This week I was able to finish two books and I really enjoyed both of them! I hope that you were able to have a satisfying reading week too.

Having already read other books in the Jackson Brodie series, I was pleased when I found the first book on our ebook service. Here is the blurb:

”The scene is set in Cambridge, with three case histories from the past: A young child who mysteriously disappeared from a tent in her back garden; An unidentified man in a yellow jumper who marched into an office and slashed a young girl through the throat; and a young woman found by the police sitting in her kitchen next to the body of her husband, an axe buried in his head.

Jackson Brodie, a private investigator and former police detective, is quietly contemplating life as a divorced father when he is flung into the midst of these resurrected old crimes. Julia and Amelia Land enlist Jackson’s help to find out the truth about their younger sister. They embroil him in the complexities of their own jealousies, obsessions and lust.

Another woman named Shirley needs Jackson to help find her lost niece. Jackson meets solicitor Theo Wyre whose daughter, Laura, was murdered in his office and is desperate for Jackson to help him lay Laura’s ghost to rest.

As he starts his investigations Jackson has the sinister feeling that someone is following him. In digging into the past Jackson seems to have unwittingly threatened his own future. This wonderfully crafted, intricately plotted novel is heartbreaking, uplifting, full of suspense and often very funny.”

I really love Kate Atkinson’s writing style. This is the review that I posted on Goodreads:

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am really unsure how to grade this book or how to write the review. My problem is that the writing is wonderful, complex with a wry humour that I really enjoyed, but my memory issues mean that I struggled with the plot.

Since I had a stroke in 2019, my short-term memory has been very patchy. This means that, when I read a book over several days, I have problems with remembering vital parts of the plot and the names of some characters. Sometimes I go back a few pages, which can help, but this author’s style of writing doesn’t! The chapters range around the different characters and cases and I felt like I was really losing the plot!!!

But, of course, this is my problem, and not a fault of Kate Atkinson!

I have read some of her other books, including others in this series, and not had the same issues. So, I think my problems were probably worsened by the multiple cases in this book. In the end, I did manage to straighten it all out in my mind and finished the book feeling pretty positive about it. I love Kate Atkinson’s writing style, so will continue to read her work when I can get it from the library’s ebook service.

View all my reviews

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Yes, I will definitely have to find more books in the series!

My second book of the week was You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce. First we have the blurb:

”I wanted someone to know, you see. To know my truth, now that I am gone. How everything and none of it happened.

Everyone knew bestselling novelist Cassandra Tipp had twice got away with murder.

Even her family were convinced of her guilt.

So when she disappears, leaving only a long letter behind, they can but suspect that her conscience finally killed her.

But the letter is not what anyone expected. It tells two chilling, darkly disturbing stories. One is a story of bloody nights and magical gifts, of children lost to the woods, of husbands made from twigs and leaves and feathers and bones . . .

The other is the story of a little girl who was cruelly treated and grew up crooked in the shadows . . .

But which story is true? And where is Cassie now?”

And this is my short review:

You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What a strange, weird book! I have just finished it and I have no idea what to write about it. I have given it three stars, but it could be worth five or four, two or one.

I have no idea what to make of it!

The main character is literally away with the faeries, or was she really abused as a child? Are the faeries real, or just sticks and stones, made up and part of her vivid imagination?

I can’t decide and I wonder if the author even knows…

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Well, I think I could really do with a good thriller now. Something rather more straightforward with a lot of mayhem!

Anyway, I wish you all Happy Reading for the coming week.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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