A Book A Week

I’ve always been fascinated by what inspires an author to write a book. Think about it—authors have to come up with an idea compelling enough to sustain months, sometimes years, of writing. That idea then needs to be strong enough to get published, and ideally, resonate with readers. When you really stop to consider all that, it feels like a minor miracle that any book gets written at all. I’ve read and enjoyed several of Laura Lippman’s novels over the years, so when her publisher offered me a copy of her latest, Murder Takes a Vacation, I jumped at the chance. I was even more intrigued to learn that the protagonist is a side character from an earlier Lippman novel, one that the author now feels was shortchanged by the cultural blind spots of the time. That kind of creative reexamination is fascinating. But it left me wondering, can that kind of reflective impulse truly serve as the driving force for an entire novel?

Muriel Blossom never played the lottery, so it came as a shock when she stumbled upon a discarded ticket in a parking lot—one that turned out to be a winner. She tried to do the honest thing and return it. After all, she hadn’t purchased the ticket, so how could she claim the prize? But when no rightful owner came forward, the lottery board awarded the winnings to her. Suddenly, the widowed retiree found herself with more money than she’d ever dreamed, and she was determined to make the most of it.

That’s how Mrs. Blossom finds herself at the airport, about to embark on a European adventure and French river cruise. It feels like a turning point—a chance to shed the skin of the overweight, sixty-something grandmother and embrace something new. So when she meets the charming Allan in the airport security line, she allows herself to feel desirable again, something she hasn’t experienced since losing her husband a decade earlier. But when Allan turns up dead in Paris, a city he wasn’t even supposed to be visiting, Muriel’s suspicions grow. They only intensify aboard the river cruise, especially when Danny, a mysterious man with a knack for appearing at the wrong moments, begins shadowing her. He claims Allan was involved in smuggling a stolen, priceless work of art, and insists Muriel knows more than she’s letting on about both the artifact and Allan’s murder.

What began as a trip to reinvent herself is quickly turning into much more than she ever bargained for.

In the author’s note of Murder Takes a Vacation, Laura Lippman reflects on Muriel Blossom’s first appearance as a hired surveiller for her heroine Tess Monaghan back in the mid-2000s. At the time, Muriel was presented mainly as a caricature—an elderly grandmother figure defined by her flowery attire and weight. Now, Lippman writes of wanting to correct that, giving Muriel far more agency over her life, her appearance, and her desires. In this novel, that effort is largely successful. Muriel may retain many of the same surface characteristics, but she is now portrayed as a woman grappling with grief, aging, and a renewed determination to live life on her own terms. She remains a larger woman, but she embraces that fully. The stigma surrounding weight has rightfully shifted, and Lippman writes Muriel as vibrant, desirable, and a hero in her own right.

But does that transformation make for a compelling read? The answer is more complicated. Murder Takes a Vacation works well enough as a diverting summer mystery, but it often feels like a mash-up of genres. It leans toward the cozy mystery tradition, but there’s a darker undercurrent here that pushes beyond the usual conventions. While Lippman clearly set out to right some of the perceived wrongs of the character’s original portrayal, that effort sometimes feels more self-conscious than seamless. In the author’s note, she mentions learning more about obesity and aging, and working with sensitivity readers, but at times this seems to dilute the sharp, distinctive voice she’s known for. The result is a light, quick read whose aims I admire, even if the execution feels a bit more forced than organic.

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2025, 47)

Laura Lippman has consistently been one of my "go-to" authors for years. With each new title in her ever-growing catalog, she blends touches of mystery and suspense with a plethora of various genres. I was a bit underwhelmed with her last novel, Sunburn, so I was eager to see Lippman redeem herself with her latest.  Lady in the Lake is a return to form for the author and the kind of novel that made me a fan of her writing in the first place.

Maddie Schwartz is living the quintessential, picture-perfect life of a housewife in 1966. She has a husband with a successful career, a teenage son who she adores,  and she spends her days keeping up with her home and friends. Despite all of this, she can't help but feel like something is missing. When an old fling turns up at a dinner party, Maddie is reminded of the youthful zeal and promise that she abandoned in favor of her current life. Not content to leave well enough alone, she bolts from her marriage and life as she knows it. She spent twenty years being the person everyone else wanted her to be, but now it is time for Maddie to discover her own passions and desires.

Maddie quickly sees how her previous life sheltered her from the realities of the world. She lives in a dilapidated apartment in the African-American part of Baltimore, the only place she can afford. Looking to make her mark on the world, she stumbles upon the body of a murdered girl. Maddie quickly parlays this discovery into a job at the Star newspaper and begins to work toward her goal of becoming a columnist. When everyone else dismisses the murder of young Cleo Sherwood, Maddie suspects something more. She follows her intuition to dig into the untimely death. If she uncovers something big, this could mean the beginning of a prosperous career. At every turn, Maddie is discouraged from proceeding with her investigation. Someone wants their secrets to be buried with Sherwood and will stop at nothing to prevent them from rising to the surface.

