| Case Histories | 
 enlarge | Author: Kate Atkinson
Publisher: Black Swan
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 667
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 399
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0552772437
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780552772433
ASIN: 0552772437
Publication Date: August 2, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: EX LIB.DESPATCHED FROM UK, BOOKS SHIPPED DAILY.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Leave it to the professionals April 7, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This author is immensely talented, as Behind the Scenes at the Museum made clear. However, if you are looking for detective fiction it is probably better to choose a book by a writer who specialises in that. The descriptions are vivid and the style is excellent, but the cases are not linked, the process of deduction is not shown, and the suspense is not thrilling. Some parts of the book are very sad, and the remainder was not funny enough to compensate.
OK, but not her best February 5, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
The structure of this novel is very similar to that of Atkinson's debut "Behind the Scenes..." in that the timeline jumps, the stories are interwoven (but are not interdependent in the same way that they did in Behind the Scenes...) and the themes of childhood, family secrets and resolving of past mysteries are all present. This is high quality writing but it does tend to suffer in comparison; the character of Olivia is similar to that of Pearl in Behind the Scenes... and Amelia very similar to Bunty but as the stories are not linked, Cast Histories is not as involving for the reader. There is no feeling of resolution at the end of the book, of the three cases investigated by the main character, Jackson, only one is solved and whereas it is revealed to the reader the background of the other two cases, because this isn't used to generate any moments of drama between the other characters you're left with the feeling that you have been sold short. This is still a great read but it just pales in comparison to Atkinson's best.
All neatly tied up by the end December 10, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Atkinson writes well and this book is a page-turner. But I found some of her characters' thoughts a little improbable, and none of the characters particularly sympathetic. It became a puzzle how she was going to tie everything up at the end but she did - a little like they used to do in episodes of The Bill, although here rather better-written.
Jolly escapist reading. Recommended.
Readable if a little too pat October 12, 2006
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
Atkinson writes about England and the English much like a columnist in a quality newspaper: without affectation, and with jabs of wit that often raise a smile. Her England is a pretty depressing and unlovely place, but there are traces of decency in the people that make life bearable.
In Case Histories a somewhat improbable private detective based in Cambridge more-or-less stumbles his way to the solving of a number of `cold' murder/disappearance cases, the most interesting of which goes back thirty years. In the process he exorcises certain of his own demons. The cases are not really connected, and some are very much more interesting than others, but they all coincidentally turn up in the detective's in-tray in one way or another at the same time.
Overall the book is engaging, although, like mysteries of all kinds, it is mainly powered by the reader's curiosity about the identity of the perpetrators. However, when the truth comes out it is not always very credible (would the police and volunteers looking for a missing toddler really fail to check a neighbouring garden?), and the way everything ties up at the end is both too neat and too artificial to be very satisfying.
Good entertainment for the most part, but lacking credible grit.
a simple read September 20, 2006
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
i found the actual writing of this book very amusing, atkinson is talented at describing events in a satirical and comical way. however i did feel that the story itsself was a little too predictable and in parts pretty cliche, this meant that the cases lacked the shock value that would have given the book a very good ending. one thing that annoyed me about the book as a whole was that jackson didnt really do any detecting. i realize that this is because atkinson was concentrating on the stories of the lives of the characters but in my mind if you're going to write a book centered around a detective then they should atleast do some detecting. aside from all this the first three chapters especially were very enjoyable to read, as was the rest of the book. however if you are looking for a lots of depth then this isnt the book for you. the satirical style of writing makes it nice to read on a sunday afternoon but it is very simple as far as plot goes.
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