One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson - Book Review

As the saying goes, one good turn deserves another. The title of Kate Atkinson’s novel, One Good Turn, could describe the way that one character’s Good Samaritan behavior leads to him being robbed, mistakenly identified as a murder victim, and more. His is only one of several plot threads this novel, which is a suspenseful journey through the underworld of Edinburgh. One Good Turn certainly deserves the attention of readers looking for a novel that’s superbly-crafted and beautifully-written.

Matryoshkas, or Russian nesting dolls, are a recurring motif in One Good Turn. One of the several characters who narrates the novel muses that he would like to write a story in which plots and themes nest inside each other. That’s exactly what Kate Atkinson attempts in One Good Turn, a twist-filled, densely-layered and grippingly-paced crime novel.

The novel, set in Edinburgh, Scotland, starts with a handful of people witnessing a car accident. Everyone eventually clears the scene, but their lives continue to intertwine in ways that don’t always make sense to themselves or the reader. The Edinburgh that the characters inhabit is in the middle of a tourist influx for the annual Fringe festival, a world-renowned celebration of avant garde theater. The city that the reader sees, though, is in some sense the city that lurks behind the scenes of the festival, alternately suburban and gritty.

Atkinson’s writing is precise and gripping, but the real strength of the novel lies in the characters, who are much more developed than most characters in mystery and crime novels. Additionally, their intersecting storylines don’t feel forced or too coincidental. Atkinson’s first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the prestigious Whitbread Book of the Year award, so she brings a serious literary approach to the excellent mystery she’s crafted. Like the matryoshkas, once you open this book you’ll find that each chapter draws you in the next, in search of the final doll.