Review: Case Histories

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a bigly fan of schlock fiction I have a certain set of expectations from a 'mystery' story, and sometimes they need to be put in check. Stephen King, Clive Cussler, Lee Child: I can turn my brain off for a while, like watching a blockbuster movie or playing a video game.
Case Histories required more attention and gave more reward. It fell in the grey zone between airport paperback and Literary Fiction (a distinction which is entirely unrelated to how much I enjoy or appreciate it).
The plot was messier and more complicated than an airplane book might dare, and all the richer for it. The antihero private eye with a heart of gold stayed pretty much to the A.P.E.W.A.H.O.G. script, taking his lumps from every direction and putting together the clues he's overlooked. I found it more satisfying than clichéd.
Atkinson is kind to her characters, though not afraid of a few moments of startling violence. (Ann Patchett meets Stephen King?)
Loved it.

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