Sunburn

A modern noir and a great salute to the early authors. The book begins with a man (Adam) and a woman (Polly) meeting in a no place bar in no place Belleville, Delaware. They connect and end up working in the diner for several months. Interspersed with the present are remembered scenes from the past that slowly give us a picture of Polly from childhood on. Adam choreographed their meeting for his own reasons. He's working as a P.I. and she is abandoning a marriage. But it is so much more than that as we explore the thoughts of these two individuals. There are twists and turns along the way and a “I didn't see that coming” ending. A really good read to sink your teeth into.

The full review is available at The Gray Planet.

Sunburn by Laura Lippman is marketed as a “noir gem” and with blurbs from prestigious authors and publications. Sunburn is a formula story. I was drawn to the book after reading an interesting article about Lippman and her books.

In Sunburn, everything is mysterious, from the characters, Polly Costello, a mother who leaves her husband and daughter for mysterious reasons, and Adam Bosk, the private detective hired to follow her and find where she is hiding a supposedly large sum of money.

The story switches between Polly's and Adam's viewpoints. In each chapter (there are forty-six of them), we are teased with a bit more revelation about each character's secrets. Polly is hiding a complex history of mistakes behind various deceptions and playing a waiting game with an unknown goal. Adam is a reluctant investigator who finds himself attracted to his target, Polly, and even more conflicted that usual as a result.

At first, this teasing is effective and makes for compelling reading. But, for me, it grew old as each tease became less interesting and as Polly and Adam entered into a relationship where neither was truthful in the least, while still maintaining, in their thoughts, that they were truly in love. I started to lose interest but I kept reading, hoping for a final revelation and resolution that would allow me to feel better about these two people whom I no longer trusted, now had no sympathy for, and no longer liked.

It never happened. The revelations didn't feel significant enough to justify the long tease and there was no resolution, only an almost off-camera deus ex machina that is just an excuse for a final passage explaining another tease.

The book was frustrating and I am not particularly happy I spent the time to finish it.