Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This was my second attempt reading something from Laura Lippman. I’m thinking that maybe her style isn’t what I am into. Her writing was beautiful, I will say that for sure. She truly has a way with words, a way with making them flow like honey, and really bring you back to the era she is writing in. But what threw me a little about this book was the ever changing narrator. Sometimes, she’d throw in a voice and a storyline from someone - in my opinion - whose POV we didn’t need to know about. But that’s not to say this wasn’t a decent read. It took me a little longer to get through because of the changing view points, I got lost sometimes, but overall it wasn’t bad. In a previous ARC I read, I took a piece of wisdom with me: “There weren’t bad books. They were just books you didn’t enjoy.” And that really put a lot into perspective. It’s absolutely true. This book wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t something I enjoyed. But I encourage anyone who loves Lippman (there seem to be many people!) to give this a read.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman.
This is a different storyline than usual for Lippman. Her Tess Monahgan series is one of the best, and Lippman has done some great stand alone novels.
Set in Baltimore (of course), a body of a woman is found, and no one knows who killed her. and no one seems to care. That is until a newly single ex-housewife, Maddie, gets involved and is determined to get to the bottom of it.
There is alot of history and events that make this book special, especially, if you are from Maryland.
This is a good book, and a departure from Lippman's usual fare.
Good read.

A great novel, beautiful depiction of the characters with some tense moments thrown into the mix. Will definitely pick more books by this talented author.

This book showcases Lippman at her finest featuring her expert storytelling and exhibits her talent with creating multiple dimensional characters
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

I really liked the era and setting for this book. Lippman has an awesome gift for storytelling and has strength as a suspense writer. In this novel she comes up with a clever variety of elements: race, politics, religion, women in the newspaper industry, etc. All were strong topics of the era.
Many thanks to Faber and Faber LTD and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Set in 1964 Baltimore, Lady in the Lake is one of the best mystery novels I've read this year. As a native Marylander, I feel like I should be deeply steeped in Laura Lippman's work by now, but this is the first of her books I've dug into, and I'm glad I started.

Lady in the Lake primarily follows the character of Maddie Schwartz, the prototypical 1960s housewife - until she decides to leave her husband and pursue a career in journalism. In her quest to get her first byline, she becomes entangled in two separate murder investigations. It's the second of these, the disappearance of a young African-American woman, Cleo Sherwood, that runs through the entire book.

Cleo had disappeared eight months before when Maddie becomes involved in the investigation, but the police and the papers didn't dig deeply into the disappearance of an African-American woman (sadly still far too true today), and so Maddie is the only person really digging into the case. And, as she starts digging, she starts to realize how much trouble she might cause by telling the story that no one wants to cover.

Lippman tells the story of Maddie and Cleo through a multitude of voices, switching perspective and point of view with nearly every chapter. This could have been a dangerous decision in the hands of a lesser writer, but she manages to pull it off brilliantly, steeping the reader in the milieu of Baltimore in the 1960s.

Overall: 4.5 Sherlocks. Enjoy with Berger cookies, Old Bay Utz, and lemonade. Pairs well with Raymond Chandler's The Lady in the Lake.

Thank you to the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
I really liked this book, the author’s writing style was unique and interesting how she used all the different character’s viewpoints to explain what happened.
I thought it was an atmospheric, stylish, fascinating, suspenseful and highly addictive mystery/thriller.
I highly recommend this book to everyone.

AMAZING! I love Laura Lippman's writing so much. This book was filled with suspense and drama, which I love. The characters were amazing, especially the main one. Y'all go out and read this book!

Last year Maddie was a happy, pampered houseguest, but this year she bolted from her marriage determined to make good on her youthful ambitions to live a meaningful life. She wants to leave her mark on the world and helps the Baltimore Police find the body of a murdered girl. Working at the newspaper gives her the opportunity to make her name and she’s found the story to do so. No one seems to care why she was killed except Maddie. Maddie is going to find the truth about Cleo’s life and death.

I am a huge Lippman fan and was very excited to be approved for this novel, but unfortunately my excitement was short lived. I was confused from the beginning of the novel on who was narrating at any given time, after a while I got used to what was going on and enjoyed it a bit more. I did find this novel very long and drawn out; I knew who did it and why quite early on and found I was just waiting for everyone else to figure it out. I did enjoy the parts written by Cleo and how you wondered how exactly we were getting this information. Overall, I just couldn’t connect to the characters or the story unfortunately.

Out July 25th!

A woman's body is found in a lake - who is she? How did she get there? A woman who has recently left her husband and son takes it upon herself to dig around into the murky background of the lady and her acquaintances.

On first sight this is a murder mystery, however there is so much more to this book. There is the history of 1960s Baltimore, a commentary on racism and sexism as well as the issues faced by Maddie on leaving her marriage, as well as trying to break into the newspaper business.

The story is told by an ever changing cast of narrators, these differing voices gave insights into the situation however did not spoil the twist in the plot - which I did not see coming.

