TLC Book Tours Book Review: Lady In The Lake

About Lady in the Lake

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (July 23, 2019)

The revered New York Times bestselling author returns with a novel set in 1960s Baltimore that combines modern psychological insights with elements of classic noir, about a middle-aged housewife turned aspiring reporter who pursues the murder of a forgotten young woman.

In 1966, Baltimore is a city of secrets that everyone seems to know—everyone, that is, except Madeline “Maddie” Schwartz. Last year, she was a happy, even pampered housewife. This year, she’s bolted from her marriage of almost twenty years, determined to make good on her youthful ambitions to live a passionate, meaningful life.

Maddie wants to matter, to leave her mark on a swiftly changing world. Drawing on her own secrets, she helps Baltimore police find a murdered girl—assistance that leads to a job at the city’s afternoon newspaper, the Star. Working at the newspaper offers Maddie the opportunity to make her name, and she has found just the story to do it: a missing woman whose body was discovered in the fountain of a city park lake.

Cleo Sherwood was a young African-American woman who liked to have a good time. No one seems to know or care why she was killed except Maddie—and the dead woman herself. Maddie’s going to find the truth about Cleo’s life and death. Cleo’s ghost, privy to Maddie’s poking and prying, wants to be left alone.

Maddie’s investigation brings her into contact with people that used to be on the periphery of her life—a jewelry store clerk, a waitress, a rising star on the Baltimore Orioles, a patrol cop, a hardened female reporter, a lonely man in a movie theater. But for all her ambition and drive, Maddie often fails to see the people right in front of her. Her inability to look beyond her own needs will lead to tragedy and turmoil for all sorts of people—including the man who shares her bed, a black police officer who cares for Maddie more than she knows.

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Purchase Links

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Review: OK, this book is absolutely AMAZING!

Set in the 60s in Baltimore. (Its hard not to think of the musical Hairspray when you are reading this book, not for lighthearted reasons, but the subject matter)

Maddie leaves her husband to find herself, going to work at the bottom of the totem pole, for a local newspaper where she becomes a part of a murder investigation.

Cleo is the murdered women in the lake. Yeah, she's a ghost and you hear quite a bit from her. I think that's really what drew me in to this book from the start

You get a lot of narrators in this book, which makes for a dizzing read, but never the less a good one that touches on so many issues. (Again..think Hairspray only heavier)

Rating: 5 flowers

About Laura Lippman

Since Laura Lippman's debut in 1997, she has been recognized as a distinctive voice in mystery fiction and named one of the "essential" crime writers of the last 100 years. Her books have won most of the major awards in her field and been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her family.

Connect with Laura on her website, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.