After I'm Gone

Starred review from December 23, 2013
On July 4, 1976, shady businessman Felix Brewer escapes the law by fleeing suburban Maryland, leaving behind his wife, Bambi; three daughters; and a mistress, Julie Saxony. So begins bestseller Lippman's finely wrought study of what it means to move forward without answers. When Felix met Bambi in 1959, it was love at first sight. Without telling her how, he promised they'd get rich. And they did, even if he wasn't often home to enjoy it with her and their daughters. Julieâa stripper who loved Felix, despite knowing he'd never leave Bambiâwasn't even Felix's only bit on the side. When he ran, Felix made sure, or so he thought, that all his women would be looked after. Ten years later, Julie disappears. At first, rumors swirl that Felix came back for her, but when her remains turn up in a local park in 2001, the word on the street is that he killed her. Adept as always with character nuance, Lippman (And When She Was Good) uses Roberto "Sandy" Sanchez, a consultant who used to be a Baltimore cop, to dig into Julie's cold case, and to uncover the secrets of the women Felix left in his wake. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary.

June 30, 2014
Lippman’s latest crime novel begins as more of a family drama, focusing on shady businessman Felix Brewer. The story opens as Felix flees suburban Maryland to escape the law, leaving behind his wife, Bambi; three daughters; and a mistress, Julie Saxony. When Julie disappears 10 years later, it is assumed that she joined Felix. The whodunit aspect of the narrative kicks in when her skeletal corpse is discovered in one of the city’s favorite body dumps, Leakin Park. Enter Sandy Sanchez, a retired Baltimore police detective who supplements his pension by closing the department’s cold cases, who reopens the investigation of Julia’s death. Emond reads the character-rich story with just the right amount of emotion, catching Bambi’s youthful infatuation, her smug comfort in a seemingly idyllic marriage, and, finally, her disillusionment. The actress is just as effective in portraying Felix’s brash scoundrel’s charm and the various moods of the very different daughters. As for Sandy Sanchez, the guy’s a dogged sleuth who saves his emotion for his work. Emond catches his faux empathy in interviews, his elation in uncovering decades-old clues, and his determination to get the job done. A William Morrow hardcover.

September 15, 2013
Investigating cold cases for some extra cash, retired Baltimore detective Roberto "Sandy" Sanchez looks into the murder 26 years earlier of Julie, once mistress to rich but shady businessman Felix Brewer, who disappeared ten years before Julie's death. No one knows what happened to Felix, but Sandy soon finds himself untangling a web of greed, jealousy, and deceit linking Julie, Felix's devoted wife, Bambi, and their three daughters. Lippman has deservedly won every mystery award out there and routinely racks up "New York Times" best sellers; with a 150,000-copy first printing and a six-city tour.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2013

Rather than face 15 years in prison, Baltimore gambling boss Felix Brewer goes on the lam in 1976, leaving behind his wife, Bambi, the love of his life; his beloved daughters, Linda, 17, Rachel, 14, and Michelle, three; and his mistress, ex-stripper Julie Saxony. Ten years later, Julie disappears. It's suspected that she joined Felix, until her body is discovered in 2001 in a park near Bambi's childhood home. The Saxony cold case is reopened in 2012 by Roberto "Sandy" Sanchez, a widowed retired detective working as a consultant for the Baltimore police department. Chapters detailing critical points in the Brewer women's lives from 1959 forward alternate with those about the murder investigation, which is ultimately solved by following the money. VERDICT In this stand-alone (adroitly linked to the Tess Monaghan series), Lippman focuses on the inner lives of the women left behind. Despite the murder at its center, this is less a suspenseful whodunit than a masterly novel of character, with secrets skillfully and gradually revealed. Revel in the pace and pleasures of this book (including section headings that riff on the song "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me") that should add to Lippman's literary luster. [See Prepub Alert, 8/19/13.]--Michele Leber, Arlington, VA

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2013

Investigating cold cases for some extra cash, retired Baltimore detective Roberto "Sandy" Sanchez looks into the murder 26 years earlier of Julie, once mistress to rich but shady businessman Felix Brewer, who disappeared ten years before Julie's death. No one knows what happened to Felix, but Sandy soon finds himself untangling a web of greed, jealousy, and deceit linking Julie, Felix's devoted wife, Bambi, and their three daughters. Lippman has deservedly won every mystery award out there and routinely racks up New York Times best sellers; with a 150,000-copy first printing and a six-city tour.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2013
The disappearance of a Baltimore gambling lord sends shock waves through his community, his business and his family. Felix Brewer always knew the odds were rigged. So, with the feds poised to put him away for 15 years, he has girlfriend Julie Saxony drive him to Philly in her sister's horse trailer to hop a plane to Montreal and then disappear. He knows that his best friends, lawyer Bert Gelman and bail bondsman Tubby Schroeder, will close down his business. And he trusts his wife, Bambi, to take care of herself and his three daughters, Linda, Rachel and Michelle. But how could Felix leave it all--the place he made for himself at the heart of Baltimore's Jewish community, the luxury and respectability he bought with every illegally bet dollar, and most of all, the love of his life? Since the night he'd crashed a high school dance, Bert, already an established businessman, knew Bambi Gottschalk would be the center of his world. And she was, despite Julie and the string of girls who preceded her. The story of Bambi and her daughters unfolds: struggles, successes, good marriages and bad. Then the discovery of Julie's body in Leakin Park brings it all back to Felix. Who intercepted Julie, whose success parlaying the modest coffee shop Felix left her into a bed-and-breakfast positioned her to open a destination restaurant, on her way to Saks? Sandy Sanchez, an ex-cop who specializes in cold cases, hopes to find out. Coaxing the inevitable out of the improbable, Lippman (And When She Was Good, 2012, etc.) is a bet you just can't lose.

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November 15, 2013
The catalyst for Lippman's (And When She Was Good, 2012) smart and mesmerizing nineteenth work of fiction is the 1976 disappearance of sexy and calculating Felix Brewer, the head of a megaprofitable Baltimore gambling operation. In flight to avoid prison, he tries to do right by his gorgeous, loyal wife, Bambi, n'e Bernadette Gottschalk; his three temperamentally complex daughters; and his trusting mistress, Julie Saxony. But, instead, they all suffer emotional torment and financial deprivation. Ten years later, Julie's body is found in a park. Recently widowed former police detective Roberto Sandy Sanchez, a blue-eyed, blond Cuban, working cold cases freelance, now has a hunch that Saxony's murder can finally be solved. On this flexible frame, Lippman stretches a richly textured canvas that depicts, with wit and sensitivity, the wounded but tough women Felix left behind. As she traces the matrix of longing, jealousy, and betrayal that led to Julie's murder, Lippman incisively explores marriage, Jewish family life, class distinctions, and the power and liability of physical beauty, thus creating an involving and elegant novel of the psychological ravages of crime. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: An extensive marketing campaign will cover all media bases as best-selling Lippman goes on tour.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)