Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Laura Lippman's latest standalone, Lady in the Lake.

It's 1965 and Maddie Schwartz is tired of all the charade. She's tired of being married to Milton Schwartz. She's tired of doing what's expected of her. She's tired of her limitations. And so she leaves her husband and sets out on her own. 

But being on her own means paying her own bills. Which means she needs an income. 

Her lucky break comes at the expense of another. A missing girl and a search party Maddie isn't welcome to join leads her to her own search. Unfortunately she finds the girl, but it's what sets Maddie on the path to becoming someone. And that someone is a reporter. Maddie has no problem digging into other people's business. No problem sticking her nose where people say it doesn't belong. But the drive and determination behind that, the motivation to make something of herself, doesn't go unnoticed. And it doesn't take long for Maddie to start uncovering the wrong person's secrets. 

Lippman's books are always such a treat. She's smart and her books are smart!

Lady in the Lake is, as mentioned, a standalone. Though it is set in Tess Monaghan's world—albeit before Tess's time (with a little nod to her parents).

Race relations are a huge part of the story as are women's roles in the 60s. Maddie bucks expectations in more ways than one and finds ways around most of them. It's not easy, though. And the roadblocks she faces were par for the course for any woman in the 60s.

The "Lady in the Lake," Cleo, is a great parallel to Maddie. Another woman driven to make something of herself, to provide for her children, Cleo is willing to do whatever it takes. But Cleo is black and most definitely not well to do, which means even more roadblocks than Maddie faces. It's also the reason no one looks deeply into her disappearance and murder, in spite of her mother's concerns.

Both Maddie and Cleo are given voice in this story. Interestingly, so are the characters that cross Maddie's and Cleo's paths along the way. Interspersed throughout the book are outtakes of a sort, chapters from the perspectives of police officers, waitresses, reporters...a bevy of people who make up Maddie's and Cleo's  worlds. In less deft hands, these chapters might hang up the story, affecting the overall momentum of the mystery itself. But Lippman weaves these chapters in so organically that the pacing flows perfectly.

As I said, Lippman's books are always a treat and Lady of the Lake further proves that!

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour post here.

For more on Lippman and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Sunburn by Laura Lippman

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Laura Lippman's latest, Sunburn.

Polly has abandoned her family. Adam has been hired to find her. They both settle in Belleville, both take a job at the High-Ho, both enter into the relationship with one another under false pretenses. 

And  then someone dies. 

Things have gotten complicated, to say the least. And as the affair goes on, it only gets worse. Do they really love one another? And if so, can their love last as the lies begin to unravel around them?

I love Laura Lippman. She's truly fabulously talented writer, as is made even more evident by Sunburn.

The thing that jumps out at you first with this one is the voice. It's strong and sultry with a gray tinge of classic noir - a hint of danger that slinks through the story even before the actual danger begins on the page. As a longtime reader of Lippman's work, it's also different from all of the books that have come before.

And then you get into the meat of the story and realize how cleverly crafted it really is. The secrets and lies that each character is hiding start to reveal themselves and it becomes pretty impossible to guess what's coming next.

Honestly, from the opening lines I really didn't know what to expect with this one. We've got a man and a woman in a bar - she's a redhead with a sunburn and he's intent on catching her attention. And then we flash back to Pauline/Polly's family beach vacation. A trip she's decided is the perfect time to make her escape. By the next chapter we know that Adam Bosk has been hired to find and get close to Polly, but we don't know why. It makes sense that her husband would hire him to find her, and yet within a few short chapters we know that's not the case. And that's just one of the things we as the reader have to wait to find out.

The book progresses quickly - the chapters are short and alternate mostly between Adam and Polly. And that underlying sinister edge keeps up throughout, making this one read you won't want to put down until the very end.

If you haven't had a chance to dive into Lippman's books yet, this is a perfect place to start. Trust me, you'll love her!

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Laura Lippman and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman

Happy Monday, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Laura Lippman's latest standalone, Wilde Lake.

Lu was raised with a strong moral code and sense of justice. Her childhood in the idyllic community around Wilde Lake is to blame for much of that. That and the fact that she was raised by one of the most well known and beloved State's Attorneys in the history of the county. It's what led her to run for the office herself so many years later. But when she takes on a slam dunk murder case as her first in office, she finds herself forced to reevaluate everything she was raised to believe. 

