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Elizabeth, forty-something, childless, recently separated, just wants to be alone. She's moved into her new house, a converted Victorian mansion, alive with history, character, woodworm and dry rot. But worse than that, she's besieged by invaders of the human kind.

The scene is set in Cambridge, with three case histories from the past: A young child who mysteriously disappeared from a tent in her back garden; An unidentified man in a yellow jumper who marched into an office and slashed a young girl through the throat; and a young woman found by the police sitting in her kitchen next to the body of her husband, an axe buried in his head. Jackson Brodie, a private investigator and former police detective, is quietly contemplating life as a divorced father when he is flung into the midst of these resurrected old crimes. Julia and Amelia Land, long having given up hope of uncovering the truth of what happened to their baby sister, Olivia, suddenly discover her lost toy mouse in the study of their recently-deceased father. Enlisting Jackson's help they embroil him in the complexities of their own jealousies, obsessions and lust. A woman named Shirley needs Jackson to help find her lost niece. Amidst the incessant demands of the Land sisters, Jackson meets solicitor Theo Wyre whose daughter, Laura, was murdered in his office and, now that the police case has been closed, is desperate for Jackson to help him lay Laura's ghost to rest.As he starts his investigations Jackson has the sinister feeling that someone is following him. As he begins to unearth secrets that have remained hidden for many years, he is assailed by his former wife's plan to take his young daughter away to live in New Zealand, and his stalker becomes increasingly malevolent and dangerous. In digging into the past Jackson seems to have unwittingly threatened his own future.This wonderfully crafted, intricately plotted novel is heartbreaking, uplifting, full of suspense and often very funny, and shows Kate Atkinson returning to the literary scene at the height of her powers.

Kate Atkinson's first collection of short stories, explore the world we think we know whilst offering a vision of another world which lurks just beneath the surface of our consciousness, a world where the myths we have banished from our lives are startlingly present and where imagination has the power to transform reality. In this story, we follow the travels of Meredith Zane, a 25-year-old Californian postgraduate student working her way around Europe who thinks she may have discovered the secrets to eternal life.

Management Teaching use: (Transparent Fiction) This short story provides a delightful metaphor for branding. The central character is one of a whole family who appear to be identical in appearance and even (curiously) in their gender. At the end of the story she guarantees her own immortality by assuming a 'magic' cloak. Students could base discussions on what exactly constitutes a brand on this story. In the case of this 'family brand' the individual members can be viewed as 'brand extensions' and might form a starting off point of how much such extensions can vary from the original concept before they become separate brands in themselves. The final scene from the story illustrates an interesting point in the debate on how to refresh brands and how the life cycle of a brand might be extended - or indeed whether it is better to let ailing brands die naturally rather than spend huge resources on keeping them going.

In rural Devon, six-year-old Joanna Mason witnesses an appalling crime. 30 years later the man convicted of the crime is released from prison. In Edinburgh, 16-year-old Reggie works as a nanny for a G.P. But Dr Hunter has gone missing and Reggie seems to be the only person who is worried. Across town, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe is also looking for a missing person, unaware that hurtling towards her is an old friend - Jackson Brodie - himself on a journey that becomes fatally interrupted.