Case Histories – Book #4

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| Title | Case Histories |
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| Author | Kate Atkinson |
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| Genre | Adult Mystery |
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| Pages | 310 |
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| Publisher | Little Brown & Company |
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| Copyright | 2004 |
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Synopsis (from web-site)
Investigating other people's tragedies and cock-ups and misfortunes was all he knew. He was used to being a voyeur, the outsider looking in, and nothing, but nothing, that anyone did surprised him any more. Yet despite everything he'd seen and done, inside Jackson there remained a belief — a small, battered and bruised belief — that his job was to help people be good rather than punish them for being bad.

Cambridge is sweltering, during an unusually hot summer. To Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, the world consists of one accounting sheet — Lost on the left, Found on the right — and the two never seem to balance.

Jackson has never felt at home in Cambridge, and has a failed marriage to prove it. Surrounded by death, intrigue and misfortune, his own life haunted by a family tragedy, he attempts to unravel three disparate case histories and begins to realise that in spite of apparent diversity, everything is connected...


Why I read It
This book is consistently rated as one of the top ten books of the first decade (this century). Consequently it has been on my “to read” list for quite a while and I happen to see it on the shelf at the library.

What I Thought About It
It started off slow, and it seemed to be three independent short stories told one chapter at a time. So much so that I looked through it to see if I could just read the stories one by one by jumping around. After settling my confusion I stuck with it due to all the phenomenal reviews and found the pace and the intertwining of the stories began to happen gradually until the speed and suspense built up to a very satisfying conclusion. This was not necessarily the style of mystery I go for, but I can state all the praise was well deserved.

Mormon Mentions
None

Author Biography

Kate Atkinson was born in York and now lives in Edinburgh. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award.

She is the author of a collection of short stories, Not the End of the World, and of the critically acclaimed novels Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird, Case Histories, and One Good Turn.

Case Histories introduced her readers to Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, and won the Saltire Book of the Year Award and the Prix Westminster. Her latest novel, the Richard & Judy Book Club and Galaxy British Book Awards 2009 shortlisted When Will There Be Good News?, also features Jackson Brodie and is out now in paperback