Started Early, Took My Dog

A Novel

By: Kate Atkinson

Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm

Tracy Waterhouse leads a quiet, ordered life as a retired police detective -- a life that takes a surprising turn when she encounters Kelly Cross, a habitual offender, dragging a young child through town. Both appear miserable and better off without each other -- or so decides Tracy, in a snap decision that surprises herself as much as Kelly. Suddenly burdened with a small child, Tracy soon learns her parental inexperience is actually the least of her problems, as much larger ones loom for her and her young charge.

Meanwhile, Jackson Brodie, the beloved detective of novels such as Case Histories, is embarking on a different sort of rescue: that of an abused dog. Dog in tow, Jackson is about to learn, along with Tracy, that no good deed goes unpunished.

Critic reviews

"Brilliant...Atkinson seamlessly weaves together [strands] in a plot driven by coincidence and a diamond-hard recognition of man's darker nature...[Tracy's] odyssey as a new parent to a waif dressed in a ragged fairy costume, relayed with both tenderness and wry wit, must be one of the grandest love affairs in crime fiction...For its singular melding of radiant humor and dark deeds, this is must-reading for literary crime-fiction fans."—Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist, starred review

"The sleuthing is less important than Atkinson's fascinating take on the philosophical and emotional dimensions of her characters' lives."—Kirkus

"[The Jackson Brodie books] are an entrancing hybrid of the literary novel/detective story. Case Histories...is a classic....Atkinson's views of contemporary society can be bleak, but she has an amazing eye for kids, dogs and human fallibility." —Mary Ann Gwinn, The Seattle Times

"Magnificently plotted...In the author's signature multilayered style, she shifts between past and present...Atkinson injects wit even in the bleakest moments...yet never loses her razor-sharp edge."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"I can't take my nose out of Kate Atkinson's new thriller, Started Early, Took My Dog."—Alex Beam, The Boston Globe

"Mixing wry wit and gritty realism, Atkinson deftly smudges the border between literary and detective fiction-with complex, compelling characters negotiating a maze of grisly violence, dark secrets, and shadowy dangers."—Karen Holt, O, The Oprah Magazine

"Wonderful...full of artful digressions and unexpected turns, but it amply makes good on its obligations as a mystery novel to explain the who, what and why." —Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

"Mold-breaking...Each one of these [Jackson Brodie] books, including this latest, is a delight: an intricate construction that assembles itself before the reader's eyes, populated by idiosyncratic, multidimensional characters and written with shrewd, mordant grace. They are in some respects mystery novels, but they're written with a literary skill uncommon in that genre, and in a mode -- the tragicomic -- that few but the most adept novelists can pull off in any genre."—Laura Miller, Salon

Ms. Atkinson writes passages that simply have to be read twice, once when you first travel through the book and then later, when you want to see just how she tricked you...Ms. Atkinson remains a wonderful stylist and Grade A schemer...She was never confined to the crime genre, has written in assorted other modes and excels at them all. Whatever she goes on to write, she leaves Jackson Brodie at a suspenseful and pivotal moment. Future installments are well worth waiting for." —Janet Maslin, New York Times

for the want of a nail ...

There aren't many books I would care to listen to again, but long before it was over - I knew I'd want to hear it again.

The stories of the characters are unraveled and re-woven with subtle twists that allow you to be come a secret witness to events and inside participant to the story!

The narrator's voice was perfect pairing to the author's tone of understated humor & intelligence in the story telling.

Kudos to Tilly! I will miss her the most.

Good not great

This is a good beach read, a book in between other great books to slow down but entertain the brain, or just one because you like interweaving tales. I haven't recommended it to a lot of friends which is the telling sentiment, but it still put a smile on my face.

Witty and Un-Put-Downable

I always look forward to Kate Atkinson's most recent Jackson Brody mystery, and each one is better than the last.

just could not get in to this at all.

did not keep my interest, seemed choppy, and I could not finish it. maybe if I tried again but for right now, no.

good book--droning narrator

It makes me terribly sad to give a Jackson Brodie novel by Kate Atkinson less than 5 stars, but the narrator nearly ruined it for me. His voice did not change for any of the characters, nor did his pitch or inflection ever vary from a near monotone. I gave up listening and went to my local bookstore to buy the hard copy, which was wonderful (although not as good as When Will There Be Good News? or One Good Turn). I can't imagine why the publisher went with a narrator other than Ellen Archer, who read WWTBGN. She was spectacular. Graeme Malcolm wasn't. Kate Atkinson does lovely plot twists and I really like what she has been doing with Jackson and his delayed cultural growth--reading poetry, going to museums, attending the theatre. I did miss the tension between Jackson and Louise, so I am hoping that the end of this book is not just a tease.