Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

Jul 07, 2019 Meredith rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

Cold, Dark, and Distant

Lady in the Lake is a mystery about a want-to-be journalist who inserts herself into murder investigations in 1960's Baltimore.

Maddie Schwartz, married to Milton for 18 years and mother to 16-year-old Seth, decides she needs to do more. She makes a drastic change and leaves Milton and Seth to start over. She lucks her way into a job at a newspaper and goes to extremes to move up on the ladder. In order to succeed, she will cross boundaries and put herself into dangero Cold, Dark, and Distant

Lady in the Lake is a mystery about a want-to-be journalist who inserts herself into murder investigations in 1960's Baltimore.

Maddie Schwartz, married to Milton for 18 years and mother to 16-year-old Seth, decides she needs to do more. She makes a drastic change and leaves Milton and Seth to start over. She lucks her way into a job at a newspaper and goes to extremes to move up on the ladder. In order to succeed, she will cross boundaries and put herself into dangerous situations all to get the story--even if it means hurting those she is closest to.

This is one of those books that I had to constantly coax myself into reading. Once I had it in my hands, I was fine but when I put it down I was reluctant to go back to it. I enjoyed the historical elements and Lippman’s portrayal of Baltimore in the 1960s, but I had a hard time connecting to Maddie. I appreciated her drive, but her character lacked emotion and seemed almost robotic. I honestly didn’t care what happened to her, which is why I could never fully immerse myself in the narrative. She left me feeling cold.

I also struggled with the narrative structure, as there were multiple chapters told from the POV of side characters, including a dead girl, a waitress, a psychic, a cop, etc. These are the people who touched Maddie’s new life, but they are not the main players. In order to better understand Maddie, I was more interested in hearing the thoughts of her lover, her son, ex-husband, mother, etc. Instead, we get narratives about the people who make up Baltimore. I found their stories more interesting than Maddy’s and was sad when I realized I would only get short glimpses of their characters, never to see them again. I wanted to hear more about them and less about Maddie.

This wasn't a complete fail, as I enjoyed reading about the racial tensions, religious divides, gender dynamics, and class differences in 19060's Baltimore. The plot is compelling, but the MC is lacking. Perhaps, I would have enjoyed it more had the story been told from a different voice.

I won an ARC of this book from a GoodReads giveaway! ...more

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Aug 06, 2019 Nilufer Ozmekik rated it liked it

Three too many POVs flying over my head and I began to confuse, a thriller story shouldn’t be told more than three sides, right? By the way did I have to trouble to connect with characters or are they really so distant, awkward, unlikable to empathize, and where are those mind bending, nerve bending thriller element, did writer save them for another book and used the leftovers for that one stars!

I mostly enjoy Laura Lippman’s books and her slow burn but giving warnings that something ominous a ...more

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Jul 04, 2019 Liz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

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 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. ...more

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Sep 03, 2019 j e w e l s rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recent-faves, audio

FIVE HARD-BOILED NOIR STARS

Welcome to the 60's! woo-hoo-hoo-wooooh.🎶🎵🎶GOOD MORNING, BALTIMORE!

Thank GOD, this novel has restored my faith in the literary mystery thriller genre! HOORAY!

As we all know by now... the 60's were a turbulent, exciting time of change in our country. Racial tensions, the feminist movement, and freedom of the press were spotlighted every night on local televisions across the nation. How sad that not much has changed some fifty years later.

Okay, forget for a moment a ...more

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Jun 13, 2019 Katie B rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1960s, fiction, arc, historical-fiction, mystery, read-in-2019, netgalley, writing, race, religion

I've been wanting to read a book by this author for awhile now and the synopsis for this one sounded good. so I finally took the plunge. While this book can be classified as historical fiction, it also fits in the mystery and women's fiction genres. I ended up really enjoying this novel and look forward to reading other books by Laura Lippman.

It's 1966 and Madeline "Maddie" Schwartz. lives in Baltimore with her husband and teenage son. It might seem like she has it all but she wants more than ju I've been wanting to read a book by this author for awhile now and the synopsis for this one sounded good. so I finally took the plunge. While this book can be classified as historical fiction, it also fits in the mystery and women's fiction genres. I ended up really enjoying this novel and look forward to reading other books by Laura Lippman.

It's 1966 and Madeline "Maddie" Schwartz. lives in Baltimore with her husband and teenage son. It might seem like she has it all but she wants more than just playing the role of dutiful housewife. In search of living a more meaningful life, she leaves her husband and eventually finds work at a local newspaper. She is on the low end of the totem pole there but she thinks the right story will get her some attention. Maddie is particularly interested in finding out what exactly happened to Cleo Sherwood, a young African American woman who was found dead in the fountain of a city park lake. However her eagerness to find out the truth could come at an awful price for some.

I was surprised at how many different things the story was able to touch on such as race, religion, women in the workforce, the newspaper industry, and politics to name a few. For me what really drove the story was the mystery of Cleo Sherwood more so than the Maddie "finding herself" storyline. While Maddie's perspective was predominately featured, other characters, including Cleo gave their spin on events throughout the book. For the most part I liked this method of telling the story especially as it really demonstrated how Maddie's actions affected other people. However, a few characters really had nothing much to do with advancing the plot so even though the appearances were brief, they just felt unnecessary.

This is the type of book in which there is a little bit of something for everyone and what each reader takes away from it might be different. Definitely recommend especially if the 1960s Baltimore setting peaks your interest like it did for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review! ...more

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Aug 11, 2019 Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader rated it really liked it

My first Laura Lippman review was a big success! I loved it! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Set in 1960s Baltimore, Marie Schwartz is reflecting on her once happy life as a housewife. That was only one year ago. Now she’s walked away from her marriage and is looking for true happiness.