One of the questions readers face the most is that concerning favorite authors. Who's your favorite author?/Who are some of your favorite authors? It's a tough one even if you allow for more than one answer. And it's one I find my own answer to waffles depending on the day, the month, the season, and my mood. Laura Lippman is definitely up there, though, and a quick run through of posts shows I've featured here on the blog ten times now. Sure there are a slew of other favorites who have been featured eight and nine times - Laura Benedict, Mo Hayder, and Lisa Lutz, to name a few. But it turns out Lippman is the only one who's appeared a whopping ten times AND that's only topped by Stephen King with eleven!

One of the things I love about Lippman's style is that it is quite versatile. She's played with unlikable characters, unreliable characters, dual timelines, and this is on top of her long running series featuring Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan. And they're all fabulous reads!

With Wilde Lake, Lippman hasn't deviated in the enjoyment department one bit. But this is the first time I felt like I was unsure how the two parts were going to wrap up in the end. Chapters here alternate between Lu's present day as a newly elected State's Attorney, and written chapters memorializing what at first seems to be Lu's childhood. It turns out this is just part of the case. It was an interesting way for the story to play out and one that I felt kept me on my toes as a reader, leaving me guessing almost all the way to the end.

Lu herself will likely appeal more or less to readers depending on their own personalities. She's strong and competitive and this competitiveness sometimes becomes a bit judgmental and catty on her part. The picture of her as a schoolgirl getting her feelings hurt by a teacher unimpressed by her particular personality was, I thought, a perfect way of gaining some ground in terms of likability. And her strong belief in justice, as handed down by her father, is illustrated time and again throughout the story.

But it's this belief that begins haunting her more and more as the story progresses, paralleled by her father's own fight in this same regard. I most certainly will not ruin the end for you, but if you're curious - or worried - about how things will tie up in the end, have no fear it all becomes clear as the story winds to its end.

Rating: 4/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Laura Lippman and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Hush Hush by Laura Lippman + a Giveaway

Hi, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Laura Lippman's latest Tess Monaghan entry, Hush Hush. To go along with my post today, I'm offering up a brand new trade paperback of the very first Tess Monaghan mystery, Baltimore Blues. Be sure to read through to the end to enter.

Tess and her new assistant, Sandy, have been hired to serve as security consultants for one of Baltimore's most notorious murderers. Melisandre Dawes was deemed not guilty by reason of insanity when she was tried for the murder of her two month old baby. Now, over a decade later, she's returned to Charm City to reunite with her two teenage daughters and produce a film on the insanity defense. The job comes Tess's way through her old friend Tyner Gray, but while the lawyer vouches for Melisandre Tess isn't so sure the woman can be trusted. 

I have to apologize for my late posting today - we spent the last week back home where we attended TWO weddings and related festivities. It's been CRAZY and I'm still recovering. But Hush Hush couldn't have been more timely thanks to that - returning to Tess and Lippman, who can always be relied on for engaging reading, meant that I could recuperate some while still enjoying an overall clever mystery.

Hush Hush switches between various narrators including Tess and Sandy, as well as Melisandre, her two daughters, and even her ex's new spouse. Interestingly, the story also includes transcription-style chapters reflecting interviews done for Melisandre's documentary. Those various viewpoints paired with the goings-on of the story itself mean that the reader can be certain very early on that someone isn't being completely forthright. And yet figuring out the who-done-it as well as the why is pretty elusive.

This twelfth installment of the series brings back a whole cast of series characters including Tyner (who is a big part of Baltimore Blues) and Sandy (the retired detective from After I'm Gone). The book also gives Tess's fans a first look at her life as a mother. Carla Scout is three and a complete handful with as much spunk as her PI mom. Considering the initial focus of the case, both the job and the demands of motherhood have a heavy impact on Tess here. It's great to see her - and those around her - continue to grow with the series.

(My reading was timely, too, because I received a copy of the Mystery Writers of America Cookbook and surprisingly had everything on hand to make Lippman's "Aunt Effie's Salmon Ball" as a snack to go along with the book.)

As a whole, Hush Hush made for fabulous post travel recovery reading and great icky snow day reading as well.

