Reviews

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

florapants84's review

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

4.0

seanstarb's review

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

2.5

oaybcjan's review

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

4.0

celtic67's review

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5.0

Another superb book from Ms Atkinson

donnanoble's review against another edition

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I was interested in each of the individual cases but didn't connect with the detective. When the writing style was still so drawn out when he was introduced, I lost interest. 

Might give it another try in the future but wasn't a fit for what I was looking for at this time.  

shearegan's review

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3.0

3.75

georgina196's review against another edition

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

3.0

katykelly's review against another edition

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5.0

I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed this. The unravelling of several murder cases over several decades, followed by the rapid investigation and winding up of each in turn was expertly done. Cases were subtly connected, the reader has to make connections themselves - it's not all laid out openly.

Jackson Brodie, former military police and police inspector, is a private investigator who finds himself called on to solve several cases of murder and unexplained death. Some from decades past and others much more recent. His relationship with his daughter Marlee is carried on through his work, quite movingly as he sees parallels between her possible future and the victims he's investigating.

Each case has a full history, with mysterious circumstances that must be untangled. None are easy to guess but all explainable by the close of the book.

It's very entertaining, but also, at the end, you also realise how clever the telling has been. Jackson is a wonderful lead - strong and smart, very attractive as a character, with a past of his own that is also gradually revealed.

This was made into a (so far) two season BBC drama, and done very well, having also watched series one. Faithful to the structure and plot of the book.

I think I'm going to look for more in this series next year, which I don't do very often.

Crime/mystery writing at its literate best.

duncanvb's review

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dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

Not her best (some bad jokes, has sentences that aren't perfect) and the mysteries aren't all created equal, both in the unfolding and the creaky connections. Doesn't mean it isn't really good, though.

rayvn1004's review

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

3.5