Case Histories

Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night.

Case two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack.

Case three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.

Thirty years after the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge . . .

"Not just the best novel I read this year, but the best mystery of the decade. . . . I defy any reader not to feel a combination of delight and amazement."--Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly

"One of the most enjoyable books in a long time."--Leslie McGill, Kansas City Star

"CASE HISTORIES is so exuberant, so empathetic, that it makes most murder-mystery page-turners feel as lifeless as the corpses they're strewn with."--Jacqueline Carey, New York Times Book Review

"CASE HISTORIES combines the suspense of a whodunit with the richly textured plot of a sprawling family saga. The result is top-notch literature - an unforgettable, unclassifiable read."--Elisabeth Egan, Chicago Sun-Times

"Grabs hold of the reader and doesn't let go. . . . CASE HISTORIES winds up having more depth and vividness than ordinary thrillers and more thrills than ordinary fiction."--Janet Maslin, New York Times

Called the best mystery of the decade by Stephen King, this novel from award-winner Atkinson is a breathtaking story of families divided, love lost and found, and the mysteries of fate.

The first book in Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie Mysteries series, called The best mystery of the decade by Stephen King, finds private investigator Jackson Brodie following three seemingly unconnected family mysteries in Edinburg.

Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night.

Case two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack.

Case three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.

Thirty years after the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge . . .

Kate Atkinson is the author of six novels - Behind the Scenes at the Museum, which won the Whitbread Award for Book of the Year; Human Croquet; Emotionally Weird; CASE HISTORIES; One Good Turn; and When Will There Be Good News? - and a collection of short fiction, Not the End of the World. She lives in Edinburgh.