And then there’s the child that Tracy Waterhouse buys outside a shopping mall from a skanky, shiftless low-life woman, well-known to Child Protective Services.

There’s a child given to the childless couple, who emigrate to Australia. There’s the small child discovered locked in an apartment with the mother’s weeks-dead body. Atkinson (is) a darling of other writers, who understandably admire the wizardry of her techniques.” Guess I’m one of those admirers.Ĭhildren – having them, caring for them, neglecting them, stealing them, abandoning them, wishing for them, dealing with them, learning from them, loving them – populate the novel, and confusion about the fate of a child from long ago is one of the mysteries unravelled. This mystery is not for skimmers – it requires the reader to read slowly and pay attention. There are a myriad of other characters, as well, and story lines that happen today juxtaposed against those that happen in the 1970s. With Started Early, Took My Dog, Atkinson has two main characters: Jackson Brodie, a sort-of retired PI whom we have seen and enjoyed in previous books, and Tracy Waterhouse, a plumpish, tough-ish 50+ cop on the cusp of retirement. I’ve enjoyed Kate Atkinson’s books for years… her characters are three-dimensional, bad things happen to people you like, life is messy, but through it all, there’s an overall optimism.

Started early took my dog book review