Started Early, Took My Dog

Tracy Waterhouse is a large woman, with firm opinions and a quiet, ordered life. Retired from her work as a police detective, her life takes a surprising turn when she encounters Kelly Cross, a habitual offender, dragging her young daughter through town, both miserable and obviously 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 and no clue how to care for her, Tracy soon learns her inexperience is actually the least of her problems, and much larger ones are waiting for her and her young charge. Meanwhile Jackson Brodie, the detective beloved by Atkinson fans from earlier audiobooks 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.