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61st out of 2,513 books
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Case Histories (Jackson Brodie #1)
Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night.
"Case two: " A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack.
"Case three: " A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.
Thirty years after ...more
"Case two: " A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack.
"Case three: " A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.
Thirty years after ...more
Paperback, 310 pages
Published
October 17th 2005
by Back Bay Books
(first published January 1st 2004)
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This should actually get two stars only but me and Kate Atkinson go way back. I read her 'Behind the Scenes in the Museum' when I was a newbie to the grown-up literature and I loved it. I am quite afraid to go and revisit it now because after reading 'Case Histories' I am not sure if Atkinson can actually write.
This is some sort of psychological drama/crime story, so you don't expect the writing to knock you of your feet. However, quite often I read that Atkinson writes 'literary cri...more
This is some sort of psychological drama/crime story, so you don't expect the writing to knock you of your feet. However, quite often I read that Atkinson writes 'literary cri...more
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This is one of the best detective novels I have read in a really long time. Set mostly in Cambridge, England, it's the story of a private detective as he tries to solve three cold cases (I mean, REALLY cold - the most recent crime is still 10 years old) as they all interweave and mix in with personal life. In theory, the plot is nothing special; some missing persons and murder cases, and the details are revealed as the story develops, and the detective's personal life is a mess and someone is ...more
Definitely a page-turner! And one that relies not on plot alone, but on character development much more, which makes it my kind of page-turner. I truly didn't ever want to put down.
I ended up feeling that I knew these people and missed them when I was finished. Atkinson is deft at handling several complex storylines and, as only some of the characters' stories end up overlapping (at least as far as they know), I appreciated the realism of some events being known by only the read...more
I ended up feeling that I knew these people and missed them when I was finished. Atkinson is deft at handling several complex storylines and, as only some of the characters' stories end up overlapping (at least as far as they know), I appreciated the realism of some events being known by only the read...more
This is the second of Atkinson's Jackson Brodie mystery novels I've read. I've previously enjoyed One Good Turn. To briefly summarize what others have already mentioned, in this novel, Brodie takes on three cold cases and deals with a variety of individuals who vary from eccentric to criminal, from engaging to seemingly insane. Their stories, and the stories of the old crimes, are set up carefully and with wonderful detail, wending their ways back and forth through the book. We see the story thr...more
I'm less enthusiastic about this book than Nikki. I certainly enjoyed the author's wry humor; her characters were both thoroughly imagined and presented with great empathy; and her detective was unique. I also appreciate authors trying to stretch the mystery genre and find ways to alter its railroad-track kind of plotting. All to the good. But her attempt at plot manipulation was confusing at first and eventually just annoying. She told three (or four, depending on how you count) different m...more
The sweet youngest daughter in the family goes missing one hot summer night. A lawyer's teenage daughter is killed in a senseless act of violence at his workplace. A mother goes crazy after the birth of her daughter and goes to jail for killing her husband. What do these three cases have in common? They have all landed on the desk of private investigator Jackson Brodie. Brodie's got problems of his own. His wife has remarried, his precocious daughter is dressing way beyond her years, and the str...more
What a joy it is to not only discover an author I haven't read before, but to read a book which I did not want to put down! That is the effect that this novel had on me. As a long-time reader of crime fiction, it is also a joy to read such a literate and character-driven mystery, which does not fit neatly into any particular crime fiction sub-genre. While crimes are committed and a detective is there to solve them, neither the crimes themselves nor their resolution are what makes the novel...more
After around sixty pages of intense boredom and unbearable hopeless information, i almost decided to give up the book seeing that there was still a few hundred pages left. However, becasue i love mystery books and have all the most respect for the authors who wrote them, i continued reading...
turns out that this boook is an excellent book. A private investigator, Jackson Brodie, recieved three intriguing cases. Although he knows taht he won't be able to solve all of them, he still sets out...more
turns out that this boook is an excellent book. A private investigator, Jackson Brodie, recieved three intriguing cases. Although he knows taht he won't be able to solve all of them, he still sets out...more
This book falls under 2 genres - mystery and family drama - and I would argue that it is much more than the sum of its parts. Every character was incredibly real, incredibly flawed, and incredibly complex. Having said that, Case Histories feels like a light read because of Atkinson's great wit.
Atkinson has a talent for weaving together 3 seemingly unrelated stories, all with themes loss, innocence, and healing. While many of the characters are female, the central character is Jackso...more
Atkinson has a talent for weaving together 3 seemingly unrelated stories, all with themes loss, innocence, and healing. While many of the characters are female, the central character is Jackso...more
I'm only giving this book two stars, but it's really better than that. It's just not what I expected, I guess.
