Started Early, Took My Dog

Started Early, Took My Dog is author Kate Atkinson’s fourth Jackson Brodie novel.    The semi-retired ex-policeman, part time private investigator  has come back to his old hometown of Leeds, England to search for the biological parents of a young Australian woman.  But Brodie can’t find the couple in any database, nor is the adoption on record.  While searching Jackson comes upon a man abusing a small dog in a park.  He punches the man in the stomach and takes the dog.

The second main character is Tracy Waterhouse, a retired policeman. She’s in her fifties and has taken a part time job as a security guard at a mall.   Tracy sees a young woman yelling at a small girl while dragging her through the mall to the bus station.  Following the pair outside Tracy impulsively asks “ How much for the kid?”  The woman takes the money and leaves Tracy with the little girl!    Soon Tracy is planning a life raising the four year old Courtney in France. 

The third portion of the book deals with Matilda “Tilly” Squires ,and elderly soap opera actress who works with Jackson’s ex-girlfriend.  Tilly is in the first stages of dementia and keeps forgetting her lines.    What do Jackson, Tracy and Tilly have to do with each other?  Their paths will cross before the book is finished.   Atkinson layers the storyline and time periods with skill and weaves it all together in the end.