calamlike

In English بالعربي

Actor Jason Isaacs stars as private detective Jackson Brodie. Some of the novels published by Kate Atkinson have been adapted for television series.

See the link below.

Video in English Interview Kate Atkinson and Jason Isaacs. About case histories | link

To read part 1/2, follow the link below: Link: One Good Turn الجزء (1/2)

The events are taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. Timespan of the novel : Tuesday to Friday.

Martin Canning went to Russia for a sightseeing tour and made a Russian girl’s acquaintance who makes a living by selling souvenirs such as Russian dolls and having sexual intercourses when she had the opportunity. He bought dolls in great quantities in order to offer some to his mother. Before the awful event, Martin and a Russian girl went to a bar, got drunk, went to a hotel and end by having sex. She asked for money from him. He hadn’t expected she would ask him to pay her for that. A misunderstanding has led to the deadth of the Russian girl. Martin felt she was growing very threatening so he pushed her and her head hit a piece of furniture. Then he threw the victim’s body out of the window.
I focus on Martin’s character because the author makes him play an important role in the novel. He committed homicide (without premeditation) and this act continues to weigh heavily on his conscience, which he considers his punishment.
He’s not very happy with his family members but his novel has achieved him fame and great deal of money so he bought the house he had dreaming of acquiring. However, does fame and proprety compensate for the sense of failure in other aspects of his life? He accomodated his theatre actor friend, Richard Moat, and the unforeseen and the unexpected event took place in Martin’s house while he was attending , in a hotel room, to the man who was assaulted by the mad driver. A man break in Martin’s house and ruthlessly killed Martin’s guest. The helpless victim begged mercy to no avail. Martin was tending to the wounded driver who left hospital. The cruel man crashed the victim’s skull and left the house.

So a crime was committed in Martin’s house, in his absence. The police then began their investigation while other murders had not yet been elucidated. Detective Jackson Brodie takes part in these investigations when he no longer exercises his previous profession. The members of the police do not show him any sympathy except Margot Monroe although she finds it difficult to believe his information.

Martin was baffled. He was in an unbearable situation because of the crime committed in his house while he was elsewhere. How to convince the police of his innocence? Private detective Jackson Brodie will come to his aid and support him.
It’s as though Louise Monroe’s collegues were bearing grudge against Jackson Brodie. Let’s make the reader remember that the detective was trapped in a spot and met the attacker who severely assaulted the private detective Brody.
Fortunately, the police arrived and saved him from probable death.
There is another character who plays an important role in the circulation of events and is very influential: the Russian Tatina. She was a bank employee in her home country and, like many foreigners, traveled to England to pursue her dreams. It is that she knows Gloria’s rich elderly husband and offers him sexual services for a lot of money without sleeping with him (I referred in the first part to marital infidelity on the part of the rich and old Graham)
She knows Gloria’s rich, elderly husband and offers him sexual services for a lot of money without sleeping with him (I referred in the first part to marital infidelity on the part of the rich Graham Hatter). How do we describe his behaviour ?
For Gloria Hatter, it is an opportunity to take revenge on her husband Graham Hatter for his misdeeds and in particular his infidelity. She withdrew a sum of money each week until she had accumulated about seventy thousand pounds sterling. She knew her husband was going to be investigated for fraud. With the help of Tatiana, who became her friend and adviser, they managed to draw large sums of money from the accounts of the husband whose days are numbered. It took place in a Swiss bank. Obviously, these operations are fraudulent intended to shield the funds from the control of the police and the tax authorities. Not surprisingly, Tatitiana is an expert.
Different, yet converging motivations brought Brodie and Martin to Gloria Hatter’s house in which Tatiana was already. Martin had remained outside the house armed with a pistol. That’s when the one who works for Graham, the husband of Gloria who was dying in the hospital, arrived hoping to find his employer. He was angry, proceeded to break a window and burst into the house. A fight ensued between Brodie and the attacker. Luckily, that’s when Martin came in, saved Brodie from the mugger, and shot the mugger. Tatiana was grateful to Brodie for saving her from the violent man who thought he could do anything. We now know who the murderer of Richard Moat, Martin’s guest. It’s the attacker Terrence Smith, the mad driver.
Society finally got rid of a sociopath member.
Actually Terence Smith killed Richard Moat because he had mistaken him for the witness who had thrown his suitcase over Terence Smith, the mad driver. Moreever, Graham Hatter is the owner of firm cleaning which hire mostly foreigner women to do housecleaning. Those maids have diplomas. Two of them were killed and some were forced into sex traffic. It was Jackson Brodie who had found the floating body of one of those women victims. In talking on the phone to inspector Monroe, Jackson Brodie said:’Trence Smith kilked her on Graham Hatter’s orders.’ Page 512.
To conclude, the novelist, Kate Atkinson, shows the impact of the social environment on attitudes and behaviours. However, we see that the social origin of individuals does not represent an overwhelming obstacle to their social mobility. For example, nothing predisposed Martin Canning to become a famous writer.
The author uses most of the language registers and an interesting style to describe strange scenes, situations, people and events, and the inherent contradictions of life (including everyday life) which makes us continue reading. The writer uses common and formal phrases and words in modern dialogues. She uses all types of irony known in literature and is well acquainted with the great classic British novelists.
To conclude this article, we can say that he novelist uses all types of irony known in literature and is well acquainted with the great classic British novelists.

2006, Black Swan, 527 pages.
I read Kate Atkinson’s novel, Good Turn, twice. What is similar to what is in it is the way in which the narrator talks about characters, events and relationships between characters, for example, the quality of the relationship between, Jackson Brodie, the private investigator, and his girlfriend Julia. Let’s for instance look at this. The two love each other but there beaviours and their attitudes are quite contrasted. And so are their opinions and social representations. Were the two of them ill-associated persons?
Here is an excerpt from the novel by Kate Atkinson (page 122). The reader will discover what it is about :

He was about to set off back when his eye was caught by something on the rocks below the remains of a concrete lookout. For a second he thought it was a bundle of clothing that had been dropped there, he hoped it was a bunch of clothing but it didn’t take him more than a skipped heartbeat to know it was a body that had been cast up by the tide.

In the novel prevails, most of the time, a sad and strange atmosphere, as the writer refers to the strangeness of life, death, and the passage of time, which saddens and gives rise to pessimism. This reflects people’s reflections, memories, and feelings. The writer condemns greed and heinous behaviour towards vulnerable animals.

Detective Jackson Brodie comes from a very humble working class background and he has a sad story as he lost his parents his father was a miner and suffered from the harshness with which British Prime Minister M. Thatcher dealt with the miners’ strike. He also lost his sister who was raped, killed and thrown into a canal and he finally lost his brother who had committed suicide because he felt responsible for this tragic event. Regarding Julia, her friend, she lost one of her sisters, little Olivia, who completely disappeared one day in the morning.

But just because the rich not only can afford to do everything, including murdering, cheating on their wives and evade taxes, doesn’t mean they can get away with it. There is the law, protection by police firces and, as the author or put it, « cosmic justice ».

Discovery of a corpse. Detective Jackson Brodie was taking advantage of the low tide to walk and he was surprised by the high tide. He then discovered a woman’s body floating. He tried in vain to bring the body back to the shore, but the current carried him further and further. He was eventually saved. At another time, during low tide, he discovers a pile of clothes. Who is the woman?