Case Histories focuses on a set of fictional "cold cases" in England. The characters all end up interacting in various ways with Jackson Brodie, a private detective hired to look into the cases for various reasons. The stories are interesting and compelling, and the characters are okay, but a bit stereotyped. The problem I had with the book is that it's a mystery novel...more
Case Histories focuses on a set of fictional "cold cases" in England. The characters all end up interacting in various ways with Jackson Brodie, a private detective hired to look into the cases for various reasons. The stories are interesting and compelling, and the characters are okay, but a bit stereotyped. The problem I had with the book is that it's a mystery novel...more
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I LOVED this book - and I mean loved it to the point where I've been giving it as a birthday/Xmas gift to just about everyone I know for the past year or so.
For me, this was a finely-crafted piece of literature that read like a good old mystery novel. The characters are well-developed and compelling, and the interweaving storylines are truly gripping (lots of fun twists and turns!). I really didn't want this one to end - it's one of my all-time favorites!
For me, this was a finely-crafted piece of literature that read like a good old mystery novel. The characters are well-developed and compelling, and the interweaving storylines are truly gripping (lots of fun twists and turns!). I really didn't want this one to end - it's one of my all-time favorites!
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but after a pang and twinge I always get when i read of a child's death or when a child goes missing, I was really absorbed in this book. Three unrelated cases with the detective Jackson Brodie linking them all-- fascinating how Atkinson interweaves the characters and stories. Nothing is entirely quite like it seems and the back and forth telling of tales really serves the stories well. It is a well told tale, though nothing shocking. The dark s...more
CASE HISTORIES (PI-Jackson Brodie-England-Cont) – VG
Atkinson, Kate – 1st in series
Doubleday, 2004, UK Hardcover – ISBN: 0385607997
First Sentence: How lucky were they?
Ex-cop Jackson Brodie has three cases on which he is working. In 1970, Olivia, the youngest of three sisters disappears after she and another sister spent the night in their backyard tent. Their father has now died. When cleaning out his desk, the two middle sisters find Olivia’s favorite toy...more
Atkinson, Kate – 1st in series
Doubleday, 2004, UK Hardcover – ISBN: 0385607997
First Sentence: How lucky were they?
Ex-cop Jackson Brodie has three cases on which he is working. In 1970, Olivia, the youngest of three sisters disappears after she and another sister spent the night in their backyard tent. Their father has now died. When cleaning out his desk, the two middle sisters find Olivia’s favorite toy...more
This was such a wonderfully enveloping story. I got lost in it and I couldn't put it down. I read it right after I finished writing my thesis and graduated and it was the perfect transition to a more relaxed existence...
As far as the story goes: Atkinson is a beautiful writer. Very lyrical and wry, shocking and funny. This story broke my heart and amused me all at once. She's fantastic. I can't wait to read the sequel!
As far as the story goes: Atkinson is a beautiful writer. Very lyrical and wry, shocking and funny. This story broke my heart and amused me all at once. She's fantastic. I can't wait to read the sequel!
A young girl disappears from a tent in her backyard and is never seen again, a man’s teenage daughter is brutally murdered while working in his law office, a woman ax murders her husband when he wakes their sleeping baby. All these mysteries all pulled together years later when private investigator Jackson Brodie is asked to look into them. Fantastic. Suspenseful, very well written, deeply satisfying.
Beautifully wrought...VERY SAD. Atkinson takes stories that could have been ripped from the headlines and enlivens them, fashioning links and overlaps between them. Overall, this novel looks at loss, and how one lives with it. At times, her connections seem a bit far-fetched, but the details of the living and dead and how each change in time succeed in creating sense out of everyday senselessness.
This book was great. It had me hooked right away. Yes, the mystery was a bit contrived and it was easy to start figuring out connections at a certain point, but I was still engrossed. It was a bit dark, however, so it surprised me that she finished with such a "happily-ever-after" kind of ending...but the main characters were really likable so I was happy that things kind of worked out for them...
Barbara
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommended to Barbara by:
CONSTANT READER/ GR
Shelves:
mystery
This is my second writing of a review of this engaging novel. The first has vaporized into unknown cyberspace!
It quickly becomes apparent that Case Histories is no ordinary mystery novel. Kate Atkinson has deftly woven the strands of suspense, intolerable and vicious crimes and astute detective work with sensitive tales of individual and family dram...more
This is the best book I've read by Kate Atkinson to date. It's a mystery, but not a traditional one and way beyond the quality of most of the genre. Make no mistake, I'm an inveterate mystery reader, so I'm not slamming the genre. This book has a very interesting structure, which starts with a description of 3 cold cases, before introducing our hero the detective. There is definitely a plot that moves right along and has some surprises, but the book is largely character-driven. Unlike Kate ...more
This was a smartly written, fast-paced, morbidly funny, maze of a detective novel! Nice break from the heavy stuff of life through a cynical but optimistic re-packaging of life's dark and light moments.
