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Hardly Knew Her: Stories
by
Laura Lippman (Goodreads Author),
George Pelecanos
New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman has been hailed as one of the best crime fiction writers in America today, winning virtually every major award in the genre. The author of the enormously popular series featuring Baltimore P.I. Tess Monaghan as well as three critically lauded stand-alone novels, Lippman now turns her attention to short stories—and reveals ano...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
October 7th 2008
by William Morrow
(first published 2008)
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Wow, I really enjoyed this book. It made for a long commute that felt too fast! Hardly Knew Her is a collection of short crime stories, which were all really good. The stories were shocking at first, and then you sort of pick up on the formula. But this doesn't make the stories any less entertaining--you just start realizing where the story might go. I found them all really good, and some of them a little off-color in that "The Wire" sort of way. A couple of the stories feature Lippman's heronin...more
Nov 15, 2011
Melissa
added it
I got the title story as an audiobook from Audible.com and listened last week while I was in the bath since it was a nice short one (about 40 minutes). To quote Sarah Rachel Egelman's Amazon review, "In the title story, 'Hardly Knew Her,' 16-year-old Sofia wrests power from her abusive father, literally locking him out of her life. The male characters here are most often victimizers turned victim."
There's nothing light and fluffy about this story, in case you couldn't tell. It's compelling in i...more
There's nothing light and fluffy about this story, in case you couldn't tell. It's compelling in i...more
I was drawn to Laura Lippman's work because I know she is married to David Simon, who helped to create some of the most compelling and complex drama that has ever been brought to the screen, in my opinion. Since Lippman had the same background, Baltimore Sun writer turned author, I figured I'd be in for more of the same. While Lippman is a talented writer, her stories all come to the same conclusion. After the first few stories it was not difficult to guess what end the characters would come to...more
I've never read mystery short stories before, so this was an interesting view into a genre I don't read a lot, though I have a lot of respect for the meticulous plotting. I do love Lippman's use of Baltimore, and this was the PERFECT book for sitting in the jury duty waiting room today, but there's still something about her style that I don't quite love.
And now I shall put my finger on it: her characters all seem to speak to me in the voices of the women at my gym. They are the voices of Roland...more
And now I shall put my finger on it: her characters all seem to speak to me in the voices of the women at my gym. They are the voices of Roland...more
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This short story collection could have been subtitled “Women Who Kill”, because that is essentially what most of the stories revolve around. It’s a very strong collection, with only a few duds. Strangely, one of those duds was a Tess Monaghan story (Lippman’s most well-known character).
It’s difficult to narrow down exactly which stories were my favorites. The first story, The Crack Cocaine Diet, is fabulous just for its voice. I really enjoyed The Accidental Detective, a newspaper-style piece on...more
It’s difficult to narrow down exactly which stories were my favorites. The first story, The Crack Cocaine Diet, is fabulous just for its voice. I really enjoyed The Accidental Detective, a newspaper-style piece on...more
I was a bit skeptical about this book after realizing that the author is a crime writer. I haven't read any of her other books and really haven't read any crime fiction. The thing that disappointed me about this book wasn't the writing--it was actually fairly well written and LOL in many places. The thing that disappointed me was that most of the stories end with a character being murdered. It reminded me a lot of the stories that I used to write when I was new to the story writing genre, where...more
Light romps through Baltimore with quirky, cold blooded characters, where the women usually win, where cheating on spouses is de rigueur, and killing husbands for comfortable insurance policies is desirable and achievable - is how I would write my elevator pitch on this collection.
Plot is predominant in these stories which are delivered in the strong narrative voice of the author; sometimes the character voices intrude to comment on their situation or on their antogonist;sometimes whole sections...more
Plot is predominant in these stories which are delivered in the strong narrative voice of the author; sometimes the character voices intrude to comment on their situation or on their antogonist;sometimes whole sections...more
Laura Lippman is Mrs. David Simon, which makes her the First Lady of The Wire, which is almost reason enough to check out her stuff -- but she's accumulated a fair amount of buzz in her own right, her status as a member of the crime fiction elite confirmed by George Pelecanos's fawning introduction to this short story collection. I picked this up as a first Lippman simply as a little vacation from novel overload, and I definitely plan to check out some of her longformers in the future.
This wasn'...more
This wasn'...more
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I'm halfway through and liking it a lot. I'm a fan of short stories with twisted characters, and this is up my alley.