Rating: 5/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Laura Lippman and her work, you can find her on the web here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. As an added bonus, you can also head over to the publisher's new Tess Is Back site for series info, excerpts, and giveaways!

And now for my own giveaway: to enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, March 16. Open US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman

Good morning, everyone! Today I am super stoked to be part of the TLC book tour for Laura Lippman's very first Tess Monaghan mystery, Baltimore Blues. With the twelfth installment of the series set to hit shelves just next month, this seems like the perfect time to revisit this first of the series, something I've been meaning to do for quite some time anyway.

Twenty-nine-year-old Tess Monaghan is unemployed and unsure what she wants to do next. She spends her time freelancing here and there (mostly for her uncle, who doesn't really need her) and working at her aunt's bookstore. All of this because the paper she was writing for folded and the Beacon Light didn't hire her on. 

But one of Tess's friends has a proposal for her. Fellow rower Darryl Paxton, aka Rock, thinks his fiancé has been acting strange. He wants to hire Tess to follow her and find out what's going on. Unfortunately, Tess's first foray into the investigating business leads to murder and Rock as the prime suspect. Now Tess has to find out who's really responsible and clear her friend before the case goes to trial. 

This Tess is so much lighter and less hardened than she becomes later on. In fact, she's almost a bit flighty - she comes face to face with the fact that she's been hanging onto the past (her career as a journalist) rather than moving on with her life.

Of course this book takes place before Tess officially hangs her shingle as a PI. She makes some rookie mistakes here, mistakes she definitely learns from. She also makes a few new friends who will come to help her along the way.

As a series kick off, it works perfectly. Tess is engaging and stands out - an athletic and inquisitive woman who's more than a bit judgmental but incredibly clever. It's been absolutely ages since I read this one, but I can see in going back just how much the character has grown and evolved. For readers who have been with the series for some time, it has been a few years since Tess's last appearance (though there's word of her in After I'm Gone). As I mentioned above, she's returning just next month in Lippman's latest, Hush, Hush.

While I haven't read all eleven of the current titles, I have read more than a few. Revisiting her start here has been a bit like reading it again for the first time, but if this is your first introduction to Tess, I kind of envy you. The full series listing (including the upcoming release) is as follows:

Baltimore Blues
Charm City
Butchers Hill
In Big Trouble
The Sugar House
In a Strange City
The Last Place
By a Spider's Thread
No Good Deeds
Another Thing to Fall
The Girl in the Green Raincoat
Hush, Hush

Be sure to check back here on March 3 when I'll be posting my own review of book twelve. And who knows, I might even have a chance to give away a copy of Baltimore Blues soon, too!

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Laura Lippman and her work, you can find her on the web here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Short Fiction Friday: Five Fires by Laura Lippman

Happy Friday, everyone! Today's short fiction is a gem of a story that I recently discovered. Laura Lippman, as you may know, is one of my go to authors. Every new release makes it to the TBR, though I do still have some backlist to work through (coming soon!). And her short stories have long been some of my favorites.

In fact, Lippman's short fiction caught my attention back with the release of one I'm sure you're sick of hearing about here on the blog, the 2004 mystery/thriller anthology Like a Charm. Edited by Karin Slaughter, this collection of linked shorts featured a literal who's who of the thriller genre - including Lippman herself with a tale called "Not Quite U."

And so, when I discovered "Five Fires" I knew that not only did it have to be next on my to read list, it had to be my next Short Fiction Friday pick as well.

The town of Belleville has seen three random fires since the start of summer. Three fires that could be accidental, though Beth suspects otherwise. Beth will be a senior when school starts and after that she plans to go on to college to major in Criminal Justice, so of course she has a keen interest in discovering the real story behind the fires. She knows the fires are connected. She knows there will be more. And she thinks she knows who is responsible. 

If your concern - as mine typically was and still occasionally is - is that the short will feel incomplete or lacking in some way, have no fear! "Five Fires" is a short short, but it's still full of Lippman's signature suspense, character and plot development, and unexpected twists.

Rating: 5/5

The short is the first release from the newly acquired Byliner imprint at Vook. I was not familiar with either Byliner or Vook before this, but I will definitely be on the lookout for new shorts. You can read more about both here.

