Kindle British & Irish Mystery Book Club discussion

Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson

"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..."

Discussion Leader: David Gooch
Link to Book on Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3Xd39iy

Finding this book mentioned as a "literary detective novel" left me curious about the form it might take. Combining three mysteries in one book seemed confusing, and I was at times confused, trying to recall which story a character fit into. Details about characters were often telling but other times, type-cast. Many were unlikeable, perhaps a reason to call the book "literary." Jackson hardly detected, just muddled through events and fell into information without true clues. When the three stories' endings were revealed, I wasn't certain that Jackson realized what had happened in each case. More was told to the reader than Jackson discovered and showed us. This wasn't a mystery where clues were carefully laid so the reader could solve it along the way; instead, the endings were revealed without trails leading to them or the detective leading the way to resolutions. I didn't feel engaged with most of the characters, found the plot structure lacking, and cared little about solutions to the deaths, so I rate this book at 2 stars.

I read this one back in 2015, and also wasn't impressed.
It was 2 stars from me, too, and crossed the author of my 'to read' list.
Not going for a re-read. Life is too short.

Read this back in 2020 & really enjoyed it. I love Kate Atkinson’s writing and have read numerous books by her.