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Case Histories

(Jackson Brodie)

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Case Histories

By: Kate Atkinson
Narrated by: Jason Isaacs
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The first Jackson Brodie novel: literary crime from the prizewinning, number-one bestselling author of Big Sky and Transcription.

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.

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

'An astonishingly complex and moving literary detective story that made me sob but also snort with laughter. It's the sort of novel you have to start rereading the minute you've finished it' Guardian

© Kate Atkinson 2004 (P) Penguin Audio 2010

 Cosy Mystery Police Procedurals Private Investigators Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction

Critic reviews

Her best book yet, an astonishingly complex and moving literary detective story that made me sob but also snort with laughter. It's the sort of novel you have to start rereading the minute you've finished it
Sharp humour, together with a number of unexpected twists makes this a typically pacey and intelligent read
A greedy feast of a story by a masterful author...A profound, exciting and lingering read
Triumphant...Her best book yet...A tragi-comedy for our times
To read it is to enter a hall of mirrors...Part complex family drama, part mystery, it winds up having more depth and vividness than ordinary thrillers and more thrills than ordinary fiction...A wonderfully tricky book
As satisfying as anything dreamed up by Raymond Chandler, but the beauty of the novel lies in its spot-on characterizations, pitch perfect observations of contemporary culture and a sharp, wisecracking narrative voice
Shot through with sharp, black humour, and introducing a loveable hero in Brodie, this is storytelling that satisfies at every level
Atkinson is very good indeed... more satisfying than many detective novels. Everyone who picks it up will feel compelled to follow it through to the last page
Brilliantly playful, witty and original... massive and consistent talent for comedy
Intriguing and affecting... she has also created a compelling central chracter in world-weary private investigator Jackson Brodie, who is determined to bring justice to all the lives that lie fractured around him
All stars
Most relevant
The premise of this story is very clever and beautifully thought out. However, I made a mistake when I purchased this and ended up with the abridged version. Sadly, because I didn’t buy it on a credit, I’m not able to return it and swap it for the full length version.

I like Kate Atkinson’s writing style. I’m actually contemplating buying the full version because I found that I had difficulty following the story as it was progressing. Towards the end I was completely up to speed but the abridged version made reference to things that had happened earlier in the story that weren’t in the abridged version, making it very confusing.

DON’T BUY THE ABRIDGED VERSION! Go mad and buy the full 10 hour version! I will definitely be following Jackson Brody as a character and listening to more of Kate Atkinson’s books

Abridged version is this joint theatre and confusing

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A great introduction to the thoroughly decent bloke that is Jackson Brodie. Kate Atkinson is a genius at creating complex and believable characters. Sometimes laugh out loud, sometimes incredibly sad, but always written with great skill. Threads of people’s lives that weave together in a great story.

A cracking story

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Hard to imagine a better novel of the genre.Kate Atkinson is a superb storyteller and informative writer.

Superb

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Case Histories is the first in the Jackson Brodie series. It starts with short descriptions of three cases from years before - the disappearance of a small girl, and two brutal murders. For various reasons, Jackson (an ex-copper turned PI) is approached by people related to the victims, who all want to look again at aspects of the cases.

I really enjoyed this, although I think that's at least as much due to Isaacs' narration as to the book itself. The book is a tricky balance, with a tone of light, ironic humour despite the profound and sometimes upsetting details of the stories. The narration manages to point up the humour while also being serious enough to be moving, when that's necessary.

This is the first audiobook I have listened to and it was a good combination of reader and material.

Great reader, good book.

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I was riveted but sadly just too many characters and in the end I was confused. Great story and excellent narration

Engrossed from go to wo!

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