There is Matilda “Tilly” Squires, an aging actress rapidly losing her mind to dementia, struggling to play her role on Collier’s, a detective show whose unreality goads Jackson but amuses Tracy, a great television watcher. Her work in the police force and contacts with con men come in handy.Īs in all Atkinson stories, a constellation of characters whose parts initially seem like walk-ons contribute much.
Fearing the authorities will come to claim Courtney, she sets about creating an entirely new life for “Imogen” and “Lucy”. Tracy offers Kelly cash intended to pay off her kitchen remodel, and finds herself in possession of a quiet child seemingly unmoved by the worst in life. She encounters Kelly in the shopping center, screaming into a cell phone and literally dragging little Courtney off her feet. She takes uplifting, edifying vacations amongst English historical monuments.Īnd then she buys four-year-old Courtney off a prostitute known and despised to the police force, the foul-mouthed, drugged-addled Kelly. She hires the Polish Janek to make improvements on her home. But strength and clarity of mind prevail. This outwardly formidable woman is, to use her word, actually rather “fluffy” within. Once upon a time, she might have enjoyed male companionship, but the combination of physical brawn and mental toughness inculcated by police work put men off. Tracy is a big, strong woman who likes a good meal with a couple cans of Becks. She’s taken work as head security officer at a mall, where her large build and formidable manner invite unkind commentary she is all too accustomed to hearing. Like Jackson, Tracy is a loner who finds retirement unbearable. Jackson’s investigation brings him into contact with another retired police officer, Tracy Waterhouse. He has more of a role in Took My Dog than he did in 2010’s When Will There Be Good News? but he remains a lone wolf, save the acquisition of the title’s dog, a Yorkshire Terrier bearing the outsized moniker The Ambassador. But to ask is to invite trouble, and Jackson finds himself in the sorts of pickles-none very pleasant–that he’s encountered in the past three Brodie adventures. Depending on who is asked, Carol had one child, possibly two. One victim, Carol Braithwaite, elicits particular anxiety. (Scotland Yard scandal, anyone?) The year 1975 surfaces repeatedly, when a serial killer dubbed “The Ripper” targeted prostitutes. His digging upsets several uneasy consciences, many of them current and retired members of the police force. He’s been asked by one Hope McMaster to locate her birth family.
Jackson, retired from the police force, has gone into private detective work. Kate Atkinson’s fourth installment of the complex, compulsively readable Jackson Brodie mysteries, Started Early, Took My Dog caused me to miss my BART stop last week, leaving me sheepishly backtracking, book in hand.
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