Case Histories

A Novel

By: Kate Atkinson

Narrated by: Susan Jameson

Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

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 detective Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge.

©2004 Kate Atkinson (P)2005 BBC Audiobooks Ltd.

The narration makes this come alive.

Although Kate Atkinson's novels can go on and on a bit, the narration of this one made the story very enjoyable. The lovely English accent of Susan Jameson gives this story life! The characters are like so many people you know and her skill as a narrator brings out all the subtle humor within the story. The story begins with 5 separate case studies, so different and unconnected that one wonders how they will ever be brought together. They are finally entwined together with many little surprises.

Less true crime than it is annoying diatribe.

Probably better to read the actual physical book as the storyline jumps around a lot and it's hard to follow without seeing the separation in print. The author is unusually mean to some of her characters. There was a lot of focus on the character's internal dialogues and virtually no focus on the investigation. Lastly, the reader's accent seemed to flit around without reason, it was very distracting.

Put two and two Together

So many characters. Reader must stay carefully tuned in. How does one write so many words about each personality? Quite enjoyable to read. I look forward to other Kate Atkinson stories.

Very vivid characters, intriguing twists, and....

...occasionally some sexually explicit words and scenes. The plot is well written, leading the reader merrily along the proverbial garden path via a whole lot of red herrings. Most of the plot lines are tied off by the end of the book, but there are plenty of open-ended issues to encourage readers to explore the rest of the series.

Good

I liked the narration. The story was pretty good. I would rate it 4/5.

Interesting mesh of stories

This novel is a well written collage of several stories which intertwine mysteriously. I enjoyed it very much.

A little disappointed

I found the characters a little hard to keep distinguished. And the ending was abrupt.

I love a mystery

I love a mystery. I thought these murders would be a more connected. I loved the characters and that would make me read another book in this series.

Hard to Follow

Although the narrator was very enthusiastic, I found it hard to listen to. At times I couldn’t distinguish between characters and cases because of the way it was written and because many of the character voices sounded so similar. The story jumps around in time and between cases a lot. I would not recommend this.

If you're not a Kate Atkinson fan, you should be!

Very satisfying book. Set of seemingly unrelated stories that weave together cleverly. These stories are so good that the BBC made a set of 3 episodes to air on PBS. The subsequent books with the protagonist Jackson Brody are very good too. I have listened to them all.