This is a follow up to "Case Histories" (which i didn't know before i started... i just wanted to read anything Atkinson wrote!), and we're reintroduced to Jackson Brodie and Julia Lang.
Atkinson again used the 'one chapter per character' method to come at the story from different character's perspectives, from the anal Martin, the stressed single mom and inspector Louise, to the just-found-out-her-husband-was-into S&M Gloria. It was funny and sad and just a great story. It came together nicely, but not so nicely that the characters weren't also surprised that the people in their lives were in the midst of others (i find that unbelievable in some books).

ONE GOOD TURN by Kate Atkinson begins with a road rage incident involving one crazy guy beating a man with a baseball bat and another man, a wimpy writer of popular crime novels, knocking the crazy guy down with his laptop computer. From there we meet all sorts of seemingly unrelated characters who all become connected.

It's actually a pretty good and simple story. But here's what I guess happened.

My guess is that Atkinson had a pretty good short story. Someone (publisher, editor, agent, whoever) told her she had to give them a book-length novel. So she took this perfectly good short story and padded it. And the result is ONE GOOD TURN.

Open this book to almost any page (except the last few), and you'll see it. One line, occasionally one or two paragraphs, of the story sandwiched between paragraphs of padding. Whatever happens reminds a character of something else that reminds the character of something else. Then back to the story soon to be followed by more padding.

I had intended to read another book by Atkinson. Now I won't.