What a nice find. This was the first book I've read from this author and I really enjoyed it. The story was different from anything I've read recently and really captured my attention. It was so well written and the characters were fantastic.

Thank you NetGalley for a ARC book for an honest review. This book is hard for me to review. It is so many things: a mystery, historical fiction, 1960's lifestyle, woman breaking into newspapers, racial tensions, and treatment of people. Maddie Schwartz decides to leave her husband of 18 years and go off on her own. In the 1960's women were expected to be happy little homemakers and raise the children. She works at breaking into the newspaper business by being present at the conclusion of a search for a missing girl and reporting a lighting problem at a fountain. Maddie is a difficult person to like or care about. She does not seem all that upset when her son choses not to live with her and she is cold to her lover. She is a very self centered person.

I did like how Maddie learned that she could not be a meek if she wanted to learn the newspaper business. She had to use her feminine assets to her advantage and act like a male if she was going to get ahead in the business. She had to push herself into situations in order to get ahead. The newspaper would have been just as happy if she spent her time as a secretary. The 1960's would not have been a good era for any woman wanting to be anything other than a housewife, secretary, nurse, or teacher.

The history of Baltimore was an interesting aspect of this book. The racial, political, and religious history was also interesting. The book was written with some of the characters having asides about their part in the overall story and some of these were more interesting than Maddie's story. I was sorry some of these were not better developed.

This was not my favorite book by Laura Lippman but it is worth reading for the historical insights into the 1960's.

An epic journey through 1960s Baltimore. I can absolutely see this being picked up as a television miniseries or anthology series. I could see an episode for every character that is given an aside to tell their tale and what the city is like for them. This book takes delightful detours into lives of many folks that cross the path of the main character we return to over and over.

Many of the characters author Laura Lippman focuses on in this tour de force were marginalized at the time; black men and women, divorcees, and Jews. Many of the attitudes portrayed in the novel still prevail today, even if society has "allowed" for changes. (I know we say we're accepting, but face it, black employees are still often passed over for promotion. If you met a divorced woman and found her kids did not live with her, you would wonder why.) For all we can say we've changed, we're also still very much the same. I don't know how much introspection Lippman intended this to create, but for this reader it definitely drives home the point that even as we move forward, our society clings to the past.

I stepped back in time thinking I was getting a mystery novel and got so much more. Does our heroine, Maddie eventually solve the mysteries she's tracking? Yes, but there is so much more than the solve. The climax is both surprising and gripping, recoloring the way you've seen the entire mystery. The wrap up (a bit of a "where are they now" that doesn't always work for me) is satisfying closure.

IMHO, Laura Lippman earns the crown for historical novel of the year. 5 stars!

This book was set back in the 1960's from the perspective of Madeline “Maddie” Schwartz. The first few chapters confused me a bit going back and forth between another women's narrative and Maddie but once I saw where the story was going and all the mystery surrounding it, I couldn't put it down. I was quite shocked at the ending and so excited they ended in the future (I love to see how the main character's lives end up!). I definitely recommend.

3.5 stars

I liked the feel of Lady in the Lake, but there was something a bit disjointed about it at times. The story is set in 1966 Baltimore and focuses on Maddie Schwartz. Maddie is somewhat at odds with the times. She is restless in her marriage, has a healthy sexual appetite, is itching to work at something engaging and is willing to take risks. But she’s no hero. She gets a job with a newspaper and starts meddling in the murder of Cleo Sherwood, and things become complicated for Maddie and people around her. The story is told mostly from Maddie’s point of few, with the occasional perspective of the people she comes in contact with. I liked the writing. I liked the perspective on the 1960s in the US. And I mostly liked the story, but I thought it didn’t always hold together as well as it could. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

I loved the author's previous book Sunburn so I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately I found this slow and hard to get into. I refused to have a DNF so I barreled thru. Interesting ending but this one was just not for me.

This was my first time in decades reading anything by Laura Lippman, so I really went into this with almost no expectations.

I loved the setting and the atmosphere – 1960s Baltimore, with very different attitudes at that time towards women working, mixed-race relationships, divorce, etc. Although I was only a child in the 1960s, Lippman’s writing echoes what I remember hearing many adults say at the time. Her writing is clear and really evokes a sense of time and place. I also liked the plot, and there is a major twist that comes in an unexpected way, and at an unexpected time, that really adds to the story. And I liked the way the protagonist, Maddie, develops depth throughout the book.

