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This was a book, like Housekeeping, that I bought because of the high praise it earned from Entertainment Weekly during a trip to Barnes & Noble I took while visiting my sister. The main draw was that Case Histories was supposed to be well-written like a good fiction novel, with good page-turning mysteries like a thriller. My expectation was that it would be like a written version of one of my favorite shows Law & Order, which I consider to be good quality television because as you're wanting to know the outcome of the show, there's normally a philosophical or moral struggle due to the gray nature of the cases (and in fact, the book mentions Law & Order). Case Histories is centered around three cold cases, each having occurred in a different decade, all now on the desk of Jackson Brodie, a private investigator who, while interesting, is a bit of a cookie cutter character, the world-weary, tough guy with a heart of gold. And at the periphery of the three cases are the people who were affected by them, all victims of loss -- the two women who lost their little sister, a father who lost his daughter, and an aunt who can't find her niece. In several ways, the book did remind me of a Law & Order episode -- the caring detective, the twists, the wry sense of humor. What was different was a deeper exploration of loss (in L&O it's more like, "We're sorry, but your wife is dead," followed by an uncomfortable silence as the husband starts crying, then, "Umm...can you come ID the body now?"), i.e. more interest in the victim's family as opposed to the perpetuator. Though, the book was definitely a page-turner, with interesting solutions to the mysteries, and I loved Atkinson's honest writing style. Recommended for anyone who likes L&O, or who like their thrillers with a little more meat to them. 4/5 STARS FAVORITE AMAZON REVIEW by A. Blouin |  |
