There’s been voluntary OT at work for the last few weeks. And what keeps me going on very early on a Saturday morning besides a lovely chocolate bar, steaming hot cup of Lady Grey tea or a ginger ale? Mr iPod bursting with podcasts! Let’s set the scene. It’s last Saturday. I’ve blown through my HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast stash. I could listen to Skinny Puppy’s Goneja for the next four hours. I scroll through the genres lists trying to see if there’s anything I haven’t listened to a bazillion and one times and find the Nancy Pearl podcasts. What the heck, I’ll give ‘em a go.
So on go the earbuds. The lines on the Excel spreadsheet zip by. Nancy Pearl is cosy but not twee. And the guests. Oh the guests! Kate Atkinson (Case Histories) has lovely voice that reminds me of Dame Judi Dench as she and Nancy chat up her books, what it’s like to be introduced in America as a crime writer when she has several non-crime books. Kate Atkinson herself likes to think of herself as a writer of comedies of manners. As the clock ticks closer to 11 am, I know one thing. I am so going to the library right after work. Well, right after I stop by the local butcher shop for their $17 10lbs of boneless chicken special. THEN it’s library time!
And at 11 am, my work computer shuts off. There’s a quick trip to the ATM and the butcher shop. The 10lbs of boneless chicken get shoved into the fridge. I can break them down later. Right now just 4 blocks away the library is calling my name!
By 11:25 am I’m trolling the fiction section, trying to remember all the authors and most important the book titles. In the A’s I snap up Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories and then scan the flaps to find the next two books. I wander to the L’s. And then to the D’s and then the S’s. Blacklight follows for a bit and then goes to relax in a cozy chair. He knows I’ll come find him once I’m ready…
When I was trolling through iTunes snapping up interesting podcasts for Mr iPod, the Nancy Pearl interview with Kate Atkinson seemed like it would be interesting. Back in 2004 when Case Histories came out in the US I remember reading it and thinking “WOW”. For those who haven’t read Case Histories (without spoilers), are three cold crime cases that end up intertwining. It’s not twee and cozy. It’s twisting and digs into brain just like a really good Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine. You’re reading and don’t want to put down the book because you must know what happened, you pray Kate Atkinson will tell you what truly happened. You’ll be taken back in time, not a land of tea, servants and the Good Old Days. Your Atkinson time slip will land you in a tiny farm cottage, in an office and in a garden one very hot summer night.
Saturday night found me on Mr Couch, with the late evening hours passing by, Blacklight popping into the kitchen for a beer saying “aren’t you up late?” and finally closing the book, my throat tight and sad at 1 am.
Six hours later I was back on Mr Couch curled up a in ball under a duvet with a candy bar tearing through One Good Turn (2006). One summer morning in Edinburgh during the festival there is a minor traffic accident that goes from something I would have handled at Company XYZ years ago to something very, very, very wrong. And among the people who witness the accident are a housewife, a writer and a retired detective (Jackson Brodie from Case Histories).
Note: this book is NOT a direct sequel to Case Histories, a few characters pop up. Characters are certainly not who they seem. Reading the book, even hours after listening to the Nancy Pearl interview was still a thrilling ride. All my Sunday morning plans? Sidelined by One Good Turn. It’s rather hard to make chili for the week’s lunch, organize breakfast with a book in one hand…
But a proper breakfast was rustled up. And when Blacklight stumbled into the living room wanting to go out for coffee I was already a few chapters into When Will There Be Good News? (2008). Blacklight didn’t seem to understand the death GO WAY stare coming from the couch. He so paid for his foolishness at Dunkee Cup.
Do I even need to say I snatched up the book the second we got home and didn’t leave Mr Couch unless it was absolutely necessary until the book was done? How couldn’t you get caught up in a book that starts with a mother and her three children encountering a man in a field? And ends with you closing the book, your brain thinking “she didn’t…did she?”
Intrigued? Well for Heavens sake go to the library (or bookstore) and read just the first 50 pages of Case Histories. Then go and get the next two books. You don’t have to read them in exact order but you’ll be glad you did.
iTunes:
Podcast: Book Lust with Nancy Pearl
Episode: Book Lust featuring Kate Atkinson
Date: 12/4/06
The Books:
Case Histories
One Good Turn
When Will There Be Good News?
whiskeytangowendymarie.com 