Sunburn

Cover image and synopsis from Goodreads:

They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he’s also passing through.

Yet she stays and he stays—drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other—dangerous, even lethal, secrets that begin to accumulate as autumn approaches, feeding the growing doubts they conceal.

Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan? By now, Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other’s lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away—or even if they want to. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them?

Something—or someone—has to give.

I’d been looking forward to this book for a while! I’d heard great things about it, and initially I borrowed it on audio from the library. Turns out I’m only really able to do audiobooks of things I’ve already read, so eventually I purchased the ebook so that I could finish reading.

I’m really hit or miss with Laura Lippman’s books. I’ve loved some, and others have been just fine. For me, Sunburn was just fine. I had the feeling that it was supposed to be twistier and more mysterious than it actually was, and nothing about this book or its characters was surprising to me.

So as a mystery/thriller, it missed the mark for me. But as a story about two people who aren’t sure if they can or should trust each other, who both have secrets they’re keeping and as a reader watching it unravel, it was pretty interesting.

I wish I had liked this more, because it’s getting a lot of love, but maybe her next book will be a hit with me.