Top read.

I loved this read! I felt like it was so fitting with the current climate in our world today. There were some plot lines that were unexpected, which just added to the realness of the story. I will be recommending this to my friends!

Lady in the Lake had a lot of potential to be a phenomenal story. Taking place during the 1960s in Baltimore, and told from many different viewpoints, the racial and feminist tones of that decade permeate throughout. Two unrelated murders unexpectedly place Maddie, a former housewife who wants to strike out on her own, in the center of the investigation. While trying to determine what happened to Cleo Sherwood, a young woman of color, Maddie is caught between the past and present.

The beginning and middle of the story are rather slow and many different voices narrate-the format is a little disjointed but not unexpected for an ARC. The last half of the book really picks up pace and brings the story together with some surprises and unexpected ending. With a little less narration and a more straightforward approach it would be a solid 4 star rating.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

It's 1964 when Cleo Sherwood disappears. It's been eight months and no one is looking for her. Cleo was out to find a better life for her and her sons. Cleo wishes Maddie would stop looking for her. 

There was a voice for every character. I wasn't sure at first if Cleo was the Lady in the Lake. New characters kept showing up and got their own chapters. It was confusing.

The story centers around Cleo's voice and Maddie's voice. Maddie is married to a rich man. She has a lot of secrets and while she talks a lot to herself, we have no idea what is behind her character. 

I got bored about halfway through. There was nothing to like or dislike. It was just boring. And that is not what I would expect from the author. I will definitely be reading more of her.

NetGalley/ July 23rd, 2019 by Faber & Faber

Atmospheric, stand alone noir set in 1960s Baltimore, and told through the first person narration of a wide variety of people involved in the discovery of a dead woman in a park fountain. Lippman's knowledge of both the city and the local news establishment deeply infuse the plot and the context.

How can you go wrong with this one?! It is the late '60's with history being made at every turn.

This is the story of a missing person that no one notices and a journalist that is trying to make a name for herself in a male dominated industry. There is so much more to this book and I know that this review does not do it justice. Get this book and see for yourself!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for this advanced readers copy. This book is scheduled for release in July 2019.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this book.
I have enjoyed each of the Laura Lippman books I have read. I have found myself still thinking of the main characters in this book and marveling at them. Despite focusing on two separate murders in Baltimore in the 1960s, this novel touches on so many more topics that were prevalent at that time. Some of which are still occurring today. I did not love the chapters from minor character’s viewpoints that were interspersed with the main character’s tale. However I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to anyone who is looking for something a bit different from the “usual” murder-mystery or historical fiction book.

I feel that there's way too much going on in this book. I tried to like it, I really did, but the chapters with various characters speaking all throughout the book became tedious to read. Sometimes too much is just too much. Stick with the basics. Have the main character or two or three tell the story, not a whole bunch of characters. While this was well written, I just did not enjoy it as I thought that I would. This is a solid 3/5 at best.

A divorced Jewish woman. Baltimore in the 60's.Segregation runs rampant. Sexism abounds.Thus begins the new novel by Laura Lippman that is a slow burn with short chapters and a new character introduced at every round. Once I got used to it, the style was easy and smooth flowing, The writing style was as smooth as putting butter on a hot piece of toast. I read it quickly,BUT, I couldn't wrap my arms around this novel. I found the main character's dialogue not fitting with who she was and the plot rather simplistic.I also hated how she badgered families who had lost loved ones and didn't feel that fit in with her character. Normally I am a big fan of Lippman's but this just didn't cut it for me.

The premise of this book was really interesting. Set in the 60s in the US. Lots of racial tensions and inequalities were addressed true to form.
Well developed characters

Thank you to NetGalley and Farber & Farber Publishing for gifting me with an ARC of Laura Lippman’s newest novel. In exchange I offer my unbiased review.

This was my first time reading Laura Lippman and I was instantly captivated. Her writing is strong and effortless and I was easily transported to 1960s Baltimore. I enjoyed the skilled. weaving of multiple characters and the way their viewpoints were seamlessly blended into the story. While not quite a thriller, I would categorize this book as literary crime noir.

The story centers around two missing bodies. One is Cleo Sherwood, an African American single mother and Tessie Fine, an eleven year old Jewish girl from a wealthy prominent family. Tessie’s disappearance quickly garners city wide interest but nobody seems too concerned with a missing Negro woman. Enter Madeline Schwartz. Maddie a local girl, married to a successful attorney, a respected homemaker and hostess is feeling restless. Wanting more to life than being a trophy wife, Maddie leaves her marriage & pampered existence and yearns to become a local news reporter. When Maddie inadvertently stumbles into both missing persons cases, she is finally presented with an opportunity to seek the job she always wanted. However for Maddie, she might be getting more than she anticipated.

This was a solid read, with a satisfying storyline and some good twists along the way. I enjoyed the setting and time as much as the mystery. This book will appeal to all readers. I’m excited to go back now and read more of Laura Lippman’s extensive work.