Wish I could understand why I like short stories by mystery novelists. This collection was enjoyable but occasionally redundant. There's a great example of re-using characters herein: elements of one story are cannibalized for the climactic novella.Lippman's iconic character Tess Monaghan shows up a couple of times--but there are some other fine lead characters in this collection. Getting through this was a great midsummer breeze--it left me wanting something more substantial, and i'm not referr...more
I have always enjoyed Laura Lippman's novels--in part, I think, because they are set in Baltimore, Maryland and the city usually becomes a major character in each book. This book, however, proved that, in truth, I did hardly know her. In this collection of short stories, Lippman extends her range and her subject matter. While many of the stories are set either in Baltimore and its suburbs or at least in Maryland, some venture as far south as New Orleans and as far east as Dublin, Ireland. Some o...more
In Laura Lippman's short story collection, we experience a variety of voices: first person narratives; stories from the perspective of women ranging from teens to aged; two from men who have been less than faithful to their wives (spousal betrayal seems to be a recurring theme); and a couple from the perspective of black men.
Another recurring theme lies in the numerous stories set in Baltimore or neighboring cities, like Washington, D.C. There are a few Tess Monaghan stories, and one of my favor...more
Another recurring theme lies in the numerous stories set in Baltimore or neighboring cities, like Washington, D.C. There are a few Tess Monaghan stories, and one of my favor...more
I've never been a fan of short stories--I am generally of the mind that they do not have time to have enough depth of plot or character to make them interesting. Hardly Knew Her blew that opinion completely out of the water for me--each and every one of these stories immediately engaged me with characters that left lasting impressions. Lippman introduces some seriously off-kilter people who chose to do extraordinary things in completely matter of fact ways that surprise the reader again and agai...more
Even if you are a reader that doesn’t enjoy reading short stories I think Hardly Knew Her will change your mind. The stories are so good that you will wish you were reading a book instead of just a short story.
I didn’t find even one of the stories that I didn’t like but I did have my favorites. The story of Mona who increased her income by becoming a porn star was intriguing. Mona was not young and this just didn’t seem to be the occupation to take on late in life but the bills must be paid and...more
I didn’t find even one of the stories that I didn’t like but I did have my favorites. The story of Mona who increased her income by becoming a porn star was intriguing. Mona was not young and this just didn’t seem to be the occupation to take on late in life but the bills must be paid and...more
I've always enjoyed her books, and while short story collections have not always been my favorite - they are growing on me - especially for night time reading (so hard to put a book down in the middle). This one kept me reading til the end - damn - and I was really tired too.
Having read the Tess Monaghan books, the stories involving her were fun but not as intense and entertaining as the others. Death after death but not without reason and not without undercurrents and humor.
Having read the Tess Monaghan books, the stories involving her were fun but not as intense and entertaining as the others. Death after death but not without reason and not without undercurrents and humor.
"Hardly Knew Her" is a collections of short stories. I was a bit taken aback at the ending of the first one. Then, I read another and could start to see every story was going to end with someone's untimely death by the hands of another character. The author cleverly drew in characters from previous stories in the ending chapter. I thought many of the stories would be good Alfred Hitchcock episodes. Some were funny and others not at all. A very interesting read.
Laura Lippman’s Hardly Knew Her presents the reader with a medley of innovative stories about caprice, violence, prostitution, murder and the less than traditional ironies of life. Her characters are richly drawn and she deftly spins seventeen delectable tales of women caught in various predicaments. Some situations are of their own making while others are caused by happenstance or perhaps by a cruel twist of fate.
Lippman’s women are as varied as the colorful icings on a dozen donuts. Some of h...more
Lippman’s women are as varied as the colorful icings on a dozen donuts. Some of h...more
This book was...different. Granted, I don't have much experience with short-stories, so that might be my problem. But, I don't think I was prepared for how strange and off-the-wall these stories were. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to pick up a book, and finish a story in 10 pages; great when you want a quick read. But, it definitely wasn't the high-light of my 2009 reading. I haven't read anything else by this author, but this collection wasn't really my cup of tea. Not terrible, but certainly n...more
Again with the half stars, GoodReads: I'd like to give this 2.5 really. It had its highs and lows. For me, I disliked the Tess Monaghan portions because I, having never read one of those books, have no vested interest in the PI. Lippman's other stories were hit or miss. I thought it started off strong, with some shining moments of comedy. Eventually though, they all became formulaic with each one containing a surprising murder of sorts. Overall, it was enjoyable to listen to--didn't pander, was...more
Lippman's Tess Monaghan stories are a staple in my library and when a new one comes out, I race to read it. This is a collection of short stories (a couple featuring Tess) and while I normally stay away from short stories (they're ... well ... too short), I was jonesing for Lippman's voice. These stories were creepy and some of them slimey, but I thoroughly enjoyed them - all of them. A very quick read and very enjoyable.
