Making a Case

Having spent time living in Scotland, I've been reading some of the contemporary authors that have been products of that beautiful land.  One of my favorites, who I discovered in a random charity shop in Edinburgh, is Christopher Brookmyre who is a wonderful political/crime/whodunit writer.  Another well-known contemporary Edinburgh writer is Ian Rankin, whose books are along the same lines as Brookmyre's.  His Detective Rebus novels have even garnered a television show.  In addition to these two writers, there is Kate Atkinson.  Now, I have never read anything by Atkinson, though she's prevalent on my To-Read list because her novels always sound so interesting, but I ran across an inexpensive used copy of one of her books recently and thought I'd give it a try.

Kate Atkinson's Case Histories was an interesting read.  Not bad...not great...just interesting.  The novel covers a time span of thirty years and three separate cold cases.  Somehow these cases have been brought to the attention of Detective Jackson Brodie.  As he works to discovered what each case is about and how they are all related, because in some strange way they are, he must struggle with his own personal life on top of that.  In addition, the families of every case are a constant presence that must be factored in to each investigation as they worm their way into Brodie's life.  There are some shocking turns and some predictable turns throughout the novel that lead the reader to some interesting discoveries.

Despite the fact that I was not overly impressed with Case Histories, I did like the writing style and the flow that Atkinson brought to the story.  Because of that, I will probably pick up more books by her and keep the Scottish tradition alive!  To go along with that, I just discovered this little gem...oh man!  It looks good and I might have to watch it.