Case Histories

By: Kate Atkinson

Narrated by: Susan Jameson

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

Cambridge is sweltering during an unusually hot summer. To Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, the world consists of one accounting sheet--"lost" on the left, "found" on the right--and the two never seem to balance. Jackson has never felt at home in Cambridge and has a failed marriage to prove it.

Surrounded by death, intrigue, and misfortune, his own life haunted by a family tragedy, he attempts to unravel three disparate case histories and begins to realise that in spite of apparent diversity, everything is connected...

©2004 Kate Atkinson (P)2014 AudioGo Ltd. Published by Random House Audiobooks

Enid Blyton meets Agatha Christie

What disappointed you about Case Histories?

Two-dimensional characters that put me in mind of the Famous Five when they were all grown up. Twee.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Something that doesn't feel like an English Public School creative writing project. And something where at least a few characters are interested in something other than sex.

What does Susan Jameson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She caught the accents of the Famous Five types beautifully.

Any additional comments?

I'm sure lots of people enjoy this kind of style, but it really didn't work for me. I need a fighting chance of at least respecting one of the characters, and I really do need them to come across as real people.

Awful Narration

I love Kate Atkinson, but the narrator's tone, in attempting to interpret, just makes every sentence sound sneering, bored and sarcastic. Couldn't listen, once I worked out what the problem was. Awful.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

unusual interesting kept me listening

story in overllapping chapters makes interesting read with strong characterization enjoyed reading until end ...a bit to much detailed sex for my liking ..didn't excpect it in a mystery Novel but will look forward to next Jackson Brodie

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Quite Dickensian

Good wide ranging interwoven stories which are all perplexing but satisfactorily concluded makes this a more taxing read than the normal detective story. Worth it but don't expect an easy read.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Nice narration, dreadful accents.

The story, the first of a series with the main character, was nicely laid out and ended satisfactorily.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Well crafted tale

Written in a clever, seemingly matter of fact way which makes you want to know what really happened to the various characters.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fantastic story

If you could sum up Case Histories in three words, what would they be?

Emotional, engaging, enjoyable.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Case Histories?

Atkinson's complex use of time to weave the novel, bringing great depth to her characters.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely!

Any additional comments?

Thoroughly enjoyed this listen, despite the slight shift in accents which was a little off-putting.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fantastic narration

I don't think I've ever listened to a better narrated book. Susan Jameson does an excellent job, unlike anything I've heard before.

Regards the story, there are three parallel stories loosely interwoven via the private detective Jackson Brodie. But the chapters are all from different perspectives of the various characters, so you get to know much more of their individual thoughts and feelings this way.

Nearly everything is wrapped up at the end, but I still have some questions I want answering, so am looking forward to discussing this with my book group in a couple of weeks!

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Erm.....

It’s a complicated style to listen to, maybe a bit better in written form as you could flip back and forth to keep up. Well narrated (even though she can be a bit school teacher)

This is the first Kate Atkinson book I have listened to. I haven’t ruled her out completely but if the next Brodie instalment is this erratic, I probably won’t bother again.

Puzzling

This is the first book of Kate Atkinson that I've read and I enjoyed it enough to try a second, after all, she came highly recommended. But this one was far too disjointed, it probably would have been better if the author had stuck to 3separate short stories instead of jumping around totally unconnected accounts. Let's see what the next one is like.......