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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
I realized I had seven Laura Lippman books on my “want to read” shelf in my Goodreads app. Lady in the Lake was the first I read and I will defiantly read more. I love her writing style. There are humor and sarcasm weaved within the facts and details of the story.
Laura tells the story predominately through Maddie’s point of view. As the story progresses most of the characters Maddie interacts with gets a chapter to tell their point of view. This includes several chapters told by the “ghost”. I liked this style but found it to be distracting. It was difficult to keep track of all the characters and hard to decipher what was important.
In the author’s notes, Laura explains that the two murders are inspired by two cases from 1969 and two characters are based on real people.
I received this galley from NetGalley.
Laura tells the story predominately through Maddie’s point of view. As the story progresses most of the characters Maddie interacts with gets a chapter to tell their point of view. This includes several chapters told by the “ghost”. I liked this style but found it to be distracting. It was difficult to keep track of all the characters and hard to decipher what was important.
In the author’s notes, Laura explains that the two murders are inspired by two cases from 1969 and two characters are based on real people.
I received this galley from NetGalley.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really did enjoy this. I had no idea where this was going, and appreciated the twists and turns, although not having me in a choke hold of suspense, I was interested to know what would happen next.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My least favorite of the Laura Lippmann books I’ve read. It took me a long time to read and I almost decided not to finish. I’m surprised they made it into a series. Wouldn’t recommend.
I liked this in general, but I had some issues with the structure. I think the book would've been fine without so many different narrators - it really had you jumping around and being in one person's head for one chapter, and then you would never hear from them again. It felt unnecessarily jarring and I think the book could've stuck to two or even one person.
While I appreciated the feminist themes, there was a lot on race that either wasn't fully explored or addressed at all. I don't think Lippman has a responsibility to write on race as a white woman, but because the book is about a white woman investigating the death of a black woman, it feels like there's a lot unsaid, especially because of what's revealed as the book goes on. The protagonist is also in a relationship with a black man and they kind of allude to the racism he experiences and the taboos of interracial relationships, but it's really treated as background.
There are two mysteries running concurrently throughout the book, and I think this really would have benefited if it picked one or the other. They balance out whenone gets officially solved and the other doesn't, but it feels like there's something missing when Cleo (the black woman and titular "lady in the lake") isn't actually dead, and tells Maddie that she shouldn't have been trying to pry into her business. It really felt like the book shouldn't have ended there, because it was so quick and tidy considering everything that built up to it.
I liked Lippman's style of writing and I enjoyed reading from Maddie's point of view, but every other character felt weak in comparison. There's a lot more that could have been done with this story - when it ends, it feels like the bones of a manuscript. The promise was there, but the heart wasn't.
While I appreciated the feminist themes, there was a lot on race that either wasn't fully explored or addressed at all. I don't think Lippman has a responsibility to write on race as a white woman, but because the book is about a white woman investigating the death of a black woman, it feels like there's a lot unsaid, especially because of what's revealed as the book goes on. The protagonist is also in a relationship with a black man and they kind of allude to the racism he experiences and the taboos of interracial relationships, but it's really treated as background.
There are two mysteries running concurrently throughout the book, and I think this really would have benefited if it picked one or the other. They balance out when
I liked Lippman's style of writing and I enjoyed reading from Maddie's point of view, but every other character felt weak in comparison. There's a lot more that could have been done with this story - when it ends, it feels like the bones of a manuscript. The promise was there, but the heart wasn't.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Lady in the Lake" dragged on, much like a Baltimore summer (as a Baltimore resident for the last near-15 years, I can attest to the interminable feeling of 90+ degree days). I listened to the book, which unfortunately meant that I couldn't skim through any of the parts that seemed to drag the most--discussions of Maddie's deep freezer party planning, discussions of what happened at the club, and all of the suburban ennui that she ran away from in the opening chapters. Despite her escape from that life, she sure ruminated on it a lot.
Like many other reviewers here, I disliked the main character (I won't go so far to wish her dead, as one person did). Frankly, she was boring, in a way that reminds me of some of our most boring characters in modern times. If Maddie were alive today, she would be one of those white women in the exurbs, wringing their hands about social justice issues without lifting a finger and ultimately voting for Trump. She's not likeable (though characters--and women in general--don't need to be likeable), but the fact that she's boring and unlikeable doubled my discontent while reading. The other characters, getting their own voices in interstitial vignettes that break up the dullness of Maddie's life, were infinitely more interesting. Whether or not these characters really provided any substantial support to the plot is debatable; for instance, one of these characters spends quite a bit of time trying to figure out what perfume Maddie wears, which makes not a damn bit of difference. Regardless, it saved me, even briefly, from Maddie's existential doldrums.
One interesting thing that stuck with me while reading, though, was how well the author discussed "privilege" within a 1960s context. We talk pretty openly about privilege (white, male, middle class), but that wasn't a thing that was openly talked about then. It's all around, though, and Lippman shows it almost dripping off the walls in her vignettes, which are mostly written by people on the perpiphery of "polite" society--the waitress, the (black) wife of the (black) politician, the closeted gay politico, all the way to the ghost of the victim herself. Even as a divorcee, recently experiencing a change in her means, Maddie enjoys status, and because of this, she is able to float ignorantly throughout a rapidly changing Baltimore without really taking note of anyone. In her vignettes, Cleo (the victim) tells her that she knows nothing, sees nothing, and it's true because she doesn't have to. For me, it is this insight that saved the book for me altogether--even if this underlying point is made well, the book drowns in dull, unlikeable characters who it is hard to root for.
Like many other reviewers here, I disliked the main character (I won't go so far to wish her dead, as one person did). Frankly, she was boring, in a way that reminds me of some of our most boring characters in modern times. If Maddie were alive today, she would be one of those white women in the exurbs, wringing their hands about social justice issues without lifting a finger and ultimately voting for Trump. She's not likeable (though characters--and women in general--don't need to be likeable), but the fact that she's boring and unlikeable doubled my discontent while reading. The other characters, getting their own voices in interstitial vignettes that break up the dullness of Maddie's life, were infinitely more interesting. Whether or not these characters really provided any substantial support to the plot is debatable; for instance, one of these characters spends quite a bit of time trying to figure out what perfume Maddie wears, which makes not a damn bit of difference. Regardless, it saved me, even briefly, from Maddie's existential doldrums.
One interesting thing that stuck with me while reading, though, was how well the author discussed "privilege" within a 1960s context. We talk pretty openly about privilege (white, male, middle class), but that wasn't a thing that was openly talked about then. It's all around, though, and Lippman shows it almost dripping off the walls in her vignettes, which are mostly written by people on the perpiphery of "polite" society--the waitress, the (black) wife of the (black) politician, the closeted gay politico, all the way to the ghost of the victim herself. Even as a divorcee, recently experiencing a change in her means, Maddie enjoys status, and because of this, she is able to float ignorantly throughout a rapidly changing Baltimore without really taking note of anyone. In her vignettes, Cleo (the victim) tells her that she knows nothing, sees nothing, and it's true because she doesn't have to. For me, it is this insight that saved the book for me altogether--even if this underlying point is made well, the book drowns in dull, unlikeable characters who it is hard to root for.