Kate Atkinson, One Good Turn

The second installment in Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series is as good as the first (Case Histories), which is to say that it's a perfect read. Jackson, who's been loafing in France since he inherited millions from an eccentric client, is in Edinburgh with Julie, the flighty actress he met over a cold case in his first outing. Jackson is not a man suited to retirement, so he's not very unhappy to run into trouble while in Scotland. He witnesses a road rage incident that winds up being part of a web of inter-connected crimes. It also leads to a series of run-ins with the police and Jackson's introduction to Detective Inspector Louise Monroe: the spark between them should make for interesting reading in subsequent books.

Much of the bad stuff being done in Edinburgh—from bat-wielding thugs to dead bodies to shoddy housing developments to drowned kittens—can be laid at the door of Graham Hatter, construction mogul and philanderer. He spends the book lying in a hospital bed near death while his wife Gloria—an intriguing character—enjoys her quiet time and tells Graham's callers that he's in Thurso. A delightful read from start to finish.