments, this book is completely different, although they were pleased to see the return of detective Reggie Chase.
The opening chapter, “Red Herrings”, takes place at the Murder Mystery party at Burton Makepeace House, one of England’s premier stately homes, with everyone gathered in the Library. Looking back on it, I now see the nuance in this opening, although at the time (and at book club) I failed to see its relevance, compared to the rest of the book.
Perhaps I should explain. The book blurb tells us that we are going to Rook Hall for a murder mystery, so that is what we are expecting. But after this initial chapter, the action switches to various characters within the village, people masquerading as other people, family relationships between the generations and tales of missing paintings. It is not until around page 252 that we return to Burton Makepeace House, and the preparation for the Murder Mystery party. So in some ways there seemed no reason to start with the Red Herrings in the Library.
Or was there?
Looking back on it, the chapter warns you what is to come. There are going to be red herrings throughout of of the book. People masquerading as other people. People masquerading as themselves too, such as the tree-hugging vicar who’s lost his faith (and his voice) and the eccentric Lady of the Manor with a fondness for shotguns who is exuding an air of wealthy entitlement, while facing financial hardship.
There are the crimes being investigated by Jackson Brodie and, to some extent, detective Reggie Chase. But as for the stolen art work – who was it actually stolen from and is it a fake anyway?
Another thing I glossed over on first reading the opening was the comment by Lady Milton. “It’s confusing. There are so very many of them”. On a superficial level she is referring to the team of actors, but as you begin the book, and you are introduced to more and more seemingly unconnected characters, you feel that the book itself contains too many of them.
The plot actually begins “over a week ago when Jackson acquired a new client.” This chapter title – The Mysterious Affair at the Willow, a nod to Agatha Christie – takes us back over a week to Jackson Brodie being hired by Ian and Hazel, the children of Dorothy Padget. A painting has been stolen and they need him to investigate.
Having learnt this backstory, we are taken back another two years, to Lady Milton and her housekeeper Sophie. Then we are introduced to Simon, the vicar, then Ben the ex-soldier and his sister and her wife and the villagers…..Yes, it was a struggle to keep track of all the strands of people and timelines. You just hope all the characters tie up with the murder mystery evening. (spoiler – they do).
The pacing of the book is in two parts. The first part is slow as the well-drawn characters are introduced and their stories unfold. The latter part of the book speeds up considerably.
At the Mystery Murder Weekend point of the book, it turns into a locked-room scenario. Everybody is trapped inside Rook Hall following a heavy snow fall. By now there are a cast of actors to remember, as well as the local people, plus Jackson and Reggie and an escaped convict on the loose. I enjoyed the second part more, as the action ramped up a pace, like a typical murder mystery.
The change in speed was accompanied by multiple plot-lines – the pretend Mystery Murder Weekend interspersed with an actual murder, the continued hunt for stolen art work, an escaped criminal etc. While the actors tried to hold their Murder Mystery show together, it turned into a farce, with people coming and going as the actors and action moved around Burton Makepeace House.
So many people! People who were really dead and others who were acting dead. Guns going off, a body in the cold store and a vicar with important information, if only he could speak…..The novel cracks on at a flying pace to its denouement.
The denouement, detailing their release from the snowy entrapment, gave a satisfying ending. A couple of follow up chapters filled in what happened next to conclude the plot. Then, just as the first chapter had taken place at the Murder Mystery party, the last chapter, “Curtain Call”, returns there. As a group we were not sure why.
Conclusion : Worth reading, if a little uneven
Death at the Sign of the Rook is available from
Waterstones https://tidd.ly/4d1Z6xd
Amazon https://amzn.to/43j6fpi
City Adventurers Solve The Murder https://uk.bookshop.org/a/3668/9781804994528