The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman

The end of March sort of crept up on me! It's been a busy, busy reading month but I'm really trying to get some older stuff in the TBR read as well with my TBR Tackle challenge. With time quickly running out and no real gaps in the review schedule this meant that my March pick had to be either something short and sweet or a guaranteed quick read. Having recently finished Laura Lippman's After I'm Gone, it really wasn't a surprise to me that her novella The Girl in the Green Raincoat caught my attention from the shelves. (After I'm Gone has a small guest appearance from Crow and his daughter, after all.)

With just two months to go in her pregnancy, Tess Monaghan finds herself on ordered bed rest. To fill her days she's got a stack of movies and a stack of books to keep her occupied but for the bedridden PI the view out of her window proves to be more enticing. A girl in a green raincoat walking an Italian greyhound, adorned in matching green, catches her attention, appearing day after day walking the dog through the nearby park. But then one afternoon the dog appears sans owner and Tess takes it upon herself to investigate.  

It's Rear Window Laura Lippman style and super fun. Tess uses her investigative skills along with the technology at her fingertips but also relies on the help of those around her (considering she's confined to one room). And of course she begins to uncover a potentially grand murder plot, one that begins years before with the missing woman's husband and his first wife!

The Girl in the Green Raincoat is technically #11 in the Tess Monaghan Series but readers who may be curious about the investigator and her family after meeting Crow in After I'm Gone would have no problem diving in with Girl. (The Girl in the Green Raincoat was earlier printed as a serial in the New York Times. You can check out an excerpt here.)

I have heard that Lippman is working on another Tess Monaghan title so there's plenty of catch up time for anyone who may want to start from the beginning. Here's the series list in order:

Baltimore Blues
Charm City
Butchers Hill
In Big Trouble
The Sugar House
In a Strange City
The Last Place
By a Spider's Thread
No Good Deeds
Another Thing to Fall
The Girl in the Green Raincoat

After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm excited to be part of the TLC book tour for Laura Lippman's latest stand alone, After I'm Gone.

In 1976, Felix Brewer fled the country to avoid prison time. He left behind a wife, three kids, and a mistress, Julie Saxony. When he left, with Julie's help, he set her up with one of his businesses. He also left cash and instructions for his family - but they never received them. The Brewer family struggled for years after Felix's disappearance and more than one of the Brewer women laid the blame on Julie. 

Almost ten years to the day after Felix's disappearance, Julie Saxony was reported missing. Then in 2001 Julie's body was discovered. Everyone thought she'd been with Felix all along. Everyone except her killer. Her case was never solved and never closed but in 2012, retired detective Roberto "Sandy" Sanchez reopens the case.

After I'm Gone is split into two timelines - the past, and the investigation in 2012. The past chapters begin with Felix's leaving but then actually go back to his meeting Bambi Brewer in 1959. Through those chapters we learn about their relationship, their family, and how Felix's business, habits, and fleeing affected and continues to influence everyone around him.

And while it's the Brewer family's story that really drives the mystery, Sandy Sanchez is not left out. Here we have a retired detective who spends his time working as a consultant investigating cold cases. He's widowed and we discover that he's an immigrant who once upon a time tried his hand at being a restauranteur, which provides a surprising little connection to Lippman's famous series lead, Tess Monaghan.

I've been a fan of Lippman's work for quite some time now and I'm always completely in awe of her talent. She has this ability to draw readers in with such ease - or at least what seems like ease. I find it's pretty impossible to start one of her books and not read straight through, or as close to as day to day life might allow. And it's a good thing that I started After I'm Gone on a Saturday considering it was no exception. I was consumed by the story, sucked in from page one! And yes, mystery/thriller fans, Lippman has an almost perfect ability to keep readers guessing until the very end. She does feed us crumbs along the way but there is always plenty left to be revealed as the story progresses. I don't know if I've teased out the real whodunit or why early on in any of her books so far.

Rating: 5/5

To see what others on the tour thought, be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Lippman and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman

Morning, everyone! I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Laura Lippman's latest today!

