Helpful Score: 3
This was my first Laura Lippman book and I am now looking forward to reading more by this author. I found the storytelling style so natural that while the characters in the book couldn't be more different from me, I felt like I knew and understood them from page one.
The story does hop around (back and forth) in time over a period of 50 years, but I found it worked. At one point (about a third of the way through) I had to go back and re-read a couple early pages at the beginning to refresh my memory about someone, but after that it flowed easily and I had little trouble keeping track of the time period being portrayed, and more importantly, understanding why the author took the reader back or forward to a particular date.
The mystery unfolded slowly and incrementally, and while there was no serious suspense throughout the story, the ending was a total surprise to me - and believable once it unfolded. Being surprised by "who done it", topped off a well-told story very nicely.
The story does hop around (back and forth) in time over a period of 50 years, but I found it worked. At one point (about a third of the way through) I had to go back and re-read a couple early pages at the beginning to refresh my memory about someone, but after that it flowed easily and I had little trouble keeping track of the time period being portrayed, and more importantly, understanding why the author took the reader back or forward to a particular date.
The mystery unfolded slowly and incrementally, and while there was no serious suspense throughout the story, the ending was a total surprise to me - and believable once it unfolded. Being surprised by "who done it", topped off a well-told story very nicely.
Another intriguing Lippman novel! Love the way she twists the plot and keeps you guessing. Thought I had it figured out but she always throws a surprise at the end. She's such a great story teller, developing the characters so well that she makes you feel as though you know them. Her style always flips though different time frames so you have to pay attention to dates, but it all works! Great writer!
Dead is dead. Missing is gone.
Inspired by the Salsbury fraud scandal of the 1970s, After I'm Gone explores how the enigmatic Felix Brewer's sudden disappearance echoes through lives of his wife, daughters, and mistressthe five women he loved and left behind. Both a legal thriller and dazzling sashay through a span of decades, Lippman's newest novel is elaborate, emotionally charged, and deeply probing.
In present-day Baltimore, as retired cop Sandy Sanchez reviews a cold case involving the murder of Julie SaxonyFelix's woman on the sidehe notices there are discrepancies from every angle, from every testimony, and he can't help but grow intrigued by the seductive, unsolved story of Felix Brewer, his family, and how it could all be connected to a dead Julie Saxony. The novel slips in and out of each eventful decade, from the fateful Valentine's Day of 1959 when Felix and young, fresh-faced Bambi first met, to Felix's unannounced departure and the aftermath thereof, and finally, to Sandy's determined investigation. The toll Felix's desertion takes on Bambiboth financially and emotionallyas well as the way each of his well-fleshed daughters are affected, will raise great sympathy within readers, but will inevitably keep them on edge, itching to find out: how did Felix manage to leave without a trace, and why did he go without seeing to the well-being of his beloved family?
After I'm Gone is such a well crafted, well explicated mystery novel. It combines an elaborate, arduous tangle of lies, secrets, and even sacrifice, with a sharp, fast-paced procession of revelations. These continuous shifts, shocking discoveries, and impending truths never stop surprising you until the very end, which I think is a fabulous ploy. It's one of those books where you think you have everything figured out untilbam!something happens halfway through and changes the entire plot, and then, at the last few chapters, the same thing happens againand again, and againbam! bam! bam! The intimate, perplexing glimpses into the lives of the Brewer women through the years of a husbandless and fatherless development really bring the story to life. The way Felix's betrayal affects his daughters' marriages, senses of dignity, and identities transforms this high-stake detective novel into one with human disparitiesfaults of the fleshand that's what made it so powerful for me.
There's a purposefully vague, but consistently dark and pressing tone to the novel that's both eventful and stylistically entertaining. Readers remain in the dark about Felix's character, which makes him even more puzzling; but then again, it doesn't really matter because it's his reverberations that make up this book, not the man himself. This is the first Laura Lippman mystery I've read, but based off her commanding voice and complicated, wrenching storylines, she's an author I'm now more than eager to try again.
Pros: Rich in historical detail and legalese // Addictive // Reminiscent of the extravagance and flair of the '50s and '60s // Contrived, complicated, original plot // Bambi and daughters are so well portrayed, so lifelike // Mystery seems impossible to solve, and remains unpredictable even until the very end // Weaves complex emotions about family and love within the crime // Will surprise you multiple timesnot your average linear whodunnit // Thrilling, engaging
Cons: Sandy isn't likable // Too detailed and slow-moving at times // Timeline gets confusing to keep up with
Verdict: Sandy Sanchez doesn't know what he's in for when he takes on two details of a cold case that at first glance, other than the painfully obvious and quickly dismissed suspicions, have no plausible relation: the untimely appearance of Felix Brewer's mistress's dead body, and the means of survival the man's family turned to in his wake. Equal parts murder mystery and narrative family drama, After I'm Gone contains surprisingly touching wisdom about the tragedy of idealism and how nobody, no matter how beautiful their face or honest their soul, ever really gets what they want. Full of unstable alibis, tenderly guarded secrets, and the buildup of multiple unexpected but long-dreaded twists, Laura Lippman's latest crime novel provides soul-searing, electrifying insight on not only greed, selfishness, and cowardice, but also on identity, the gray areas between marriage and unfaithfulness, and the meaning of fatherly love.
