Reviews

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

dellaposta's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Ambitious but ultimately pretty disappointing crime novel. The PI protagonist is trying to solve 3 unrelated cases. Meanwhile, the book tries to balance point-of-view chapters from several characters and is filled with inner monologues that seem to go on forever with little interesting information. And while the writing is better than your “typical” crime mystery, perhaps, the mystery plot lines themselves felt too straightforward and didn’t work for me.

studycat's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

maryvdb2024's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Another brilliant book by Kate Atkinson. Loved the diverse characters and twisting and connecting plot. A real page turner. Looking forward to reading more in this series.

moosalamoo_rnnr's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

tamracielle's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I liked this, but not as well as the other two Kate Atkinson books I've read - Life After Life, and A God in Ruins. I feel like there could have been better closure on the "Case Histories" of some of her characters. Some things are left to conjecture. But that is okay, I suppose. This is the first book in the Jackson Brodie mystery series, and I plan to read more of them.

madmissmedic's review

Go to review page

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

janada59's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

This book was not written for me at all. I found the characters all pretty terrible, and did not find that the mysteries wove together in any significant way. Add to that the racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and fatphobic statements throughout the book and I'm left wondering why I bothered to finish it.

jenniekay24's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

setiff23's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Great puzzle, fun albeit morally grey characters, engaging from start to finish!

testaroscia's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I don't know why but I kept being reminded of David Mitchell if he had decided to write a Crime novel. Atkinson has a wonderful relaxed turn of phrase and is witty without being forced that i found. Like DM, the POV tend to swirl around and sometimes i was a bit lost on catching up with names but Im sold on Kate Atkinson