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Case Histories: A Novel by Kate Atkinson
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Case Histories: A Novel (original 2004; edition 2008)

by Kate Atkinson

Series: Jackson Brodie (1)

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7,9113471,103 (3.78)953
Fiction. Literature. Mystery. HTML:The first book in Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie Mysteries series, called "The best mystery of the decade" by Stephen King, finds private investigator Jackson Brodie following three seemingly unconnected family mysteries in Edinburg.
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 the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge . . .
… (more)
Member:nivramkoorb
Title:Case Histories: A Novel
Authors:Kate Atkinson
Info:Little, Brown and Company (2008), Edition: Reprint, Mass Market Paperback, 400 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:None

Work Information

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (2004)

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» See also 953 mentions

English (332)  French (4)  German (3)  Dutch (3)  Spanish (2)  Italian (2)  All languages (346)
Showing 1-5 of 332 (next | show all)
Disjointed mess ( )
  accidental_hermit | Jan 28, 2024 |
(2004) BBC Masterpiece Mystery series based on this novel brought me to read it. Pretty good procedural that suffers from the constant jumping around of points of view and time the author uses from chapter to chapter. Will give others in series a try, but not a top read. (Booklist) Jackson Brodie, the world's most empathic private eye, who seemingly channels his clients' grief while attempting to provide closure. Addicted to the plaintive songs of female country-and-western singers and heartsick over the breakup of his marriage and his separation from his daughter, Jackson becomes friend and confidant to the people who seek his aid. One of his cases involves the florid, bickering Land sisters, who, after cleaning out their father's house upon his death, are stunned to find the bedraggled blue bunny that was their sister's most prized possession before she went missing 30 years ago. Another case concerns lonely, obese Theo, who, out of concern for his daughter's safety, insisted that she work in his law office rather than as a bartender, only to find that he put her directly in harm's way. As Jackson methodically tracks down decades-old clues, Atkinson employs omniscient narration to step in and out of crime scenes both past and present. Playful humor, an impressive technique, and an offbeat detective with a penchant for weeping are the most obvious pleasures of a page-turner that succeeds in being both brainy and thoroughly entertaining.
  derailer | Jan 25, 2024 |
I like the writing, but this book didn't do a lot for me. The first few chapters are extremely strong, but the blend of zany humor and suspense didn't really work for me, and I didn't get much out of the characters' (poignant, to be sure) meditations on the lost girls whose tragedies propel the narrative. ( )
  raschneid | Dec 19, 2023 |
I came to this series of books from the TV adaptation. I had enjoyed the series and expected to find the books to be the same entertaining, but run of the mill, crime books. Imagine my surprise to find that they are so much more.

Yes, there is the expected crimes, each of which are brought to a satisfying conclusion but, there is so much more. The characters are not the cardboard cut outs that I am so used to meeting in books of this genre: they are 'real' people, doing things other than being a suspect.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series. ( )
  the.ken.petersen | Dec 11, 2023 |
I enjoyed reading this a lot, but found the resolution of the various mysteries a little unsatisfying. I think this is partly because Atkinson allows her investigating character to discover things which are not revealed to the reader until later. That always seems to be cheating a little.

This is the second book by Kate Atkinson I've read (Scenes From Behind A Museum is the first), and for me the good thing about her books is the plots. The writing itself I find a little unexciting. So when I feel let down by the plot at the end, my opinion of the book is definitely diminished.

All that said, I was engrossed in the book, and read it at a cracking pace. The characters are very nicely developed, and even in the midst of all the gruesomeness she maintains a good humour. A good book, just not as good as I thought it was. ( )
  thisisstephenbetts | Nov 25, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 332 (next | show all)
We have a woman who once thought she was marrying a “great mathematician” but now finds herself—a mother of four daughters and pregnant again—wondering what her glowering husband “would look like when he was dead.”
 
...a degree less antic in her postmodern playfulness.
added by vibesandall | editThe Independent (Sep 10, 2004)
 
Atkinson has always been a gripping storyteller, and her complicated narrative crackles with the earthy humor, vibrant characterizations, and shrewd social observations that enlivened her first novel but were largely swamped by postmodern game-playing in Human Croquet (1997) and Emotionally Weird (2000).
 

» Add other authors (9 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Atkinson, Kateprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Arduini, Adasecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Isaacs, JasonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jameson, SusanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)
Dedication
For Anne McIntyre
First words
How lucky were they? A heat wave in the middle of the school holidays, exactly where it belonged.
Quotations
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.
It wasn't that [he] believed in religion, or a God, or an afterlife. He just knew it was impossible to feel this much love and for it to end.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (2)

Fiction. Literature. Mystery. HTML:The first book in Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie Mysteries series, called "The best mystery of the decade" by Stephen King, finds private investigator Jackson Brodie following three seemingly unconnected family mysteries in Edinburg.
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 the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge . . .

No library descriptions found.

Book description
CASE ONE:
Olivia Land, youngest and most beloved of the Land girls, goes missing in the night and is never seen again. More than thirty years later, two of her surviving sisters, each achingly lonely in her own way, reunite when their cruel and distant father dies. There, among the clutter of their childhood home, they unearth a shocking clue to Olivia's disappearance.

CASE TWO:
All of Theo's happiness is tied to his devoted daughter Laura. He delights in her wit, her effortless beauty, and her selfless love, and in the fact that she's taken a position at his prestigious law firm. But on her first day on the job, a maniac storms into the office and turns Theo's entire world upside down.

CASE THREE:
Michelle looks around one day and finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making. A very needy baby and a very demanding husband make her every waking moment a reminder that somewhere, somehow, she made a grave mistake and will spend the rest of her life paying for it — until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.

As private detective Jackson Brodie investigates all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge. Jackson finds himself inextricably caught up in his clients' lives — their grief, their joy, their desire, and their unshakable need for resolution are very much like his own.

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Hachette Book Group

3 editions of this book were published by Hachette Book Group.

Editions: 0316010707, 0316033480, 1600245005

 

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