Started Early, Took My Dog -- Kate Atkinson, Paperback

Tracy Waterhouse leads a quiet, ordered life as a retired police detective -- a life that takes a surprising turn when she encounters Kelly Cross, a habitual offender, dragging a young child through town. Both appear miserable and better off without each other -- or so decides Tracy, in a snap decision that surprises herself as much as Kelly. Suddenly burdened with a small child, Tracy soon learns her parental inexperience is actually the least of her problems, as much larger ones loom for her and her young charge.

Meanwhile, Jackson Brodie, the beloved detective of novels such as Case Histories, is embarking on a different sort of rescue: that of an abused dog. Dog in tow, Jackson is about to learn, along with Tracy, that no good deed goes unpunished.

Author: Kate Atkinson
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Published: 10/06/2011
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780316066747

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 12/04/2011 pg. 72
New Yorker (The) 12/19/2011 pg. 139

About the Author
Kate Atkinson's first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, was named England's Whitbread Book of the Year in 1996. Since then, she has written eleven more ground-breaking, bestselling books. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.