Book Review: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

Jackson Brodie is one very busy private detective. The main character in Kate Atkinson's Case Histories is overrun with cases involving missing girls, all the more problematic as his own daughter is moving away with his cheating ex-wife.

The book is a tricky one to access, but well worth the effort. The cases themselves take over the narrative rather than standard detection. Histories does not fit the typical mystery mold. That said, Atkinson pulls off some of the most beautifully written passages I've read. She wraps her words around the chapters with such skill, I'm reminded of an ouroborous, the mythic snake eating itself from the tale *ahem* tail.

The cases are full of child murder, crimes of passion, and despair. Cold cases all, they highlight the damage a family endures in the loss of a child.

Good stuff.

I understand that some of the same characters show up in One Good Turn.

Next Book: Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? by Jen Lancaster