Atkinson to publish new Jackson Brodie novel in 2019

Kate Atkinson is publishing a new Jackson Brodie novel with Transworld in 2019: Big Sky. The detective series, featuring the ex-Cambridge Constabulary private investigator, makes its return after a nine-year hiatus.

The fifth in the series, Big Sky, will be published on 18th June 2019 in Doubleday hardcover. Transworld has UK and Commonwealth rights as part of an ongoing contract previously struck with the author.

Although plot details will not be revealed until the new year, it continues to feature the Yorkshire-bred private investigator, a former soldier and policeman with a tragic past who frequently becomes "a magnet for the bereaved, the lost and the dysfunctional". The character went on to be played by Jason Isaacs in the TV series "Case Histories", brought to BBC One by Ruby Films, running from 2011 to 2013.

Promising the fifth in the series will be “every bit as wonderful as the other four”, Marianne Velmans, the book’s editor, said it would allow readers to discover more about Jackson Brodie’s “complicated life” and the setting would be familiar, once again placing Brodie back in Yorkshire.

“Fans are really looking forward to it. We’ve been getting that message for many years,” said Velmans. "Kate has written three such brilliant groundbreaking historical books in between that you could forget this passion Jackson Brodie evokes in people. He’s such a hero, a vulnerable sensitive former detective that people have really taken to their hearts. These novels continue his story and people just want to know more about him – I wanted to know more. It’s very exciting and wonderful to have another one to work on.”

Big Sky follows four previous novels in the crime series: Case Histories (2004), One Good Turn (2006), When Will There Be Good News? (2008) and Started Early, Took My Dog (2010), the last Jackson Brodie novel published, which ended on a massive cliffhanger. Through Nielsen, the series has shifted 2.2 million copies across all editions, with When Will There Be Good News? the bestseller - as well as Atkinson's bestseller overall - at 523,404 copies sold in paperback.

To date, Atkinson has sold a total of 3.3 million books for £21.9m in the Nielsen BookScan era. Her most recent novel was Transcription, her 10th novel overall and third to be set against the backdrop of the Second World War following Life After Life (2013) and A God in Ruins (2015) which both scooped the Costa Novel Award in their respective years.