Heloise Lewis knows all about hiding in plain sight. She is, after all, a prostitute. But Heloise lives in a normal neighborhood and lives a quiet life, not drawing attention to herself or her profession. No, Heloise has done everything she can to blend in and provide the best life she can for her son, Scott. Scott will never know the truth about his father or Heloise's job. It took a lot for Heloise to get where she is in the world, not least of which was turning over evidence that led to her pimp's incarceration -- and making sure that he never found out she was responsible. But now it looks as though his case will be appealed and Heloise's carefully built facade is in danger of falling apart. 

Laura Lippman is the author of the popular Tess Monaghan series as well as a number of standalones, including And When She Was Good. For longtime readers, though, Heloise is not completely unfamiliar. In fact, Heloise appears in a short story ("One True Love") and a novella (Scratch a Woman) featured in Lippman's 2008 collection, Hardly Knew Her.

Lippman is a master of her craft. Her writing is crisp, her plots are excellent, and -- as with Heloise -- her characters are complex. I always appreciate a tight plot but I love Lippman's character development even more so. In more instances than not, there comes a point where you have to question Lippman's leads: is this character telling the truth, what is this character hiding (because in Lippman's case there's usually a twist), and is this character actually a good person? This element makes Lippman's characters more realistic for me as a reader.

Heloise is a formidable lady and a character with so many layers that I can't help but be drawn to her. For some she may be a bit too hard but I find her to be strong and willful, ready to do whatever it takes to help those closest to her.

You don't have to have read either of the Heloise stories in order to read And When She Was Good, but you'll certainly want to. In all honesty, I have truly enjoyed each and every book I've read by Lippman (and her short stories are some of my favorites). She's one of those authors who is guaranteed to keep me up way past my bedtime and this latest was no exception. 

For more on Laura and her work, visit her official website (link above). You can also like her on Facebook. 

To see what others on the tour thought, visit the official TLC book tour page here. 

Pre-pub Book Buzz: The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman's latest stand-alone thriller is set for release on Tuesday! Thriller fans, if you're not reading Lippman yet, mark your calendar and make this your first. I honestly have never been disappointed by her books.

With eleven books in her Tess Monaghan series and six stand-alones, Lippman has become one of the genres favorites. Her blend of psychological suspense and smart plots make her books appealing to a wide range of readers. I personally have been a fan for quite some time now, coming to the series around 2000.

Here's a bit about The Most Dangerous Thing:

Some secrets can’t be kept. . . .

The Most Dangerous Thing

Years ago, they were all the best of friends. But as time passed and circumstances changed, they grew apart, became adults with families of their own, and began to forget about the past—and the terrible lie they all shared. But now Gordon, the youngest and wildest of the five, has died and the others are thrown together for the first time in years.

And then the revelations start.

Could their long-ago lie be the reason for their troubles today? Is it more dangerous to admit to what they’ve done or is it the strain of keeping the secret that is beginning to wear on them and everyone close to them? Each one of these old friends has to wonder if their secret has been discovered—and if someone within the circle is out to destroy them.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, I came across this interview with Craig Ferguson on the Late Late Show from last fall promoting her prior release, I'd Know You Anywhere.

When you don't have time...

I like to sit and read for loooong periods of time. I really like to get totally engrossed in a book. But let's face it, sometimes you can't. I also like to read before I go to sleep, which can get a little off the wall when I finish a book before hitting the sack and then feel like I need to start a new book so that I'm actually reading before I go to sleep. I know, I'm weird. 

Anyway, to my point. I have in my stack of books to read this week, the latest Laura Lippman title, Life Sentences. It's a stand alone and I was actually really surprised to see that it was coming out. I mean, Lippman only just released a collection of short stories in October. 

Since I'm super excited about Life Sentences (I love Lippman's stand alones and am going to start the Tess Monaghan series shortly) but can't really post anything since I haven't started it, and since I am super tired but somehow feel as though staying up later (and getting more exhausted) will stretch my ending weekend out just a tad bit more, and therefore wanted to post even though my exhaustion is causing loooong run on rambling sentences like this one, I thought I would use this opportunity to plug Lippman's fabulous collection. Plus, short stories are perfect for short reading (which is what I'm in for since I suspect crashing will come very shortly for me).

