Her best book yet, an astonishingly complex and moving literary detective story that made me sob but also snort with laughter. It's the sort of novel you have to start rereading the minute you've finished it
The Guardian
Brilliantly detailed and unexpectedly funny
The Daily Mirror
Shot through with sharp, black humour, and introducing a loveable hero in Brodie, this is storytelling that satisfies at every level
Marie Claire (Book of the Month)
As satisfying as anything dreamed up by Raymond Chandler, but the beauty of the novel lies in its spot-on characterizations, pitch perfect observations of contemporary culture and a sharp, wisecracking narrative voice
Time Out
Not just the best novel I have read this year ... but the best mystery of the decade. There are actually four mysteries, nesting like Russian dolls, and when they begin to fit together, I defy any reader not to feel a combination of delight and amazement. Case Histories is the literary equivalent of a triple axel. I read it once for pleasure and then again just to see how it was done. This is the kind of book you shove in people's faces, saying 'You gotta read this!'
Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
Intriguing and affecting ... she has also created a compelling central chracter in world-weary private investigator Jackson Brodie, who is determined to bring justice to all the lives that lie fractured around him
Red (Book of the Month)
To read it is to enter a hall of mirrors ... Part complex family drama, part mystery, it winds up having more depth and vividness than ordinary thrillers and more thrills than ordinary fiction ... A wonderfully tricky book
New York Times
Perceptive and engaging
The Independent
A greedy feast of a story by a masterful author ... A profound, exciting and lingering read ... What it says about the randomness of life, the importance of truth and the essential ubiquity of goodness will stay with you for a long time after you have finished reading it
Daily Express
Kate Atkinson, always a stylish and thoughtful writer, excels herself in her thoroughly absorbing and exciting new novel
Jim Crace
Murder, mystery and Atkinson's skill make for an atmospheric and moving story
Eve
Atkinson is very good indeed... more satisfying than many detective novels. Everyone who picks it up will feel compelled to follow it through to the last page
The Guardian
Brilliantly playful, witty and original... massive and consistent talent for comedy
The Scotsman
Funny, furious fourth novel rumbustiously drives a path through the genre of detective fiction, demolishing its careful, forensic summation of human behaviour and replacing them with bloody, believable, vigorous tales
Rachel Cusk
Sharp humour, together with a number of unexpected twists makes this a typically pacey and intelligent read
Daily Mail
Triumphant ... Her best book yet ... A tragi-comedy for our times
Sunday Telegraph
Civilised, funny, life-affirming and hugely enjoyable
Philip Oakes, Literary Review
Vivid, multifaceted... Case Histories manages to be such an ultimately joyful novel ... I found myself captivated throughout by the vivacity and big-hearted humour ... skilled juxtaposition
Liz Jensen, WBQ