I enjoyed this book. I thought the characters were well developed and I was very interested in the various mysteries. Even more importantly, there was a solution to all the mysteries!!! Maybe it's because I just read "in the woods" which totally left me frustrated by one of the mysteries not being solved but it is such a better ending for me to know what happened! I can see that maybe "in the woods" was going for realism, not everything will be solved in real life, I get that. but t...more
one quality i dislike about many "mystery" or "detective" stories is how quickly it becomes apparent to me who the perpetrator is and how the plot will play out. this is the second novel i have read recently where i couldn't predict all the twists (another was Tana French's Into the Wood). i can see why so many people talk about Atkinson's attention to detail and delving into the aftereffects of tragic events. for me this book wasn't so much about the crimes themselves, but h...more
Wow - first I got to say, Scottish writers are changing my life. O'farrel and now this one - there is just something to the humor, the detail, the plotlines. Second, I am so not a mystery person and yet I was totally into this story - mysteries tend to be plot drivewn and lack in written quality or developed characters but this had both (this felt like Jodi Picoult done right) - I couldn't put it down as I was genuinely curious about the ending as well as eager to hear more of the witicism and...more
It's a good thing women read more literary fiction than men do, because this book is sure to enhance the nightmares of any fathers that read it. Not that the stories won't be tragic for women, but it definitely deals with the very specific fear that fathers of daughters suffer.
It also concentrates a lot on parental love, and favoritism. Does anyone think their parents don't have favorites? How could you not?
In the back of the edition my mom lent to me, there's a brief interview w...more
It also concentrates a lot on parental love, and favoritism. Does anyone think their parents don't have favorites? How could you not?
In the back of the edition my mom lent to me, there's a brief interview w...more
Behind the mystery of each of the three Case Histories, the theme that seemed to unite the different groups of characters was “the lost youth of young girls.” Each of the main characters sought answers to the tragic and sudden loss of a young female in his or her life.
Atkinson does a fantastic job illustrating each character through description, nuances of dialogue, and monologue-type trains-of-thought, but I found these parts of the novel to drag on at times. My personal preferenc...more
Atkinson does a fantastic job illustrating each character through description, nuances of dialogue, and monologue-type trains-of-thought, but I found these parts of the novel to drag on at times. My personal preferenc...more
In the book Case Histories, private investigator Jackson Brodie, receives three new clients in the course of a couple of weeks that all have "cold cases" they need closure on.
Case 1 - 34 years ago 3-year old Olivia Land disappeared from her backyard, where she had been sleeping with her sister Amelia in a tent, never to be seen again. Victor Land, their father dies bringing Olivia's two surviving sisters back to their childhood home where they find the first clue in Olivia'...more
Case 1 - 34 years ago 3-year old Olivia Land disappeared from her backyard, where she had been sleeping with her sister Amelia in a tent, never to be seen again. Victor Land, their father dies bringing Olivia's two surviving sisters back to their childhood home where they find the first clue in Olivia'...more
Based on the effusive Stephen King quote/review on the cover, I thought this very well may be the thriller of the decade (his words, not mine). I read with anticipation, waiting to see what amazing and shocking revelation would tie all the stories together...only to realize that I had figured it out. There was only one of the story lines (the book is divided into four "case histories" that intertwine) which I hadn't completely figured out. I was bored on the last page as I realized,...more
I re-read this after reading her latest ("When Will There Be Good News"), and it was as brilliant and entertaining as I had remembered. I've been trying to pinpoint why I like her novels so much, and I think it's because she introduces a group of completely unrelated people whose lives eventually intersect. I love this structure in movies, too -- "Grand Canyon," for example. And her characters are always so real and familiar -- sometimes scarily so (in this case, I see WAY...more
Almost finished with this book and really like it. I love her writing and the sarcasm expressed by the characters in the book.
Really liked this book. Would give it a 5, but am reserving that for totally over the top books! May change it to that, though. Totally loved the book.
Really liked this book. Would give it a 5, but am reserving that for totally over the top books! May change it to that, though. Totally loved the book.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Really disappointing | 18 | 108 | Jan 04, 2012 11:01am | |
| Caroline f/k/a Michelle (spoilers) | 4 | 69 | Jul 16, 2011 11:09am |
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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 and has been a critically acclaimed international bestselling author ever since.
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 Historie...more
More about Kate Atkinson...
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 Historie...more
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“She should have done science, not spent all her time with her head in novels. Novels gave you a completely false idea about life, they told lies and they implied there were endings when in reality there were no endings, everything just went on and on and on.”
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“If they would all sleep all the time she wouldn't mind being their mother.”
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