| One Good Turn | 
 enlarge | Author: Kate Atkinson
Publisher: Black Swan
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  59 reviews
Sales Rank: 446
Media: Paperback
Pages: 528
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.4
ISBN: 0552772445
EAN: 9780552772440
ASIN: 0552772445
Publication Date: December 16, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 An uneasy marriage of genres September 18, 2007
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
Kate Atkinson can usually be relied upon to provide a good read, and having enjoyed the prequel to this (Case Histories), I had high expectations.
The novel is a bit of a change from Atkinson's former works, being a detective story, far more so than Case Histories. Her ex-policeman character, Jackson Brodie, features promeniently alongside a cast of others.
Unfortunately, Atkinson's slightly surrealist style doesn't lend itself well to a novel of this type. Her gift for incorporating bizarre or unreal elements into plots doesn't sit comfortably with the need for facts and explanations in a detective story. Despite the central tenet of the book being 'there are no coincidences, only explanations waiting to happen', there were rather too many coincidences with no explanations on which the plot hinged.
The novel has a rather slow start and at times seems a bit overwritten as each character is lengthily introduced. As mentioned, the reader is expected to believe in a string of rather improbable coincidences - for most of the novel I expected that these would be explained, but unfortunately that is not the case. The ending is rather unsatisfactory, with too many loose ends left dangling.
For all that, the writing is good. Atkinson has a great turn of phrase and is able to write interesting, original scenarios. The character of Martin Canning, an author uneasy about the success of his rather poor books, is a believable and likable one, but the same cannot be said for many of the others.
The plot contains spoilers for Case Histories and it would help to have read (and be able to remember) aspects of that book when reading this one.
On the whole, the novel was a good idea worth trying, and is still a reasonably enjoyable read. However, I hope that the experiment is now over. Atkinson's unique style which has made her earlier works so deservedly popular does not suit this type of novel. Besides, who-dunnits are two-a-penny - there are other, better writers of crime fiction. However, there are few literary authors as good as Atkinson, and I hope she returns to form with her next book.
A good yarn, but not her best September 17, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
One Good Turn started off quite promisingly, although I was a little surprised that the descriptions of the violence were quite so graphic and think they were too zealous. Generally, it's well written, witty, and Jackson Brodie and Martin are very likeable characters; it was certainly an entertaining read. It doesn't compare, however, to 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum' which was one of her best to date.
 Stories within stories within stories... September 9, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is a follow-up to the brilliant Case Histories - Jackson Brodie is still with Julia and they've come to the Edinburgh Festival for a show Julia's involved in. Jackson witnesses a violent crime, which is the catalyst for him to become plunged into drama after drama with a very eclectic bunch of characters.
I think Kate Atkinson writes very well - she has a knowing, humourous tone for the most part, but packs an emotional punch where it's needed. As you'd expect from one of her novels, there are umpteen links between all the characters, twists and turns, and all sorts of surprises. The Russian doll motif she uses throughout the novel is very effective.
It all gets a bit silly at the end - I felt she just over-egged the pudding and the story became that bit too implausible. For that reason alone, it didn't get five stars from me. It's still a good, highly enjoyable read, though.
Not her best... September 4, 2007
0 out of 10 found this review helpful
...but not completely dreadful either. If this is your first experience of Ms Atkinson's books and you weren't sure then by no means let this put you off her works. I have loved all her other books - start off with Behind the Scenes at the Museum.
However in saying that this book is by no means my favoutrite of the lot. I thought the storyline was a bit week and there was no real mystery unlike Case Histories. But I thought it was well written and it did make me smile in places.
 Hmmm.... September 4, 2007
2 out of 11 found this review helpful
Not a good introduction to Kate Atkinson. There was considerable irony in reading this book about a writer and his writing style when the writing style of this book was so awkward and difficult to read. I did finish it and it's definitely not the worst book I've ever read but I wouldn't recommend it. I think the potential was there but Kate didn't quite pull it off.
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