After I'm Gone

Laura Lippman is one of our finest modern crime writers. At her best, as in the 2007 masterpiece What the Dead Know, she joins gripping plots with rich character studies that explore broader social themes. But even her lesser novels are excellent reads, full of intelligent observations and strong characters that help overcome uneven plots. Lippman’s 2014 novel After I’m Gone falls into this second category, as she explores the story of a woman (Julie) who went missing in 1986 and twenty-five years later is found dead in a Baltimore park. The actual murder mystery is just ok and the narrative sometimes dips as it bounces across the decades. But Lippman creates a handful of excellent female characters with connections to Julie, and the book becomes a solid drama that traces the impact of crimes and betrayals on multiple lives.