With that said, I had two issues that diminished my enjoyment of the book ever so slightly. First, I found the multiple points of view to be a smidge jarring. This is, I think, perhaps a bit of a personal idiosyncrasy – I tend in general not to like multiple points of view. This probably won’t bother many people. The second issue involves a very minor spoiler for a very early part of the book, so skip the next paragraph if you wish…

My second issue was that I simply had a lot of trouble imagining that Maddie would leave her marriage in quite such an unplanned way. I could imagine that she would not accurately predict or prepare for how things would work out early on, and thus she would be surprised. But I had trouble imagining that she would really not have almost any plans at all. Perhaps this was meant to be indicative of how truly sheltered she had been, but it just caused a hiccup for me. After a few more chapters, this didn’t really matter anymore, and I just sort of put it aside, but at the time I was reading about it, it annoyed me.

In any case, in the end, both my issues are minor. I very much enjoyed the book, and will look for other Lippmann titles in the future.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Faber & Faber for the ARC they provided in exchange for an honest review.

I probably preferred the last book by Laura Lippman, Sunburn, to this one but this was a solid read and definitely unique. It had so many POV - essentially any scene involving one of two main characters was followed by a chapter from a POV of one of the characters in the last chapter. The POVs were done well, however, and I've never read something portrayed from so very many perspectives. I liked to be in both Maddie's head and Cleo's head, and the journalistic homage. Definitely recommend this for fans of this author and/or an interesting mystery.

Lady in the Lake comes out later this month on July 23, 2019, and you can purchase HERE.

My family and I ate black-eyed peas for the New Year. Do you know the custom? It's supposed to bring luck. My father didn't like it. He didn't like anything that had the faintest shade of hoodoo to it. If you spilled salt on the table, he thought it better to just let it be. He would walk under ladders, cross any black cat's path. To my father, superstitions were godless. Live right, follow the Ten Commandments, and you wouldn't have to worry about ladders or cats or the number thirteen. But he let my mam make black-eyed peas on New Year's Day, as long as we didn't talk about it, and I believed in those peas.

This is my first book by Laura Lippman and I am so glad I was introduced to this author's writing. Lady in the Lake is a simply captivating book. I absolutely loved the author's writing style and prose. The storyline itself is really intriguing. And the best part for me is there was a big unexpected twist I did not see coming from a million miles away. I thought I was reading about Maddie on her hunt for the truth about how Cleo was killed and then BAM you are hit with this twist. It's absolutely brilliant!!! 

The book is structured by each chapter being from a different characters perspective. You would think this structure would be confusing to follow. However, Lipman's writing does just the opposite. It flows seamlessly. From a writing viewpoint it's beautiful, clever and masterful!! That is no easy feat and the author does this effortlessly. From a reader's position it makes the book so enjoyable, satisfying and hard to put down. 

This book has elements of love, mystery, desire, ambition, independence, and finding your own way all wrapped up together. The character development is strong and the author is spot on with the rich history of Baltimore and the time period. It's a solid and powerful read. I can see this as a great beach read or Bookclub pick. This book offers the platform for some engaging discussions on how life has changed from the 60's, especially the role of women and the extents people will go to for love. And you can guarantee that not only will I be recommending this book, but also checking out the author's other books. 

My thanks to Laura Lippman, Farber & Farber Publishing and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to see that Laura Lippman had written another book! After reading this one, I realized that Laura can write many different kinds of books. In 1966, Baltimore is a city of secrets that everyone thinks they know—everyone, except Madeline "Maddie" Schwartz. Last year, she was a happy, even considered cotteled housewife. This year, she has escaped from her marriage of almost twenty years, steadfast to make good on her youthful challenges to live a vicarious and meaningful life.

I was able to have the opportunity to read this excellent book thanks to NetGalley. I have read all of Laura Lippmann’s books
and this one did not disappoint. The book takes place in the 1960s in Baltimore and the history and racial tension is well executed. Maddie Schwartz is in her late 30s and decides to leave her husband after an old high school friend comes to dinner one night. Her teenaged son doesn’t come with her and she finds herself needing to start over. She works for a newspaper and enters a biracial relationship with a police officer. She attempts to investigate and write about two murders during this time as well. The twist in the end was amazing. I highly recommend this book! Thanks again for the opportunity to read it!

