What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of What the Dead Know
Book Review: What This Reader Knows
Summary: 5 Stars
What this reader knows--and delightedly so--is that he has discovered a wonderful way to get his suspense fix in Laura Lippman. This was my first book by her, picked up purely on the basis of the back cover copy at the airport and I have to say that I was transfixed from cover to cover. Lippman''s intricately-layered, mysterious narrative is the kind of book you hate to put down, and can't wait for the next opportunity to pick up again to see what twists and turns the author has crafted. Lippman's sympathetic and adept characterization (she knows how to make you care about the people about whom she's writing), her astonishing sense of pacing and suspense-building, her true-to-life settings, and her simple ability to tell a bang-up story make this one writer I look forward to reading again and again. This was truly a bravura performance and I can only hope her other books live up to the promise of this one.Book Review: What the Dead Know
Summary: 5 Stars
Well written, insightful, full of information that those of us who know Baltimore appreciate and above all a terrific read!Book Review: a dark, engrossing tale
Summary: 5 Stars
This was one of the most complex suspense novels I've ever read. The story shifts in time and point of view, each section more interesting than the last. It's a morally ambiguous tale that makes the reader both feel and think. How do we keep our children safe from harm? Can a lie told in good conscience breed danger later on, if only from the distance lies inevitably invoke? Ms. Lippman's writing ranges from the matter of fact to the beautiful; her metaphor for hope was powerful enough to bring tears. WHAT THE DEAD KNOW made me go out and buy a good many of the author's backlist...they can hardly be more compelling than this one, though.Book Review: a decent read
Summary: 4 Stars
This was my first book by Lippman. I read this book in one sitting - I love the way she writes, and the story had me hooked. It's a very dark tale, so that was depressing in spots.
I figured out the twist really early in the book. (That may not be the book's fault, though.) The resolution was rushed, and I didn't buy aspects of it.
Several people are annoyed by the use of the phrase "a police." Didn't bother me - I assumed it was a colloquialism.
Book Review: an original but slow mystery
Summary: 3 Stars
I loved the start of this novel. A woman is involved in a hit and run accident, and when confronted by the police, she connects herself to a 20 year old disappearance of two young girls. It was clear at the start that this was not going to follow any typical mystery formula. The novel is very well written, and bounces back and forth from past to present. I did get a bit impatient for a bit more to happen. I liked the characters, but the movement was all in time, and so there was no real character development. I liked the ending as well as so much about the book, but I spent too much time wishing it move along a bit more. This is a true original, and I expect a good read for many out there.