This is Atkinson's third novel to feature ex-cop turned PI Jackson Brodie (after Case Histories and One Good Turn)
Critics greeted the return of Jackson Brodie enthusiastically, and many stated that When Will There Be Good News? is the best installment of the three-book series. Atkinson’s mysteries develop naturally from her charmingly flawed characters and display her keen insight into human nature. Her control of the plot is absolute: it ratchets up the tension while the narrative accelerates to breakneck speeds.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie revolves around the eponymous Miss Jean Brodie and the Brodie set—five girls chosen and trained by Miss Brodie to be her friends a.k.a. minions. The book shows how Miss Brodie manipulated them, and, in the end, how she was betrayed by one of the members of her trusted Brodie set.
Unknown Hermetic Writings of S. L. MacGregor Mathers and J. W. Brodie-Innes
John William Brodie-Innes (1848 – 1923) was a leading member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's Amen-Ra Temple in Edinburgh. Born in Moray, Scotland, the son of John Brodie-Innes, a friend of Charles Darwin, he was a lawyer by profession. He was a member of a bibliophile society, the Sette of Odde Volumes, London, and was its president in 1911. He wrote several novels on witchcraft and magic and is believed to have been Dion Fortune's occult teacher.