Not my favorite by this author, but intriguing and worth the read. My favorite part was all the different perspectives. The story is told mostly from the perspective of Maddie and of Cleo (the lady), but at least a small part is also told from the perspective of nearly everyone Maddie encounters. I wasn't able to feel much attachment for Maddie, so the extra points of view were really enjoyable to get some variety of personality.

Maddie, who comes from a life of privilege has recently seen her circumstances upended as she left her well-to-do husband and their son. Now living in an apartment in a sketchy area of Baltimore, she has landed a job at the city newspaper and is desperate to prove she is more than just a pampered ex housewife.
Maddie quickly finds herself intrigued by the murder of the “lady in the lake,” a black woman who was the same age as her. Although they were two different races, with very different backgrounds, they had a lot in common and Maddie wonders had she not been privy to white privilege, would her life have turned out differently?
It took me a bit to get into this one. There are a lot of characters and a lot of details to absorb. But the premise kept me going and this one paid off. Lippman really seems to effortlessly write in this genre that is not commonplace these days. The writing feels dark, the characters dapple in the forbidden, and the result is a deeply satisfying mystery.
Maddie is a great character. She is multi-dimensional, full of insecurities and dreams and yet also jaded and cynical by what she has already lived through halfway through her life. I completely believed she was a real person with real motivations. I also appreciated that her background was complicated. She hadn’t had it tough in the way we normally think, but sometimes, when it appears you have everything from the outside, the truth of what you really have can be stark and lonely.
Special thanks to Netgalley along with William Morrow for an advanced egalley of the book in exchange for my honest review. This one is out July 25 and is also a LibraryReads selection for July. Get your copy!

This is one of many books that I have read from Laura Lippman and am consistently pleased with her writing. When Maddie Schwartz decides to leave her husband, her life completely changes. She lives in a tenement apartment in the bad part of town and has a black lover. This book is based in the 60's and she is a higher class white woman so this is definitely a relationship that she cannot have. She discovers a body in a fountain and a body in the place that she used to neck in in the past. She decides to join the newspaper and uses tips from her boyfriend to advance her career and to solve the mysteries. She gets in over her head and finds out that nothing is what it seems. I really liked the cultural angle of this book and that it changes pov's based on who she is talking to in a way to advance the story.

Maddie Schwartz decides at a dinner party one night in 1965 that she no longer loves her husband, Milton, and will divorce him. She moves out almost immediately without any real firm plans and no money arrangements with her wealthy husband and is surprised when her teen-age son, Seth, doesn't want to move with her.

She moves into a neighborhood that is "Changing" from white to black as her income is erratic. She starts a passionate relationship with a black policeman and discovers a dead body of a black girl in a fountain. She decides to investigate the body and wrangles her way onto a job at one of the newspapers. She works her way up through hard work and diligence.

The unique, annoying to me, aspect to this novel is that it branches out. When Maddie meets people you get a chapter on their life. From the waitress to the bartender to the parents of murdered victims there is a small story in their voice. I didn't like it. I don't care enough about the people and it interrupted up the flow of the story. It was a gimmick that didn't work for me.

The story ties up the mystery of the dead black girl in the fountain that nobody cared about it and it had an interesting twist. It would have been a better book without the gimmick.

