Adam Ross, Mr Peanut ***

A re-read that didn't hold up for me.

As I noted in my earlier review, the marketing of Mr Peanut emphasizes its post-modern trickery. For the first 90 pages, though, it is a straightforward murder mystery that hinges on the complicated dynamics of a married couple's relationship. David Pepin, the dead woman's husband, has realistically mixed feelings about his wife and her needs. He loves her and supports her in her failed efforts to lose weight, but often finds the effort exhausting. But did he kill her?

The narrative tricks start abruptly on page 90, when the detective on the case receives a copy of David's novel-in-progress, and its first lines match the first lines of Mr Peanut. Then it turns out that one of the detectives is Sam Sheppard, the real-life doctor convicted then exonerated for murdering his wife.

I appreciate the main theme of the story, which is that marriages are fulfilling but hard. However, there are two things that consistently frustrated me about Mr Peanut:

• It's too long. At every level of organization (book, section, scene, paragraph), Ross includes extraneous material. Over 200 pages in the middle recounts Sam Sheppard's story; when a minor character goes golfing, we hear about nine holes; a fireworks show includes an explanation of how fireworks function. Call the editor!
  
  
• The female characters are universally inscrutable, demanding, and uncommunicative. Alice repeatedly tells David she won't say what he's doing wrong; Detective Haskell's wife retires to her bed for unspecified reasons; Marilyn Sheppard insists that Sam just not talk with her. There's a meta-narrative reason for this recurring attitude toward women, but I found it unpleasant and misogynistic.