Duplicate Keys

Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was a disappointment to me. I disliked all the characters and the naive, blissfully unaware, Alice was too stupid to be a librarian, much less a friend. Non of the characters were well developed and their lives were pitiful.

The plot was about some friends in their 30's who had come through the hippie commune era and were living in New York. The band had had a hit record, but had done nothing much since. They seemed on the border of going some place, but never quite made it. The story begins with Alice, the narrator, entering Susan and Dennis' apartment to find Dennis and his adopted brother, Craig, murdered. Apparently everyone and their brother had keys to this apartment. Because of the murder and the suspicion surrounding it, the group unravels and a lot of hidden things become apparent.

There is some suspense as the book draws to a close and I felt compelled to find out why the two men were murdered even though it is apparent who did it about midway. There were some good points made in the book and insight into people's lives, but at times I felt like I was reading an essay rather than reading a book with a plot. I like Jane Smiley's writing, but and I felt like she had something to say here, but the burden of it was too great to place on Alice's shoulders.

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