Lady in the Lake is Laura Lippman writing at her best. She mixes an underlying mystery with historical fiction that soars from the pages. Lippman alternates between chapters about Maddie with others written from the perspective of various people that Maddie encounters. This gives the narrative a depth that further enhances the world Lippman creates. There are also the occasional soliloquies of the dead Cleo Sherwood commenting on Maddie's investigation. These ghostly speeches only add to the suspense and dread that lies just beneath the surface of this story. While I wasn't really shocked by the revelations at the end of the book, I don't think that's the point of the novel. The mystery is there more to aid in the telling of the historical story and the growth of Maddie as a character. This book expertly combines compelling characters with historical details and a touch of mystery that makes it into a really solid read.

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.
(2019, 29)

"Maybe everybody lies, all the time."

Who is Polly? She's turned up in the small town of Bellville outside of Baltimore with only a suitcase and shoulders still freshly charred from the sun. She is staying in a dilapidated motel across from the equally ramshackle Hi-Ho bar. Naturally, the citizens of the small town are curious about who she is. Polly sits at the bar and announces to the man next to her, another out of towner, that Bellville is her new home. But why is she here and what has she left behind?

Adam knows what Polly, Pauline as he knows her, is running from. He watched as she spent a final day on the beach with her husband and three-year-old daughter. His client tasked him with cozying up to the husband and getting to know the family. The goal was to uncover the money that Polly illicitly gained from his client. Things did not go as planned. Polly fled in the night leaving her family behind. Now as Adam sits next to her at this dive bar in the middle of nowhere, he has more questions than answers about the woman he is supposed to investigate.

I've been a fan of Laura Lippman for years. Specifically, I've always admired her ability to craft stand-alone thrillers that draw me in and have unique characters. Even better, no two Lippman novels follow the same formula. In her latest novel Sunburn, Lippman presents a story that is so different from her others that I almost forgot which author I was reading. Even if my final reaction to the book was mixed, I have to applaud her effort in presenting something so unique.

Set in the early 1990's Sunburn is a mystery in all aspects. We are left in the dark about Polly and her motivations for most of the novel. Lippman strategically reveals details about Polly's past with just enough regularity to keep the reader invested in the story and the suspense rolling. Setting the story at the end of the last century gives the novel a retro vibe that also helps to explain how Polly is able to conceal her history so well. Without prevalent smartphones, social media, and computers, it is not easy for Adam and his client to learn about their enigmatic target. My only real complaint about Sunburn is that the ending was a bit too abrupt and tidy for the events that preceded it. Still, Sunburn is the perfect start to my early spring/summer reading and a solid reminder of Laura Lippman's writing prowess.

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.
This review is part of a TLC Book Tour. Click here for the entire tour schedule!

(2018, 10)

"We always want our heroes to be better than their times, to hold the enlightened views we have achieved one hundred, fifty, ten years later."

Luisa "Lu" Brandt's childhood is one of both tragedy and triumph. Her mother died one day after giving birth to Lu, leaving Andrew Jackson Brandt to raise her and her older brother AJ. Mr. Brandt never adapted to the domesticity that being a single father demands, but he did fiercely love his children. Never having a true female role model, other than the family housekeeper Teensy, Lu struggled to find her place in the world. Even in the idealistic community of Columbia, teachers and students were hesitant to accept Lu for the individual free spirit that she was. Throughout the tribulations of adolescence, Lu learned that family was the only thing in life that would never waver. This lesson was cemented into her being on the night that AJ killed a local townsman while defending a friend. Her father used his influence as the State's Attorney to see that the incident was swiftly resolved and didn't cause any unneeded trauma to his son.

Years later, Lu finds her life coming full circle. After her husband's untimely death, she relocated herself and her twin children back to her childhood home. Not long after the move, she was elected to hold the very same office her father held years ago. With the shadow of her father's highly revered career looming over her, Lu hits the ground running by taking on a murder case. The incident of a mentally unstable drifter killing a local young woman seems like the perfect way for Lu to assert the power of her new job. But new revelations force Lu to face inconsistencies in her own past and call into question the memories that she holds dear.

Readers of Laura Lippman's novels have come to expect intricate mysteries that keep the pages turning and our imaginations working. While Wilde Lake certainly does its part to keep this tradition alive, it is much more a family drama than a conventional thriller. As the story unfolds, the relationship between Lu and her father and brother takes center stage. Yes, there is a mystery that will keep you guessing to the very end, but this mystery is not the central focus of the novel. Rather, the murder case is used to advance the development of the the true nature of the family's narrative.

The novel alternates between past and present. The present day sections read like many of Lippman's past efforts. Lu is a flawed character who we can't help but connect with and root for. It is in the sections about Lu's childhood where Lippman offers something refreshingly different. Echoes of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird permeate the story of a young girl being raised by her lawyer father. The childlike innocence of these portions only add to the suspense of the present day mystery. As past and present collide, Lippman weaves a poignant tale that comments on family loyalty and the vulnerability of memory. Wilde Lake is a stirring work that proves that Lippman is a master of her craft.

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For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.

(2016, 15)

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