This novel is the first of a series of stories featuring Jackson Brodie, an ex-police inspector, now a private eye. Brodie has to deal here with three distinct cases: the disappearance of Olivia, a three-year-old, a woman that murders her husband with an axe, and the murder of a young woman who seems totally random. The stories brush against each other throughout the book, not totally independent of one another, and Brodie collides also with several protagonists of these stories. The cases are nicely narrated and bring you slowly to imagining the solving of the crime… but then the end of each case has a little twist.
“Nonetheless, she shaved her legs and armpits, although for the life of her she couldn’t see what was wrong with body hair, and painted (rather badly) her toenails, and showered and perfumed herself with something French that Julia had left behind after a visit. She felt as if she was preparing herself for a sacrifice.”