The third in the Detective Jackson Brodie series. In Devon, a six year old girl witnesses the murder of her mother and siblings. A crime investigation which would be almost unbearable in the hands of anyone other than Kate Atkinson whose originality, intelligence and - strangely - humour carry the plot. As The Sunday Times observes, this is 'not a detective novel in the formal sense, although it is full of unresolved mysteries and suspense. It is one of those rare fictions that defies categorisation.'
But that's Kate Atkinson. She is, quite simply, the rarest of beasts.