Kate Atkinson is one of the glorious exceptions. This is the third book I read by her, the others being Behind the Scenes at the Museum (which I adored) and When Will There Be Good News (like Case Histories, a Jackson Brodie mystery).
Case Histories is the first in the Jackson Brodie series. Jackson has quit the police force a few years back, is a newly divorced weekend dad to young Marlee and his work as a PI is rather slow going. Then he is asked to investigate a three cases in short succession.
Firstly, the diappearence of little Olivia from a tent in the garden over a decade ago.
Secondly, the murder of a young woman by a man in a yellow sweater - also a while back.
Thirdly, a runaway whose mother was found beside the dead body of her husband, axe still in hand - also a while back.
All three get dragged back up by relatives of the victims for various reasons. Jackson starts to investigate, all the while having angry exchanges with his ex-wife and meetings with a strange elderly woman (his first ever client Binky Rain) who keeps calling him about her cats getting 'stolen'. And in the middle of it all, someone is trying to kill him.
Whereas the premise sounds overly confusing, Ms. Atkinson manages to weave all these stories into one bigger picture with overlapping conclusions to all three cases.
Really entertaining.
7/10
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