Joanne McCoy's Reviews > Prom Mom

As the old saying goes, it takes all kinds to make a world… And the wide disparity of reviews on this book can testify to that.

First of all, I’m a Laura Lippman fan. I lived in Baltimore or its environs for many years, and it’s always been fun to read a book that references people, places, and things that I am very familiar with. I’ve read many of Lippman’s books and have always enjoyed them.

Until now. This is probably one of the least entertaining books I have ever read.

The basic story is contained in the first 35 pages of the book, and what resolution there is occurs in the last 35 pages of the book. The “In between”— nearly 300 pages worth— does very little to create conflict, develop characters, or provide motivation for them.

Instead, most of this book, in a misplaced desire to be relevant, goes down dozens of rabbit holes about pandemic life. Entire chapters are devoted entirely to what one of the female protagonists bought at Wegmans in anticipation of the shelter in place order, how her book club met virtually/outside, and most annoyingly of all, and how she used her Peleton exercise bike to stave off pandemic weight gain—in so much laborious detail I hope she got a product placement fee. And then there was a chapter where we had the male protagonist spending an hour at the local zoo.

Believe me, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Slow burn? If that means boring AF, that’s a great description.

I think Laura Lippman is a good writer, but at least in this book, she struggles with the art of storytelling.