Kate Atkinson's Case Histories introduced the former private detective Jackson Brodie, who made a welcome return in One Good Turn, When Will There Be Good News? (voted Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year) and Started Early, Took My Dog. The first three Brodie novels have been adapted into a successful BBC TV series starring Jason Isaacs. She won the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year prize for her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, and has been a critically acclaimed international author ever since. She was appointed MBE in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours list.
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) * Brilliantly playful, witty and original... massive and consistent talent for comedy * The Scotsman * 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 * Guardian * 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 * 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 * Triumphant...Her best book yet...A tragi-comedy for our times * Sunday Telegraph * A greedy feast of a story by a masterful author...A profound, exciting and lingering read * Daily Express * Sharp humour, together with a number of unexpected twists makes this a typically pacey and intelligent read * Daily Mail * 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 * Guardian *