Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

I'm having trouble with series lately. I got One Good Turn out of the library, only to discover that it took place a couple of years after this first mystery novel by a normally 'literary' author. So I managed to get this one to read first. Great choice. Atkinson does write well--especially character creation which she used particularly well here. Each case history is a different murder, many years apart, all taking place in Cambridge, that are taken on by private investigator Jackson Brodie. At first I was somewhat bothered by the crossed paths of people, until I realized that the smaller, permanent (non-student) population of Cambridge make this quite likely. People do all see the same homeless girl on the street, or see other residents in the Emergency Room at the hospital. All the mysteries revolve around the family reactions to murder and grief, including parent-child and sibling relationships. If you are a mystery fan and love well developed characters, and are not bothered by plots that meander, this is an excellent book.