Case Histories
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Kate Atkinson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Jackson Brodie |
| Genre | Crime fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 2004 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 304 |
| ISBN | 978-0-385-60799-5 |
| OCLC | 491944628 |
| Followed by | One Good Turn (2006) |
Case Histories (2004) is a detective novel by British author Kate Atkinson and is set in Cambridge, England. It introduces Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector and now private investigator. The plot revolves around three seemingly unconnected family tragedies – the disappearance of a three-year-old girl from a garden; the murder of a husband by his wife with an axe; and the apparently motiveless murder of a solicitor's daughter. Atkinson has since published three additional novels featuring Brodie: One Good Turn (2006), When Will There Be Good News? (2008) and Started Early, Took My Dog (2010).
Plot
Reception
 |
- "An astonishingly complex and moving literary detective story." – The Guardian[1]
- "Case Histories is a triumphant return to form: a tragi-comedy for our times." – The Daily Telegraph[2]
- "A great read." – The Boston Globe[3]
- Stephen King considered it "the best mystery of the decade".[4]
- Atkinson "is less interested in detailing the steps of an investigation than in exploring the rough and tumble that happens along the way. Her humor -- and she is a very funny writer -- is the sort that comes from being able to see the way happiness and sadness can emerge from the same situation. Her reach is certainly long enough to touch cruelty and grief, but it also extends far in the opposite direction -- all the way to joy."[5]
Adaptations
- An abridged audiobook adaptation of the book was released, with Jason Isaacs narrating the book.
- A three-part television adaptation of Atkinson's first three books in the Brodie series was produced for the BBC under the blanket title Case Histories (2011). It stars Jason Isaacs as Brodie. The adaptation of Case Histories itself was shown over consecutive nights on 5 June and 6 June 2011,[6] followed by adaptations of One Good Turn (2006) and When Will There Be Good News? (2008) over the succeeding two weeks.
See also
References
- ^ Back cover Black Swan edition, published 2005.
- ^ Owen, Katie (29 August 2004). "A Daily Sense of Danger – Katie Owen Reviews Case Histories by Kate Atkinson". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ (registration required) Silman, Roberta (23 January 2005). "Many Stories Woven into a Tight Knot" (Abstract; registration required for full article). The Boston Globe. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ Jordan, Justine (4 October 2006). "Beyond the Fringe – Justine Jordan Enjoys Kate Atkinson's Excursion to Edinburgh, One Good Turn". The Guardian, Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ Jacqueline Carey, "'Case Histories': Women in Trouble", New York Times, 5 December 2004, accessed 20 September 2014
- ^ [1]. BBC.
External links
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