“Case Histories” by Kate Atkinson – Criminal Triangle

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson opens with a first-hand look at three different criminal cases from the perspective of those who were on the scene.

The first one is that of a girl who disappears in the middle of the night.

The second case revolves around a young woman becoming the victim of a seemingly-random attack by some kind of maniac.

The third case is that of an impulsive husband causing bloody mayhem in his own home.

Now, after thirty years have passed since the first case, a private investigator by the name of Jackson Brodie looks over all three of them and starts to make some very interesting discoveries.

While it may seem as if this mystery story is more centered around the plot, the truth is that much of it is dedicated to character development, specifically to Jackson Brodie. As he gets closer and closer to finding out the truth it has a visible impact on him, and the same goes for most other characters, of which there are quite many actually.

The plotline itself may be somewhat predictable, but it managed to retain my interest for most of it. However, I have to say that certain parts of the book ramble on needlessly and even feel boring. I even decided to skip over a couple of passages because I felt they were going absolutely nowhere.

The main problem people have with this book, from what I can see based on customer reviews at least, is that it is slow-paced, relatively long and quite descriptive. In other words, there is little action in comparison to what is found in the works of most other modern authors out there.

I do have to agree with that; the story advances at a somewhat slow pace, and readers who are looking for something more action-packed will be disappointed by this book.

However, if you don’t mind reading a mystery with a slower pace where more attention is given to details, then I definitely suggest you have a look at Case Histories.

Kate Atkinson Personal site Kate Atkinson is an English writer born in York and awarded a master’s degree in literature from the University of Dundee all the way back in 1974. Like most authors, she had to take on a variety of different jobs to sustain herself, but nevertheless she did not let the writer inside herself be lost forever.