Death at the Sign of the Rook: A Jackson Brodie Book

Death at the Sign of the Rook is the sixth novel in Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie detective series. The plot revolves around a murder mystery weekend at Burton Makepeace House, a stately home in Yorkshire. As guests gather to solve a fake murder, private investigator Jackson Brodie and Detective Constable (DC) Reggie Chase are drawn into a complex investigation intertwining stolen art and a cast of diverse characters grappling with personal losses. The novel showcases Atkinson’s signature blend of wit and humor while exploring themes like The Legacy of Loss, Change in British Society, The Theatrical Nature of Everyday Life, and The Moral Complexities of Justice.

Kate Atkinson is also acclaimed for historical novels such as Life After Life (2013) and Shrines of Gaiety (2022). She has received numerous literary awards, becoming the first author to win the Costa Book Award three times. The Jackson Brodie books were adapted into the popular BBC television series Case Histories, starring Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie.

This guide refers to the Penguin 2024 e-book edition of Death at the Sign of the Rook.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of physical abuse, mental illness, death by suicide, and child death.

Plot Summary

Hazel and Ian Padgett hire private investigator Jackson Brodie to investigate the theft of a portrait. The missing Renaissance painting depicting a woman with a weasel belonged to their mother Dorothy, who recently died. The Padgetts believe their mother’s live-in carer, Melanie Hope, is responsible for the theft, as she disappeared at the same time as the painting. Melanie left behind a copy of the detective novel Hark! Hark! The Dogs Do Bark by Nancy Styles.

Jackson distrusts the Padgetts and hopes to prove Melanie is innocent. Although Hazel and Ian claim to be the sole inheritors of their mother’s estate, Dorothy’s neighbor reveals that he witnessed a codicil to Dorothy’s will shortly before she died. Jackson also learns that while Melanie Hope and Dorothy’s granddaughter, Alice Smithson, seemed devoted to the elderly lady, Hazel and Ian rarely visited her.

Jackson discovers that a similar art theft occurred two years earlier at Burton Makepeace House. The housekeeper, Sophie Greenway, disappeared with a valuable painting by Turner. Jackson suspects Sophie and Melanie Hope are the same person. At the time, DC Reggie Chase investigated the case but found little evidence, just a copy of Nancy Styles’ The Secret of the Clock Cabinet by Sophie’s bedside.

Burton Makepeace, owned by the Milton family, is a once-grand country estate in decline. The Miltons have been forced to sell off land and valuable artworks, and the house is now open to the public. Lord Milton died shortly after the Turner theft, and Lady Milton suspects that his heir, Piers Milton, poisoned him. Piers has now converted part of Burton Makepeace into a hotel, Rook Hall, and has hired the Red Herrings Theatre Company to stage a murder mystery weekend. The performance is based on a Nancy Styles plot with stock whodunit characters such as a Major, a Reverend, and a European detective. 

Ben Jennings, a 34-year-old retired major, lives in Burton Makepeace’s former Dairy Cottage with his sister Fran. Ben left the Army after serving in Afghanistan, where an explosion led to his leg being amputated. Ben’s fiancée subsequently left him, and he experiences PTSD and panic attacks. 

Meanwhile, Reverend Simon Cate, the vicar of Burton Makepeace, loses his ability to speak. Simon no longer believes in God, and his voice disappears when he tries to say “Amen.” Years earlier, Simon and his ex-wife Rosalind lost their six-month-old son Isaac to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Before Isaac’s death, the couple complained about their son’s sleeplessness, and Simon has experienced profound guilt and grief ever since. Simon was friends with Sophie Greenway, who shared his love of nature, and was hurt when she left without saying goodbye.

When Jackson calls Reggie, suggesting their investigations may be related, she is reluctant to get involved, recalling how they concealed a double murder together before she became a police officer. However, she is soon intrigued by the case. She also hopes to capture Carl Carter, a notorious killer of police officers, who has escaped from a nearby prison.

On the day of the murder mystery event, snow turns to blizzard conditions, and the Miltons’ elderly Nanny dies after falling down the stairs. Lady Milton suspects her youngest son, Cosmo, may have deliberately pushed Nanny.

Walking Fran’s dog in the deer park, Ben Jennings is disorientated by the blizzard. He encounters Lady Milton, who takes him back to Burton Makepeace House. Ben finds himself acting as an unofficial butler, answering the door to guests arriving for the murder mystery event. He does not correct the guests when they mistake him for Lord Milton and begins to enjoy the role. Jackson and Reggie arrive, unaware that a murder mystery is being staged.

Reverend Simon Cate finds a portrait of a woman with a weasel under the church altar. He then discovers the body of parishioner Janet Teller, recently shot by Carl Carter. Unable to alert the police without a voice, Simon walks to Burton Makepeace House in the blizzard carrying the painting and a handgun he found at the murder scene.

Ben opens the door to Carl Carter and, believing he is another murder mystery guest, shows him to a room. Shortly afterward, Lady Milton encounters Carter, who has a shotgun. When Carter shoots and misses her, Lady Milton injures him by throwing an antique dish at his head.

Reverend Simon Cate arrives and mistakes the murder mystery performance for another homicide. Meanwhile, the audience assumes Simon is the fictional character Reverend Smallbones. Simon writes a note stating there has been a murder, but the onlookers believe it is part of the performance. When a gun is fired in another room, Reggie and Ben go in search of its source.

Jackson finds the portrait in the kitchen with the server, Tilda, who has been serving drinks. Tilda confirms that she posed as Melanie Hope and Sophie Greenway—her real name is Beatrice. Beatrice reveals that the portrait is La Donna con Martora by Raphael. In 1945, Dorothy Padgett stole the portrait from a stately home when struck by its beauty and later left the painting to Melanie Hope in her will’s codicil. Beatrice claims that Piers Milton hired her to steal and sell the Turner painting so he could profit from the insurance payout and the sale. However, the artwork turned out to be a fake.

Reggie and Ben confront Carl Carter, and Reggie saves Ben from being thrown from the roof. However, Carter critically injures Ben, knocking him unconscious with a gun. At the same time, Simon suffers a heart attack, and a guest gives him CPR. Jackson encounters Carter wielding an axe but is saved when Beatrice shoots the escaped prisoner. Jackson watches Beatrice escape on a motorbike with Dorothy’s granddaughter Alice.

Reggie’s boss, Chief Superintendent Louise Monroe, orders her officers to surround Burton Makepeace House. Jackson emerges with his hands up, revealing that Carter is dead while Ben and Simon are in a critical state.

Reggie is nominated for a bravery award and starts dating Ben. She is annoyed with Jackson for allowing Beatrice to escape, but Jackson defends Beatrice, pointing out that she saved his life and rightfully inherited the Raphael portrait.

In the hospital, Simon’s voice returns, and Beatrice visits him to say goodbye. She gives him La Donna con Martora as a gift, knowing he will appreciate its beauty.