A postmodern reading of The Infatuations?

How you feel about Javier Marias's novel The Infatuations will depend on how you feel about movies by Rohmer or Resnais - long, talky, ruminations that go over the same points again and again, examining life deeply but moving forward inch by inch (centimeter by centimeter?) if at all. Marias's premise is exciting right from the start - a man is murdered in cold blood and a young woman who's observed this man every morning - they get breakfast daily in the same coffee shop - begins to wonder about his life and death, becomes acquainted with his widow and hears her long ruminations, meets the couples' best friend and begins a relationship with him, aware all the while that he's really in love w/ the widow (Luisa) and is waiting for her to move out of mourning and accept him - and he and the narrator discuss these relationship, plus the meaning of a sudden and seemingly random violent death, at great length. Their "conversations" read more like essays and discourses - the narrator mostly listens - and there's no doubt Marias is super-intelligent and thoughtful. And yet - I don't like think of myself as a philistine and I certainly can get engaged with novels of ideas and of observations - as readers of this blog will know, Search for Lost Time is one of my favorite works of literature and I'm slowly engaged in my 2nd read-through of the series, to cite just one example - but I'm beginning to think about half-way (150 or so pp.) through The Infatuations that the game may not be worth the candle. Marias puts forth a few tantalizing details and hints - is it possible the that man, Miguel, was not the victim of a random attack by a madman but that someone, perhaps his best friend, has plotted a murder? Is the narrator, Maria, involved in a deeper way that she's let on? And is there a bit of a postmodern sheen to this novel - the narrator's name is very close to the author's surname, obviously, and the best friend/possible plotter is named Javier (though called by his surname usually) - so Marias may be toying with the idea that literary characters are given life, and death, by their creator - just as are we, if you so believe. Not sure how far I'm going with this novel (which is due at BPL tomorrow, unfortunately).