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You’ve Got Five Pages, Death at the Sign of the Rook by #KateAtkinson, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

A gathering of peculiar strangers at a mysterious mansion cut off from civilization? Oh boy!

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.
JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

This month I snagged from the New Release shelf:

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson

The opening pages of Kate Atkinson’s Death at the Sign of the Rook took me back to an Agatha Christie-style setup: the enigmatic invite to a lavish estate, Mother Nature’s elements cutting the cast off from civilization, and…well the protagonist Jackson Brodie is not Poirot, nor should he try to be.

This is my first Brodie novel, and I love that my very first interaction with him involves him wishing he could kill off the other guests on that estate. There’s a Poirot-ish character in the group, yup, and the second chapter even riffs on a Poirot novel title, but Brodie’s manners observations, and recollections are nothing like the fastidious Belgian detective—and that’s totally fine by me.

While Chapter 1 technically starts further on in time than Chapter 2, I don’t feel like Atkinson pulled any sort of bait’n’switch. The first couple of pages are low-stakes with the eclectic guests of the murder mystery party, and the next couple of pages focus on the detective Brodie investigating an art theft—an art theft that must eventually bring him to that same expensive party. Atkinson does lovely work using just a line or two of dialogue with a tag to give a glimpse of the characters, and it’s just enough to promise something ominous without being dramatic or shocking about it. Quite the masterwork as far as openers go!

Let’s see what next month’s find will teach us, shall we?

In the meantime, I ought to share a few more writing resources, some lessons learned, and music should be back on the roster. Stay tuned!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

16 comments

    • I’ve not either! I think I’d like to give the first book a go to get a sense of how Atkinson establishes this guy, but I just adored the Agatha Christie-esque setup here, especially having just finished the last Miss Marple novel. xxxxxx

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  6. I totally understand seeking out that first installment. x I’ve not read A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW, but thanks for recommending! It sounds like a John leCarre’ novel title, and I’ve read a number of his, but I don’t think I’m right it’s leCarre’. Who wrote it?

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  7. Amor Towles – it’s about a man who’s confined to his hotel for years after the Russian Revolution. Kind of a lighthearted* epic. It was voted book of the year by a few groups back in 2016, apparently.

    *Bearing in mind that I’m only two-thirds way through it 🙂

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  8. I finally got back on spotify and listened to your podcast this week. Another today. I wouldn’t have got what you were aiming at if I had not started my first Agatha Christie novel recently, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It is a trip. Lots of dialogue.
    I enjoyed all your voices!

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