Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Sunburn
Laura Lippman
Review by Priscilla Comen
Sunburn
Laura Lippman
Review by Priscilla Comen
Sunburn, by Laura Lippman, is the mysterious story of Polly, AKA Pauline, who has left her husband Gregg and baby daughter Jani. Who is Polly/Pauline really? She finds work in a diner in Belleville where she thinks she can hide. But along comes Adam, who is also passing through, but actually has been hired by a client to find Polly/Pauline. We don’t know who the client is.
We meet Sue Snead, a PI, who has been hired by Gregg to find his wife. They meet at the diner where Adam makes great BLTs, and a Chef's salad with bacon. The tourists love it. So do the regulars. Author Lippman writes with tongue-in-cheek humor and brings all her characters together. We meet Irving who is also looking for Polly/Pauline in order to get the money she owes him. We find out what happened to Polly’s first husband and how he abused her. Irving sends Adam a video with trials of abused women. Polly is in it. She supposedly collected insurance money from her husband’s death. Irving wants it.
Adam knows everything now, and though he loves her, becomes wary. Cath, Polly’s partner at the diner, finds out about her past, and blackmails Polly. She gives her two days to pay up before she tells everyone. Did Polly kill her abusing, ex-husband? Cath dies in a fire at Polly’s apartment. More investigations begin. Was it really an accident? Did someone start it?
Adam wants to leave town. He’s always been on the road at this time of year. Cath’s brother-in-law is an arson investigator. Irving is on the lookout too. Author Lippman truly keeps her readers guessing. The characters are real for us. When Adam gets fired from the diner because it’s the slow season, he moves to another town. Polly takes a bus to Baltimore. Adam doesn’t know why.
Will Polly get her millions from the insurance? Will Adam get Polly? How will the characters come together at the end? Find this most recent book by Lippman on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
We meet Sue Snead, a PI, who has been hired by Gregg to find his wife. They meet at the diner where Adam makes great BLTs, and a Chef's salad with bacon. The tourists love it. So do the regulars. Author Lippman writes with tongue-in-cheek humor and brings all her characters together. We meet Irving who is also looking for Polly/Pauline in order to get the money she owes him. We find out what happened to Polly’s first husband and how he abused her. Irving sends Adam a video with trials of abused women. Polly is in it. She supposedly collected insurance money from her husband’s death. Irving wants it.
Adam knows everything now, and though he loves her, becomes wary. Cath, Polly’s partner at the diner, finds out about her past, and blackmails Polly. She gives her two days to pay up before she tells everyone. Did Polly kill her abusing, ex-husband? Cath dies in a fire at Polly’s apartment. More investigations begin. Was it really an accident? Did someone start it?
Adam wants to leave town. He’s always been on the road at this time of year. Cath’s brother-in-law is an arson investigator. Irving is on the lookout too. Author Lippman truly keeps her readers guessing. The characters are real for us. When Adam gets fired from the diner because it’s the slow season, he moves to another town. Polly takes a bus to Baltimore. Adam doesn’t know why.
Will Polly get her millions from the insurance? Will Adam get Polly? How will the characters come together at the end? Find this most recent book by Lippman on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.