The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman

If you've never read Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan mysteries, you can still pick up the series with The Girl in the Green Raincoat, the eleventh in the series.  This novel, originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine, brings together so many of the characters in Tess' life in a clever tribute to Rear Window and Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time.  At the same time, this is uniquely Lippman, marking a milestone in Tess' life.  Read it as a lover of Tess Monaghan's stories, or as someone discovering them, but you won't regret it.

Tess is 35, with a high-risk pregnancy, put on bed rest with at least two months to go.  As an active private investigator, she's anxious and antsy already on her first day of confinement.  Once Crow brought her binoculars, she could lay on the sun porch and watch people, particularly the people walking their dogs in the dog park across the street.  She immediately focused on a miniature version of her own greyhound, walked by a woman in a green raincoat every day.  But, on the sixth day, when the greyhound ran through the park without its owner, Tess' perspective changed.  What happened to the woman that her dog was running without her?

Tess might be bedridden, but she's still as curious as ever, determined to solve the mystery.  Despite Crow's admonitions that she needed to keep her blood pressure low, she set an investigation in motion, recruiting her employee, Mrs. Blossom, and her best friend, Whitney Talbot.  But, when the investigation snowballs, Tess makes a mistake that could be tragic.

The Girl in the Green Raincoat succeeds on so many levels.  The author's notes pays homage to Lippman's inspirations.  She also said the serialized format gave her the opportunity to allow other characters to tell their stories, Mrs. Blossom, Tess' father, Whitney.  So, don't hesitate to pick it up, even if you've never read a previous Tess Monaghan book.  And, if you've read everything, welcome to a new stage in Tess' life.

Laura Lippman's website is http://www.lauralippman.com/

The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman.  HarperCollins, ©2011. ISBN 9780061938368 (paperback), 158p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure - The publisher sent me a copy of the book, in hopes I would review it.

I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman

At thirty-eight, Eliza Benedict may appear to be an ordinary wife and mother of two kids.  She and her family have just returned from six years in England, and her husband has a good job.  They have an expensive house in Bethesda, Maryland.  But, Eliza has a past, and Laura Lippman is the author skillful enough to reveal it while leaving you still wondering about it.  I'd Know You Anywhere is a riveting, powerful novel of tragedy and suspense.

It came as a shock to Eliza to receive a letter from Walter Bowman.   He was on death row for the murder of a young teen, but, when Eliza was fifteen and known as Elizabeth Lerner, he had kidnapped her, and held her hostage for six weeks.  Why was Elizabeth allowed to live when Bowman had killed at least two girls, and was suspected of killing others?  That's the question that has haunted the adult Eliza for years, and, now that Walter is facing execution and writes, she faces a dilemma.  Should she write back?  She and her husband, Peter, have kept her past a secret from their children.  But, someone delivered and wrote that letter for Walter.  There's more than one threat to Eliza's peace out there.  Why her?  Why is Walter writing now?  Why did he let her live?  Why was Elizabeth the one that got away?

Throughout the book, Lippman takes the reader back to 1985, and Elizabeth's experiences when she's on the run with Walter.  Elizabeth, who lived for fifteen years with a volatile older sister, quickly learned to read Walter's moods, and she remained calm, fed his ego, and tried not to disturb him.  At the same time, she never made a move to get away from him, and it was a traffic stop after a kidnapping and murder that led to his capture and Elizabeth's release.   Now, Barbara LaFortuny, a victim of a violent crime herself, has decided to play advocate in Walter's case, pushing Eliza to meet with him. 

I'd Know You Anywhere is a gripping novel of psychological suspense.  While Eliza tried to hide her past from others, a journalist, Barbara, and others were threatening to reveal the secrets she had hidden from her children.   What was the motivation for the characters in this book?  If it's possible to hate a minor character, I hated Barbara LaFortuny.  What was her motivation?  Why was she such a meddler in the lives of others?  She was motivated by something other than her stand against the death penalty, although she would never acknowledge it.  Even Walter's true motivation was hidden until the end of the book.

But, Eliza, to paraphrase Lippman, only wanted to live a life that wasn't defined by what happened to her as a teenager.  And, she still yearns for the house, and the childhood she lost, because of those six weeks in her life.  When asked, "How were you rescued," Lippman had Eliza almost say, "I'm not sure I was."  I'd Know You Anywhere is an intense novel that recognizes the dangers in the ordinary world, and the strength it takes to live one day at a time knowing of that danger.

Laura Lippman's website is http://www.lauralippman.com/

I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman.  HarperCollins, ©2010. ISBN 9780061706554 (hardcover), 384p.

*****

FTC Full Disclosure - I'm participating in the TLC Blog Tour for I'd Know You Anywhere, so Lippman's publicist send me an ARC of the book.