Jackson Brodie Books in Order
Jackson Brodie is a former soldier and police inspector turned private investigator, a melancholy man with a soft spot for lost women, children and dogs. Kate Atkinson’s novels weave his cases together with the lives of many other people, mixing tragedy with dry, very funny observation.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Series facts
- Books
- 6
- Published
- 2004 to 2024
- First book
- Case Histories
- Latest
- Death at the Sign of the Rook (2024)
The reading order
Every Jackson Brodie book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
- 1Case Histories2004With Jackson BrodieIn Cambridge, private investigator Jackson Brodie takes on three old cases at once: a little girl who vanished from her garden decades ago, a young woman murdered in her father’s office, and a young mother who killed her husband with an axe.Buy on Amazon
- 2One Good Turn2006With Jackson BrodieDuring the Edinburgh Festival, Jackson Brodie, in the city with his actress girlfriend Julia, witnesses a road rage attack, and a chain of events begins that links a crime writer, a businessman’s wife, a policewoman and a body in the sea.Buy on Amazon
- 3When Will There Be Good News?2008With Jackson BrodieA train crash in Scotland throws Jackson Brodie together with Reggie Chase, a sixteen-year-old nanny worried about her missing employer, Dr Joanna Hunter, who survived a terrible crime as a child.Buy on Amazon
- 4Started Early, Took My Dog2010With Jackson Brodie and Tracy WaterhouseJackson Brodie is in Yorkshire, trying to trace a client’s birth parents, while a retired police detective, Tracy Waterhouse, impulsively buys a small child from a woman in a shopping centre.Buy on Amazon
- 5Big Sky2019With Jackson BrodieJackson Brodie has moved to a village on the North Yorkshire coast and is working small cases when he crosses paths with a trafficking ring that has been operating among apparently respectable men.Buy on Amazon
- 6Death at the Sign of the Rook2024With Jackson BrodieJackson Brodie is hired to find a stolen painting and ends up at Burton Makepeace, a country house hotel hosting a murder mystery weekend, as snow begins to fall.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Each novel has its own cases, but Jackson’s private life and some of the cast carry on, so publication order is best. Case Histories is the place to start.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Jackson Brodie | Tracy Waterhouse | Julia Land | Louise Monroe | Reggie Chase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Case Histories | LLead | MMajor | |||
| 2 One Good Turn | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | ||
| 3 When Will There Be Good News? | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | ||
| 4 Started Early, Took My Dog | LLead | LLead | |||
| 5 Big Sky | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | |
| 6 Death at the Sign of the Rook | LLead | MMajor |
Characters in the Jackson Brodie books
6 characters from Kate Atkinson’s chart, with the number of Jackson Brodie books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson BrodiePrivate investigator, a former soldier and police inspector | 6 | Case Histories 2004 |
| Tracy WaterhouseRetired police officer who buys a child | 1 | Started Early, Took My Dog 2010 |
| Julia LandActress and Jackson’s lover | 3 | Case Histories 2004 |
| Louise MonroeEdinburgh detective | 3 | One Good Turn 2006 |
| Reggie ChaseTeenage nanny, later a detective | 3 | When Will There Be Good News? 2008 |
| NathanJackson and Julia’s son | 1 | Big Sky 2019 |