“After I’m Gone” by Laura Lippman – The Desolation of the Void

After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman tells of a rather long and convoluted affair spanning over twenty-six years and revolving around the mysterious disappearance of one man and the women he left behind.

To make any kind of sense of this, we have to go back to 1959, as Bernadette Gottschalk makes the acquaintance of Felix Brewer. Thanks to the latter’s less-than-legal business, the couple was able to live in comfort alongside their three little girls. However, in 1976 Felix makes a very sudden disappearance as he faces the possibility of being convicted.

Ten years later, Felix’s known mistress Julie disappears just like her lover, and the mystery seems to be solved. However, her remains are soon find, and the police are perplexed beyond their abilities.

Twenty-six years after Julie’s disappearance, a retired cold cases detective by the name of Roberto “Sandy” Sanchez decides to investigate the murder for a bit of extra cash. As it happens, Sanchez just pulled himself out of retirement into a vast web of conspiracy, secrets and lies which connects the murder, Felix, and the five women in his life.

At the start of it, After I’m Gone seems like it is going to be a story-driven detective story centered on some kind of giant mystery with countless parts to it, and for a while that remains true. However, the further the book progresses and the more we come to learn about the different characters the story becomes somewhat more akin to a family drama, with the focus shifting to character development.

Now, that is not to say the mystery takes a back seat, for it does remain the driving force for the detective, and it is the skeleton upon which all the other things are built… it’s just that there are other, equally-important aspects of this book.

The story does take place over numerous periods in time and does have a multitude of names for you to remember, so don’t get discouraged if you have trouble following at first; as the narrative becomes familiar you will have an easier time understanding it.

It is also put in a way that will create itches in the sense that you will be dying to know not exactly what happened, but more as to how and why, and let’s face it, it is rather rare that a detective story can make you care more about the process than the resolution.

All in all, After I’m Gone is a very well-written and crafted mystery which takes two different approaches and storylines, intertwining them together for something rather unique, surprising and refreshing. I definitely recommend it to those who don’t mind reading slower and perhaps more drawn-out detective stories.

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Laura Lippman Personal site Laura Lippman is an author of American origin who specializes mostly in detective fiction. She is the one who created the Tess Monaghan series and also wrote numerous short stories and novels, including Every Secret Thing, Life Sentences and The Most Dangerous Thing.