Should I read the Jackson Brodie books

[GrandChampionBestinDungeonPrincessDonut]

I read the latest Jackson Brodie book Death at the Sign of the Rook recently but I have not read any of the others.

I thought it was well written but a bit strange it was not what I expected from a detective story and I wondered if this was typical for a Jackson Brodie book.

The first half was very slow, there are a lot of characters and we spend time with each one individually getting to know them, being told their whole life story and following them around a bit. About halfway through the book changes completely and from that point it becomes a farce with lots more characters introduced, several of the characters floundering about in a snowstorm and stumbling across each other and then more floundering around in a country house.
The case that Jackson was investigating felt like a side plot, it was uninteresting and hardly and time was spent on it and he resolved it by happening to stumble across the criminal who explained it all to him but it made no sense why the criminal was even there (keeping it vague to avoid spoilers).

But the writing was good, Jackson and his friend in the police were my favourite characters and I am considering reading the others.
Is this book typical of the Jackson Brodie books or do you spend more time with him in the other books in the series. Also do they have more satisfying detective stories in them? Should I read them considering that I am not really a fan of this one?

I had only read Death At the Sign of the Rook and enjoyed it. I thought it was a light satirical take on the cozy mystery genre.

I checked out Shrines of Gaiety and enjoyed the characters but missed the plot.

I guess I should start with the first JB.

Agree 100%! K’s books are the best I’ve read but have got progressively poorer. Shrines was too fast, improbable and very disappointing at the end; she had just given up.

I also love Kate Atkinson and Jackson, you definitely have to read them in order.

I’m up to number 4 and having a break as I’m finding them a little repetitive, mainly some of the phrasing and I’m tired of the huge back story about a minor character that you have to plough through for no real reason - Tilly for example - why?

I loved Transcription even though at the end I wasn’t sure what it was all about. It’s the journey not the destination with KA.

Life after Life - the most moving book, just beautiful and perfect.

Oh I loved Transcription! And enjoyed A God in Ruins more than Life After Life. And the fish related short stories was amazing.

I've been an on and off reader of Kate Atkinson's novels from Behind The Scenes At The Museum, which I loved.

I've read all the Jackson Brodie novels and enjoyed them but think the first two were the best in the series.

Life After Life and A God in Ruins are excellent, and I also preferred A God In Ruins. Transcription was just ok for me. I didn't love it. Shrines of Gaiety was a disappointment. From the blurb, I should have loved it but I just didn't. It came very close to a DNF but I did finish it, eventually.