I have enjoyed the Tess Monaghan books that I have read. Lippman knows her city, Baltimore, and her characters are fun and interesting to follow. There are a couple of stories in this book about Tess and I liked them a lot.
I tend to like short stories, especially when my life is stressed and I am having trouble concentrating. Lippman knows how to write economically and so her stories were all good.
The ones that are going to stick with me were about Heloise - a madam who is raising her son in the...more
I tend to like short stories, especially when my life is stressed and I am having trouble concentrating. Lippman knows how to write economically and so her stories were all good.
The ones that are going to stick with me were about Heloise - a madam who is raising her son in the...more
I personally thought that these stories were vapid and boring. So much effort went into trying to fill them with shocking content that the stories kind of fell, like a poorly pitched tent. While reading them you expect ends to fit the build up, instead they fizzle, or simply drop off. I would have gladly settled for hitting a wall, at least that is abrupt and solid. I did finish it though it was very tempting to stop half way through.
The stories are all a lot alike. Women committing murder and other crimes. It gets very repetitive. There is one story with Tess Monaghan, which doesn't involve a female criminal. As good as her writing style is, it can't overcome the similarity of the plots. On thr bright sside, she's pretty good at creating voices for characters who aren't middle-class white women.
Women That Murder...someone else mentioned that this would be the better title and I agree...Holy Moly...just when I thought I was in for lighthearted human interest stories...whack! she kills them.
The one that will stick with me the longest is the last one, a novella - Scratch A Woman..the title alone are interesting and lead you away from the climax of the story...watch out for the quiet ones...lol
The one that will stick with me the longest is the last one, a novella - Scratch A Woman..the title alone are interesting and lead you away from the climax of the story...watch out for the quiet ones...lol
Lippman's collection of short stories in Hardly Knew Her, are told through a variety of voices. A suburban prostitute, a college age girl, and a sixty year old adult film actress to name a few. All have one underlying theme: murder. Lippman's diologue propels the stories, which are all rich in plot and characters. And maybe not surprisingly, I was most interested in the two stories featuring Tess Monaghan. Although I haven't ready a Lippman novel starring Tess, I could tell that Tess was a full...more
3.5 stars
I'm not a big fan of short stories, but this collection was good. I enjoyed it more than some of Lippmann's novels - the short stories are concise and the plotlines move fast. Even though each story was different, I had a hard time putting the book down. I always wanted to read one more story.
I'm not a big fan of short stories, but this collection was good. I enjoyed it more than some of Lippmann's novels - the short stories are concise and the plotlines move fast. Even though each story was different, I had a hard time putting the book down. I always wanted to read one more story.
A wonderful, engaging, and thrilling book of short stories that all have delightful twists in their endings and center around a cast of women you definitely shouldn't take for granted. I'd never read a Tess Monoghan novel before reading this, which I thought would hurt me as two of the stories center around Tess, but my lack of knowledge didn't detract from the enjoyment; if anything, it has reminded me of how much I want to start reading the Monoghan PI mystery series.
A fun, not amazing collection. Fun to see a couple prequel stories to Lippman's most recent book. The stories all seem to have the "and there's a dead body" ending, which when placed all together just doesn't seem that surprising anymore. There are some really fun ideas in there. I just think Lippman does better when she has room to meander.
So amazing. I never read short stories, but when I saw this book I couldn't pass it up. I'm so glad that I didn't. Laura Lippman never disappoints. The stories are twisted and fascinating. We see how ordinary people commit murder with little regret and a great deal of rationalizing.
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Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at The (Baltimore) Sun. She began writing novels while working fulltime and published seven books about “accidental PI” Tess Monaghan before leaving daily journalism in 2001. Her work has been awarded the Edgar ®, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Nero Wolfe, Gumshoe and Barry awards. She also has been nominated for othe...more
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