Rating: 8 out of 10 hearts (4 stars): An engaging read that will be worth your while; highly recommended.
Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher via tour publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Harper Collins and TLC!).
Inspired by the Salsbury fraud scandal of the 1970s, After I'm Gone explores how the enigmatic Felix Brewer's sudden disappearance echoes through lives of his wife, daughters, and mistressthe five women he loved and left behind. Both a legal thriller and dazzling sashay through a span of decades, Lippman's newest novel is elaborate, emotionally charged, and deeply probing.
In present-day Baltimore, as retired cop Sandy Sanchez reviews a cold case involving the murder of Julie SaxonyFelix's woman on the sidehe notices there are discrepancies from every angle, from every testimony, and he can't help but grow intrigued by the seductive, unsolved story of Felix Brewer, his family, and how it could all be connected to a dead Julie Saxony. The novel slips in and out of each eventful decade, from the fateful Valentine's Day of 1959 when Felix and young, fresh-faced Bambi first met, to Felix's unannounced departure and the aftermath thereof, and finally, to Sandy's determined investigation. The toll Felix's desertion takes on Bambiboth financially and emotionallyas well as the way each of his well-fleshed daughters are affected, will raise great sympathy within readers, but will inevitably keep them on edge, itching to find out: how did Felix manage to leave without a trace, and why did he go without seeing to the well-being of his beloved family?
After I'm Gone is such a well crafted, well explicated mystery novel. It combines an elaborate, arduous tangle of lies, secrets, and even sacrifice, with a sharp, fast-paced procession of revelations. These continuous shifts, shocking discoveries, and impending truths never stop surprising you until the very end, which I think is a fabulous ploy. It's one of those books where you think you have everything figured out untilbam!something happens halfway through and changes the entire plot, and then, at the last few chapters, the same thing happens againand again, and againbam! bam! bam! The intimate, perplexing glimpses into the lives of the Brewer women through the years of a husbandless and fatherless development really bring the story to life. The way Felix's betrayal affects his daughters' marriages, senses of dignity, and identities transforms this high-stake detective novel into one with human disparitiesfaults of the fleshand that's what made it so powerful for me.
There's a purposefully vague, but consistently dark and pressing tone to the novel that's both eventful and stylistically entertaining. Readers remain in the dark about Felix's character, which makes him even more puzzling; but then again, it doesn't really matter because it's his reverberations that make up this book, not the man himself. This is the first Laura Lippman mystery I've read, but based off her commanding voice and complicated, wrenching storylines, she's an author I'm now more than eager to try again.
Pros: Rich in historical detail and legalese // Addictive // Reminiscent of the extravagance and flair of the '50s and '60s // Contrived, complicated, original plot // Bambi and daughters are so well portrayed, so lifelike // Mystery seems impossible to solve, and remains unpredictable even until the very end // Weaves complex emotions about family and love within the crime // Will surprise you multiple timesnot your average linear whodunnit // Thrilling, engaging
Cons: Sandy isn't likable // Too detailed and slow-moving at times // Timeline gets confusing to keep up with
Verdict: Sandy Sanchez doesn't know what he's in for when he takes on two details of a cold case that at first glance, other than the painfully obvious and quickly dismissed suspicions, have no plausible relation: the untimely appearance of Felix Brewer's mistress's dead body, and the means of survival the man's family turned to in his wake. Equal parts murder mystery and narrative family drama, After I'm Gone contains surprisingly touching wisdom about the tragedy of idealism and how nobody, no matter how beautiful their face or honest their soul, ever really gets what they want. Full of unstable alibis, tenderly guarded secrets, and the buildup of multiple unexpected but long-dreaded twists, Laura Lippman's latest crime novel provides soul-searing, electrifying insight on not only greed, selfishness, and cowardice, but also on identity, the gray areas between marriage and unfaithfulness, and the meaning of fatherly love.
Rating: 8 out of 10 hearts (4 stars): An engaging read that will be worth your while; highly recommended.
Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher via tour publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Harper Collins and TLC!).
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
Three sisters, a wife and a mistress are left behind by a man who flees before justice can be served and he may serve time. This book takes a look at not only these five women and what they must go through when left behind, but his friends as well and how his cowardliness affects everyone.
Presented in a different way with alternating chapters - one chapter would be in the past while the next would be current as the Detective Sandy is undergoing his investigation into the cold case. It was obvious as to what time it was and who was the center of the chapter, I loved reading about Sandy's discoveries and then the story behind the piece of evidence next.
Three sisters, a wife and a mistress are left behind by a man who flees before justice can be served and he may serve time. This book takes a look at not only these five women and what they must go through when left behind, but his friends as well and how his cowardliness affects everyone.
Presented in a different way with alternating chapters - one chapter would be in the past while the next would be current as the Detective Sandy is undergoing his investigation into the cold case. It was obvious as to what time it was and who was the center of the chapter, I loved reading about Sandy's discoveries and then the story behind the piece of evidence next.
