When Will There Be Good News?

A Novel

By: Kate Atkinson

Narrated by: Ellen Archer

The third installment in Kate Atkinson's wildly beloved series of Jackson Brodie Mysteries: a complex tale of murder, coincidence, and connected lives.

On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna's life is changed forever...

On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound...

At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. Luckily, Reggie makes it a point to be prepared for an emergency...

These three lives come together in unexpected and deeply thrilling ways in the latest novel from Kate Atkinson, the critically acclaimed author who Harlan Coben calls "an absolute must-read."

"As a reader, I was charmed. As a novelist, I was staggered by Kate Atkinson's narrative wizardry." -- Stephen King

Critic reviews

"... The story is delivered perfectly by narrator Ellen Archer. She is fully and completely aware of the undertones in most of her characters' voices, and when she captures them, she creates a stirring experience for the audience."—Publishers Weekly

"Audie Award winner Ellen Archer...captures each character's nuances well. Highly recommended."—Library Journal

Irritating Accents

An excellent story - well worth the READ!! I'm a Brit and unfortunately Ellen Archer is hopelessly at sea with her accents. So much so that it really did spoil my enjoyment. She sounds like that really annoying (male) mid atlantic food critic who's name escapes me. Interestingly, Audible.co.uk has a brit male narrator and it sounds so much better so why on earth doesn't Audible, in all its shapes and forms get some sort of consistency in such matters

Wonderful story, cringe worthy accents

If you could sum up When Will There Be Good News? in three words, what would they be?

The story is excellent, insightful sharp writing. The narrators accents are cringe worthy. Too bad!

Great story. Narrator can't fake UK accents

Kate Atkinson delivers entertainment satisfaction on so many levels and through so many byways - my delight in the story would have been complete except for the execrable fake/thrown in a blender and delivered at random UK accents of the otherwise pleasant narration.

Couldn't they find an actual British person for whom at least one of the accents was natively theirs?

However, it looks like lots of listeners aren't attuned to the many nuances of British accents. If you are in that category I can recommend this book without reservation.

April 2020

Hilarious, but riveting - as always. Have enjoyed the entire series, and her other books as well. Thank you.

not my favorite Kate Atkinson

but this story is still better than most. there's a reason other writers praise her!