How good does crime fiction get? Read this book. After I'm Gone covers six characters over 50 years and maintains impeccable characters and perfect timing right to the end. The novel begins in 1976: Felix Brewer is "disappearing" just before the federal government closes in on him. He's leaving behind his adored socialite wife, Bambi, as well as two teenaged daughters and a mistress. There's a bar, a lot of illicit activity, and, presumably, a lot of cash. Felix remembers everything except to mail a couple of letters. Cut to 2012. Roberto (Sandy) Sanchez, a Baltimore detective, is covering the cold case of a woman who disappeared in 1986, 10 years to the day of Felix's disappearance. But she was found, very dead, in a local park. Just what happened, why, and the hidden secrets of the past decades makes for an irresistible plot. As always with Laura Lippman, it's the compelling characters who keep the story running. This is one of her best ever.