Cain’s masterpieces The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce, Sunburn is a tantalizing modern noir from the incomparable Laura Lippman. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them? 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. Her more recent works include Sunburn, a Waterstones Thriller of the Month in 2018, Lady in the Lake, currently being adapted by Apple TV+, and Dream Girl, shortlisted for the 2022 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.

The particular atmosphere of unlovely Belleville is deftly conveyed. Laura Lippman’s novels have won many crime fiction prizes, including the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and eDunnit Awards. Sunburn, though cool and twisty, has more heart than expected. Still, each holds something back from the other-dangerous, even lethal, secrets. Sunburn is a portrait of a strong womanequal to any Lippman has createdwho has learned the hard way who she is, what she needs and how to defend herself. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Yet she stays and he stays-drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him.

They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. But instead of rules, this game has dark secrets, forbidden desires, inevitable betrayals-and cold-blooded murder.

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman returns with a superb novel of psychological suspense about a pair of lovers with the best intentions and the worst luck: two people locked in a passionate yet uncompromising game of cat and mouse. Read it.' -Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl She is simply a brilliant novelist, an unflinching chronicler of life in America right now, and Sunburn is her dark, gleaming noir gem. 'Every time Laura Lippman comes out with a new book, I get chills because I know I am back in the hands of the master.

Sunburn by laura lippman