Hardly Knew Her is a collection of 17 different tales broken into three sections, with a final novella to end it all. I loved each and every one of the stories and was really not looking forward to finishing the book. I know you sometimes have to be in a certain mood for short stories to appeal. Like I said, I like to sit for long periods of time and I think part of the point of a short story is that even if it only takes five minutes to read, it stays with you long after if the author does their job right. Whether you have five minutes of five hours, though, you'll love Lippman's collection. You can read one and sit and ponder over it, or you can zip along into the next story no problem. Each one is different: some are dark, some are funny, some are strange, all of them are excellent. So, here's my review of Hardly Knew Her, from the BB review archives:

Laura Lippman has long been a favorite of the mystery genre - readers and fellow writers sing her praises alike. Their appreciation is well deserved and this collection of twisted tales is a great place for new readers to familiarize themselves with her talent. Three of the tales feature Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan. There is also a novella, Scratch a Woman, which features a recurring character from “One True Love.” Each story features a strong, manipulative, or even murderous woman. In the title story, “Hardly Knew Her,” a daughter has her revenge against her gambling father. A Mardi Gras reveler gets a little surprise when he follows two girls in “Pony Girl,” and in “Black Eyed Susan” a young boy discovers some of the strange folks drawn to Baltimore’s Preakness. A great collection of darkly humorous and slightly disturbing tales from one of the biggest talents in the genre.

So, if you're looking to get your feet wet with a fantastic author, I suggest you do it with this Hardly Knew Her. Lippman also has a very popular Baltimore PI series as well as four stand alone titles, each of which is great. As an extra bonus, Lippman contributed another of my favorite short story collections, Like a Charm edited by Karin Slaughter, which I talk about here, she also edited and contributed to Baltimore Noir. 

Ah well, if my post is disjointed, I do apologize. I'm off to take my insomnia pill and read myself before I go to bed. Look for Life Sentences on shelves March 10. I'll be reviewing it for bookbitch.com this week. And, unfortunately for me Lippman's tour does not include the Rocky Mountain area, but it does include quite a few other stops. Check her tour dates here to see if she'll be in your area. 

Finally, A New Book Post!

My experience with Laura Lippman has been one of those, "wow, I can't believe I'm not reading this" experiences. A while back (quite a while back) I had read a few of her Tess Monaghan series. It must have been around my senior year in high school, though, because I didn't buy very many. I had two in the series and that was it. I always had, and still do actually, this guilt in picking up a book that is halfway through a series. I have to read them in order and for some reason was never able to find the books that I was looking for when I was looking for them - hey, I was like 16 or 17 at the time and you just don't have the resources.

Later, when I started working at the bookstore, I got a copy of Every Secret Thing. It was a stand-alone, so there was none of that guilt. 

Even later, right after we had moved to Colorado actually, I received a copy of To the Power of Three. I have to admit, at the time I was a little leery because it was about a school shooting. I'm still leery about that particular subject matter because I always worry about what kind of book I may be picking up. It's a weird thing, I know. Just like I am drawn to certain subjects, I am also turned off by certain ones. Which is strange in this case because I've never read one that would cause me to feel this way. Anyway. It's hard to explain, but I was apprehensive. The book did come with a rave review from the person who had sent it in the first place, and I knew that I liked Lippman so I set aside my fears and found myself utterly engrossed. For once I really didn't mind that we were totally lost heading in the wrong direction for a day trip - until I finished the book in the car, that is. 

To the Power of Three is a stand-alone, not part of the Tess Monaghan series. In the book three friends are involved in a school shooting but no one is sure to what extent. Shots are fired and the three girls are found, two of them wounded and one of them dead. The one girl who's talking is being less than honest, but no one can figure out what she might be hiding. 

It's clear in reading the book just why Lippman is one of the most highly praised mystery writers out there. Her peers, critics, and readers alike all adore her. I do as well. My last trip home I grabbed my four Tess Monaghan books so that I can start over and catch up on the series (I have five now!) and her stand-alones are at the top of my suggested reading lists for others. If you've not read her before, I would urge you to run out and grab To the Power of Three today. Trust me, you'll want to read in one sitting! 

Lippman's latest, Hardly Knew Her, hits shelves next Tuesday. Its a collection of short fiction and a novella that's already getting big buzz. Lippman also contributed to one of my favorite short story collections, Like a Charm check out my post from March for more on that particular title.  

Now I have to go read 'cause I have lots to catch up on!