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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An interesting twist on the crime novel with the amateur sleuth.
My husband and I began always enjoy a suspenseful Lippman novel on audio in the car. This one is set in the 1960's and begins with a dead woman (the title character) narrating. Besides this unnamed (at first) character, the other focus is on Maddie, a well-off wife and mother who leaves her husband and wants to become a reporter. When no one else seems interested in investigating the death of the lady in the lake (because she was Black and dated a lot of men), Maddie becomes obsessed with finding answers. Besides those two, the book features lots of short chapters from minor characters, and I enjoyed the different perspectives gradually weaving the story together, especially on audio. It's a twisty mystery with lots of surprises!
I feel like this book proves how diverse the crime/mystery genre can be, and it proves that by not really being something I loved. I love mysteries, unsolved crimes being solved, themes of racial and gender equality, historical fiction mysteries, books about writers and journalists, and stories about women breaking free of their expected gender roles. And yet, I didn't love this, even though it features all of those things.
I like my crime and mystery books either to focus on the impact of the death itself or the character and circumstances of the victim, or to go deep into the psychology of the investigator and/or killer, whereas this book wanted to be more about, I don't even know, how clueless one can be about oppression even while being oppressed? The main character was the least interesting person in this book, is what I'm trying to say. She was pushy in weird ways and sort of ineffective, and ultimately, uninteresting, even as she was caught up in things that were extremely interesting.
The best parts of this book are Cleo's POV chapters, even though she is dead, and the one-off POV chapters of random characters that pop in every once in a while after we meet them and they interact with our main character. The mystery itself was quite good, and it was so literary that. My main issue, I think, is that I just didn't care about the main character (whose name I have forgotten). And as much as I liked Cleo's POV and those others, they also furthered this problem, because almost none of them are sympathetic to the MC. It's almost like Lippman purposefully wrote a main character in this style so you could sympathize with her and criticize her at the same time. It was strange.
So I liked this, but I don't know if I will be reading any more of Lippman's books. I might try Dream Girl, because it sounds really interesting, but I thought I would like this one more than I did, and it's left me a little meh on her as an author.
[3.5 stars]
I like my crime and mystery books either to focus on the impact of the death itself or the character and circumstances of the victim, or to go deep into the psychology of the investigator and/or killer, whereas this book wanted to be more about, I don't even know, how clueless one can be about oppression even while being oppressed? The main character was the least interesting person in this book, is what I'm trying to say. She was pushy in weird ways and sort of ineffective, and ultimately, uninteresting, even as she was caught up in things that were extremely interesting.
The best parts of this book are Cleo's POV chapters, even though she is dead, and the one-off POV chapters of random characters that pop in every once in a while after we meet them and they interact with our main character. The mystery itself was quite good, and it was so literary that
Spoiler
I didn't expect there to be twists, but there were a coupleSo I liked this, but I don't know if I will be reading any more of Lippman's books. I might try Dream Girl, because it sounds really interesting, but I thought I would like this one more than I did, and it's left me a little meh on her as an author.
[3.5 stars]
I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did. I really enjoyed the alternating structure between Maddie's perspective and the perspectives of the minor characters around her, and the interspersed thoughts from Cleo. However, I did not find Maddie particularly remarkable or appealing, and I was underwhelmed by the final twist. If you're looking for a mystery that focuses mostly on minor characters, this is for you. I think there are more compelling reads out there, though.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A twisty, turny murder mystery, this is also a love letter to low-key 1960s feminism and the power of investigative journalism. A great exploration of the many sides to every story - many versions of the truth. I felt strongly for every character, and the story never went the way I expected. I’m adding more of Laura Lippman’s many bestselling, Baltimore-set novels to my TBR. Check this one out before the AppleTV+ limited series starring a *perfectly* cast Natalie Portman premieres July 12.