One Good Turn cover art

One Good Turn

(Jackson Brodie)

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The second Jackson Brodie novel (after Case Histories): literary crime from the prizewinning, number-one bestselling author of Big Sky and Transcription.

It is summer, it is the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident - a near-homicidal attack which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-police, ex-private detective, is also an innocent bystander - until he becomes a murder suspect.

As the body count mounts, each member of the teeming Dickensian cast's story contains a kernel of the next, like a set of nesting Russian dolls. They are all looking for love or money or redemption or escape: but what each actually discovers is their own true self.

'An absolute joy to read...the pleasure of One Good Turn lies in the ride, in Atkinson's wry, unvanquished characters, her swooping, savvy, sarcastic prose and authorial joie de vivre' Guardian

© Kate Atkinson 2006 (P) Penguin Audio 2015

 Cosy Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Police Procedurals Private Investigators Women Sleuths Witty Funny

Critic reviews

An absolute joy to read...the pleasure of One Good Turn lies in the ride, in Atkinson's wry, unvanquished characters, her swooping, savvy, sarcastic prose and authorial joie de vivre.
Atkinson is frequently very funny...while the tone stays light, the plot continues to darken....manages to be that rarest of things - a good literary novel and a cracking holiday read
Atkinson, while having fun with the murder-mystery genre, slyly slips us a muted tragedy
One Good Turn is the most fun I've had with a novel this year (IAN RANKIN)
Thrillingly addictive...In One Good Turn Atkinson proves quite unique in her ability to fuse emotional drama and thriller...Imagine a Richard Curtis film scripted by Raymond Chandler, both a little enlivened by the collaboration...The mix is embodied by Brodie. Like all good detectives, he is a hero for men and women alike
Acerbic, eccentric, and maddeningly perverse, she is a writer I always read with my heart in my mouth, as if watching a trapeze artist perform a high-wire act between cockiness and courage. Here, as in "Case Histories," she is splendid at the stuff of people's lives... Her observations about Edinburgh are easily as funny as Alexander McCall Smith's, though less benign
Delivers everything a good book should have. It's a fantastic detective story and a wonderful piece of writing...has taken the crime genre to another level
This is a detective novel packed with more wit, insight and subtlety than an entire shelf-full of literary fiction. The plot is an incidental pleasure in a book crammed with quirky humour and cogent reflections on contemporary life. Highly recommended. *****
While Kate Atkinson could give a masterclass on creating believable and intriguing characters, she also knows more than a thing or two about plotting...another class act
One story nests within another, like the set of Russian dolls that Martin owns...Kate Atkinson has that priceless Ancient Mariner ability that keeps the reader turning the pages
All stars
Most relevant
This was a really good, clever, interwoven story, full of rich characters and many twists and turns. Sometimes Kate Atkinson's habit of wandering off into another story, or adding in a mass of detail, became annoying. But overall better than your average thriller. Stephen Crossley is an excellent narrator, and managed to convey a vast cast of characters clearly and distinctly.

I'll continue to follow Jackson's adventures - and his unfortunate love life!

A good read, with some annoying elements!

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Kate Atkinson is a well known prize winning author but this book is boring boring boring .She keeps going off the point all the time which makes the story long winded and difficult to follow . I literally ‘lost the plot’.
It is well narrated though.
I suspect this is yet another case of a publisher not daring to edit a book by someone so well known.

So disappointing

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This story really twists, definitely worth a credit, I especially like the links to the fringe festival and the cleaning agency/ housing.

Good ending.

I’m definitely a KA fan!

Another good KA book

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I didn’t like the narrator. Didn’t like his voice after listening to Jason Issac’s read others

Great story

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Really good book, if a little convoluted. However, narrators pronunciation and accents leave a great deal to be desired. Niamh has never been pronounced as Ni-av, nor is Merchiston pronounced as Merch iston. Just a little research could’ve brought this review up to 5 stars!

Great book, wrong narrator

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