Series · literary crime
Jackson Brodie
The Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson has 6 books and is best read in publication order, starting with Case Histories (2004).
- Books
- 6 books
- First published
- 2004
- Status
- ongoing
- Last checked
Start here: Case Histories (2004) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Case Histories
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Case Histories - Book 2:
One Good Turn
Alternative text for cover: Cover of One Good Turn - Book 3:
When Will There Be Good News?
Alternative text for cover: Cover of When Will There Be Good News? - Book 4:
Started Early, Took My Dog
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Started Early, Took My Dog - Book 5:
Big Sky
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Big Sky - Book 6:
Death at the Sign of the Rook
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Death at the Sign of the Rook
About the Jackson Brodie series
Jackson Brodie is a former army policeman turned Cambridge CID detective turned semi-reluctant private investigator, drifting through a life of failed marriages, missing-persons cases and a nagging inability to stay retired. Kate Atkinson uses him less as a conventional detective-novel engine than as a connective thread through structurally daring, multi-stranded literary fiction: each book braids together several seemingly unrelated storylines and characters — old crimes, cold cases, coincidences that ripple across decades — which only resolve into a single picture near the end. Atkinson, a Whitbread and Costa Book of the Year winner for her literary fiction, brings the same formal playfulness, dark wit and precise prose to these mysteries that she brings to her non-genre novels.
The appeal is for readers who want crime fiction that rewards close reading: puzzle-box plotting, wry humour undercutting real tragedy, and a protagonist whose own messy life is as much the subject as the cases he's drawn into. It's the basis for the BBC/Case Histories TV adaptation starring Jason Isaacs, and a natural next step for readers who love smart, character-first crime writing over procedural detail.
How to read this series
Publication order, starting with Case Histories (2004), is the way to read this series — Jackson's relationships, children and circumstances carry forward from book to book, and Atkinson assumes you already know him by the later novels. There's no chronological/publication split: the books are set roughly when they were written, with long real-time gaps between entries (nine years between Started Early, Took My Dog and Big Sky, and five more before Death at the Sign of the Rook) that the books themselves acknowledge.
Each novel is a self-contained mystery with its own cast of interweaving strangers, so you can technically follow any single plot without having read the others — but Jackson's personal arc, and several running references to earlier cases, land much better read in order from the start.
Frequently asked questions
How many Jackson Brodie books are there?
There are six Jackson Brodie novels, from Case Histories (2004) to Death at the Sign of the Rook (2024).
What order should I read the Jackson Brodie books in?
Publication order, starting with Case Histories (2004). Jackson's personal life develops across the series, even though each book's central mystery is self-contained.
Is there a new Jackson Brodie book coming?
No new Jackson Brodie novel has been announced as of August 2026. Kate Atkinson has previously left multi-year gaps between entries (nine years before Big Sky, five before Death at the Sign of the Rook), so a wait between books is normal for this series.
Do I need to read Jackson Brodie in order?
Not strictly for the plots -- each book's central mystery is self-contained -- but Jackson's relationships and personal history carry forward, so reading in publication order gives the fullest picture.
Is the Jackson Brodie series related to a TV show?
Yes. BBC's Case Histories (2011-2013), starring Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie, adapted the first three novels.
Reading order last verified .