Thanks to Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

I really enjoyed this book! I have read many of Laura Lippman's other works, but this one was really imaginative, with different Point of view chapters that all intersected. It wasn't just a story of a murder, but also how one woman shed her traditional life to do something different, and how that can turn out. I would recommend this if you are looking for a thriller that also has a literary bent.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Laura Lippman is not a new author, known for books such as “Sunburn” and “After I’m Gone”. For me though, “Lady in the Lake” was my first experience with this author.
Maddie Schwartz is trying to start over, a recent divorcee with an estranged teenage son, living in 1960s Baltimore. Desperate to support herself, she gets a job at “The Star” newspaper as an assistant. When she hears about the body of an unidentified young woman being pulled from a local lake, Maddie seizes her oppourtunity to finally get her own byline and make something of herself. However, as she investigates and reports, lives are turned upside down, including her own, and Maddie is soon involved in the deep underbelly of politics, racial segregation and romantic entanglements that run the risk of revealing some powerful secrets, secrets that most people believe should stay hidden.
This was a difficult review to write. The way the novel is written took me awhile to adjust to. Maddy is the primary protagonist of the story, of course, but as she continues through her investigation, we are also made privy to some minor characters that Maddy interacts with. Each minor character is given a few paragraphs to detail their involvement in the story, and then never heard from again. (For example, Maddy interviews a psychic that the parents of the dead girl had met with after her disappearance; we hear how that interaction went from the psychic’s standpoint. Also, Maddy attends a baseball game and we hear from one of the players on the team). None of these bit characters had any part in the deaths in the novel, and they seemed to be mentioned merely as space fillers. However, at the end of the novel Maddy tells us that, as a newspaper reporter, everyone has a story if we just care enough to listen to it. It is not until the very last pages when we realize that there was a point to the inane and seemingly meaningless (and brief) narrations.
Maddy herself is a gung-ho character, full of gumption and bravado that would make any woman in the 1960s stand up and cheer. She fights for what is right and she takes on all sorts of obstacles, regardless of others’ opinions. She battles personal demons through her flawed relationships, and still manages to achieve her own personal level of success (completely different from society’s view of “success”, both at the time and now).
This novel is well told and creative, and fans of “Dear Mrs. Bird” will find a kindred spirit. As Maddy takes on racism, the mostly male-operated newspaper world, and her own personal relationships, a young girl is murdered and a young woman is pulled from the lake, providing the right amount of mystery and whodunit to the already entertaining plot.
“Lady in the Lake” is provocative and enjoyable, with a reassuring and satisfying ending. Full of intrigue and the underbelly of newspaper reporting (back when newspaper reporting was pen-to-paper, ink-stained newsprint), it is definitely a powerful and creative read, that has me curious to check out Lippman’s other works.

4.5 stars, rounded up
I’ve read almost all of Laura Lippman’s books. This one is a departure from her typical style. For starters, it takes place in the past, the sixties to be precise. It also involves a ghost. Yet, it’s still a mystery at heart.

Maddie Schwatz is recently separated and looking finally to become something other than a wife and mother. Through a fluke, she finds the body of a missing 11 year old girl. Playing off that and what follows, she manages to get a job at a newspaper. As the story goes on, she becomes interested in the murder of a young black woman whose body was found in the Druid Hill Park fountain.

Each chapter is told from a different viewpoint, including the ghost’s. And I mean, a lot of different POVs. If that bothers you, you won’t like this book, especially because we are given everyone’s background and thoughts. It reminded me a little of Olive Kitteridge, the way each character moves the story forward.

As always, Baltimore is as much a character in the book as any of the people. Maybe because I lived there for decades, I’m always fascinated by how I know exactly the neighborhoods and locations Lippman is describing and what a great job she does doing it. And the language. Oh, she’s got the language. Does any other city say “a police” when referring to a policeman?

Lippman also totally nails the times. When Tessie Fine laments that as an 11 year old girl, she’s told she can’t be a rabbi or even a cantor, it took me right back to the times I was told all the things I couldn’t be. “They gave me the same speech about modesty, tzniut. If I had a dollar for every time someone quoted “all is vanity” to me, I could buy five new bras,one for each school day. Modesty is for people who aren’t lucky enough to have things about which to be conceited.”

I truly enjoyed this book, although the format is one that would normally bother me. It’s all down to the writing, characters and the plot. Lippman does a great job of nailing all three.

In a weird stroke of luck, I had searched google looking for a picture of the fountain, only to discover the story is based on a true event, right down to the nickname given the deceased. Actually, both murders are based on real cases, and Lippman acknowledges this in her author’s Note.

My thanks to netgalley and Faber & Faber for an advance copy of this book.

I expected I'd enjoy this. I've read Laura Lippmann in the past and I'm a big fan of the Tess Monaghan series, so expected this to be equally good. Parts of it were exceptional, or I should say the writing was, but the plot wasn't clean and I found the constant shifts in POV was distracting.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. #LadyInTheLake #NetGalley

A stunning mystery that has everything from strong female protagonists to vibrant prose, engrossing narrative, atmospheric setting, sophisticated writing, and an engaging story. Definitely recommended!