There’s a new detective on my reading pile

I’ve long been a fan of Anne Cleeves’ detectives, and I love Anthony Horowitz’s partnership with Daniel Hawthorne.

This love of a cosy detective story stems back to the extremely picturesque Midsomer Murders, which made me dream of visiting the quaint English town, no matter how many suspicious deaths occurred there.

And now I have a new detective (or is he a private eye, or something else entirely?): Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie.

I’ve written before about my annoyance with protagonists that are too good to be true, but there is no risk of that with Jackson.

He is a flawed hero who struggles romantically, has seen too much to believe in the goodness of humanity, and who is more likely to have a dad-bod than a six pack.

However, he is extremely likeable and always working in the best interests of the downtrodden, even if that involves taking the law into his own hands.

In the first book of the series, Jackson was pulled into the world of three middle aged sisters, one of whom had vanished mysteriously as a child.

Intertwined into this story is Jackson’s awful background, which has parallels with the tragic childhoods of the sisters.

Each book is quite different, with one tackling a human trafficking racket and another domestic violence.

While these topics are serious and Jackson has no illusions about the cruelty and lawlessness of the world, somehow Atkinson brings humour and lightheartedness into the stories, alongside the pain and loss.

I’m now reading the sixth book in the series –  Death at the Sign of the Rook – and don’t want to finish it.

These are ideal books to listen to as audiobooks as they’re fun and engaging, while also touching on serious topics. They also finish with satisfying happy endings where the baddies lose out and the goodies (including Jackson Brodie) triumph … professionally, if not romantically.