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Lena Nguyen has driven to Missoula, Montana in her sister's car because she doesn't believe her twin sister Cambry killed herself by jumping off a bridge. She and Corporal Raymond Raycevic are standing on Hairpin Bridge discussing the facts, suppositions, possibilities surrounding Cambry's death. Lena has her reasons for not believing; Trooper Raycevic insists that the official version is the true and correct version. Every time Lena brings up something, anything, that would support her vision of Cambry's death, Raycevic has an answer. Lena has lots of questions, lots of possibilities. They spend hours on that bridge, going over everything. Events don't go as smoothly as either of them would like; it gets ugly, really ugly.
Most of HAIRPIN BRIDGE consists of dialogue between Lena and Ray. One might think this would be easy to read. It is not. Between the internal dialogues and the conversation, there is a lot going on. This is not necessarily a book to pick up one afternoon and read through by bedtime. So much goes on, so many twists and turns - a reader has to take the time to think about what Adams has written. One must consider who is telling the truth, who is bending the truth, and if either person really knows what the final truth might be. Adams is very good at diversions, having one comment seem to be an obvious "thing" and then flipping it to be some "thing" totally different.
The word "hairpin" applies to much of what we learn about Cambry - not just in terms of the shape of the actual item, but in terms of what a "hairpin" used to do. Hairpins were meant to hold fine strands of hair together in a cohesive shape.
While this is clearly a character-driven book, the setting(s) are important as well. Cambry has been shaped by her life as surely as Lena has and these shapes play an important part in how the story plays itself out. Ray is also a product of his environment; this becomes more relevant the deeper into the story one reads. At the end of a challenging read, a welcome glimmer of salvation appears.
§ PJ Coldren has been reading and reviewing mystery fiction for over a quarter of a century and reads broadly within just about all genres and sub-genres. She lives in Northern lower Michigan with her spousal unit, one large cat, and 2 fairly small dogs.
Reviewed by PJ Coldren, May 2021
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