After I’m Gone is not the sort of book I would normally read, its a murder mystery which follows the discoveries of a detective after the enigmatic Felix Brewer disappears and his mistress is found murdered ten years later.
The book is well written and brilliantly complex in terms of the mystery and the structure. However, although I felt the story compelling and I needed to read it through to the end I simply didn’t like any of the characters enough to care that much about them. This meant that I skim read it rather than really enjoyed it.
One of the things which I did enjoy was the way that the jumps between time periods where dealt with and this is something that kept me hooked, I thought each time period was brilliantly described. That alone makes for quite a multifaceted book.
I have really mixed feelings about this book, on the whole, I suspect that the genre isn’t really for me. I loved various aspects of it and I liked her writing style. I think I need to read a few more crime books!
Laura Lippman has been awarded every single major prize in crime fiction, so she’s definitely worth a read. After I’m Gone is an accessible introduction to this genre and would make a perfect holiday read. To find out more have a look at her website: http://lauralippman.com/ You’ll find all the UK catalogue information here http://www.faber.co.uk/catalog/after-im-gone/9780571299669
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