The narrator is broken-hearted after her lover Delores left her for another woman. As she tries to get over Delores, she gets involved in several other relationships and a murder or two.

I really liked this a lot. The characters are all totally over-the-top and everything's a bit unreal, but that's part of its charm. I found it really hard to put down. Every time I did, I'd pick it up again a few minutes later for just one more chapter. ( )

Plot synopses are not always necessary to a review, but in the case of After Delores one has to try just because one knows it's going to be fun. So here goes--

After getting dumped by Delores, our unnamed heroine runs into a Priscilla Presley look alike who abandons our heroine at a pizza parlor but leaves a gun in her place. With the introduction of the gun comes the inevitably confusing haze following a bad breakup--should you use the gun to kill yourself, kill your girlfriend who just dumped you, kill the wench whom your girlfriend ran off with, or kill some combination of these characters? No sooner can our heroine answer this question when she runs into Punkette, a bright spot in an otherwise dreary world. When Punkette winds up strangled to death, it's up to our heroine to avenge Punkette and figure out what to do about Delores.

This is a novel of tremendous atmosphere. Always thoughtful, at times depressing, often amusing, and if you want you can even call it postmodern. It also goes to show you that catching a killer is sometimes easier than sorting out your feelings toward your ex. ( )