Maddie wants to make her mark, and she helps the police find a girl who was murdered, which then leads her to a job at the local newspaper.

Her first story? About a missing woman whose body was found in a local lake. It turns out sh ...more

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Dec 18, 2019 Barbara rated it really liked it

The story opens in 1966, when thirty-seven year old Maddie Morgenstern Schwartz is a beautiful Jewish housewife with an attorney husband named Milton, a teenage son called Seth, and a lovely home in a toney Baltimore neighborhood.

Many women of Maddie's generation would be happy with this life, but Maddie has ambitions for a career, so she moves out to follow her dreams.

Living in a small apartment - and barely making ends meet - Maddie decides to report her diamond ring stolen for the insurance ...more

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Jul 24, 2019 Berit☀️✨ rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc-physical, 2019, audio-review

LaurA Lippman swept me away to 1960s Baltimore with this atmospheric and riveting tale. This book perfectly wove together mystery, historical fiction, and women’s fiction. maddie is a 1960s housewife who after 18 years of marriage decide she wants more to life than just being a wife. While I didn’t always agree with Maddie’s methods, I completely understood her plightt. Maddie leaves her husband finds herself a job at a newspaper and is determined to be the best reporter ever. She will do what i ...more

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May 19, 2019 Holly rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019, first-reads-giveaway

Unfortunately, I didn’t like this. It started off promising, the voice of the Lady in the Lake beginning the story. Then we get the voice of Maddie, the housewife who has ambitions beyond being a married woman. Then we have another voice, then another, then another, then another.....get the picture? My interest was waning. There were two murders but I couldn't have cared less about how or who or what happened. I read the whole book but I didn’t like the story nor the characters, & definitely not ...more

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Jul 19, 2019 Michelle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favorites, july-2019-reads, netgalley-approved

4 very enthusiastic stars!!! This was my first book of Laura Lippman's and it definitely won't be my last. I can't think of anything I didn't like about this book.

It's Baltimore in 1966 and Maddie Schwartz has decided she is done playing by the rules and wants to start living her life. She leaves her husband and moves to an apartment downtown. She finds herself in the middle of a police investigation and from that point on she gains a focus of what she wants to do with her life. She begins work 4 very enthusiastic stars!!! This was my first book of Laura Lippman's and it definitely won't be my last. I can't think of anything I didn't like about this book.

It's Baltimore in 1966 and Maddie Schwartz has decided she is done playing by the rules and wants to start living her life. She leaves her husband and moves to an apartment downtown. She finds herself in the middle of a police investigation and from that point on she gains a focus of what she wants to do with her life. She begins working for the Star, one of Baltimore's newspapers and immediately decides that she is not going to settle for being someone's assistant. She wants her own column and she does almost anything she can (sometimes consequences be damned!) to research a murder that no one seems to care about. A young, black woman was found dead in a nearby lake. The community has moved on from this, but Maddie refuses to let go. It is through this investigation that we follow Maddie, and many other POV from the various people she meets by way of her investigation.

I can see why some people had trouble with the way this book was laid out. We hear from almost everyone Maddie encounters (even if for only a brief chapter), which in my opinion, helps flesh out the story even more than if we had read it all from Maddie's perspective. I thought it was also a good avenue into the insight of the time and place - not only did we see the world through Maddie's eyes, we saw it through different races, socioeconomic backgrounds, professions, genders, etc. So this aspect of the book was a total win for me.

I also found the story extremely interesting and inspiring. Was Maddie my favorite character in the world? No. But who cares? She had a dream and she chased it. I highly recommend giving this a chance it you have any interest in newsroom/reporting, mystery, the 60's, or women's fiction.

I want to thank Netgalley, Faber & Faber and Laura Lippman for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book. I was particularly touched by Ms. Lippman's author's note.

Review Date: 7/21/19
Publication Date: 7/23/19 ...more

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Aug 14, 2019 Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) rated it it was ok

This was... not what I expected. I listened to the audiobook and there were too many perspectives for me to keep everything/everyone straight. Also there was just something about the writing style that really rubbed me wrong and tbh this clearly was just very much not for me

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Aug 04, 2019 JanB rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, 2019-reads

4.5 stars

I love the 1960’s as a setting in a novel and this was no exception. It’s 1960s Baltimore, women’s roles are changing and racial tensions are high. The author nails time and place expertly and makes them come to life.

Maddie Schwartz wants more than her privileged life as the housewife of a successful businessman and mother to her teenage son. She decides to leaves her family and start over. This is a risky choice for an author as it doesn’t make Maddie the most likable of characters. H ...more

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Aug 21, 2019 Kemper rated it really liked it

Shelves: crime-mystery, get-the-scoop, 2019, out-of-the-past

Baltimore 1966 – a/k/a “The good ole days.” (For some people.)

Madeline Schwartz has been a wife and mother for almost two decades when she suddenly decides to turn her back on the boring comforts of the upper middle class. It isn’t easy for a woman in her late ‘30s to start over, but she begins pulling together a new life, including a secret relationship with an African-American cop. When Maddie discovers the body of a murder victim she manages to eventually leverage that into an entry level job Baltimore 1966 – a/k/a “The good ole days.” (For some people.)

Madeline Schwartz has been a wife and mother for almost two decades when she suddenly decides to turn her back on the boring comforts of the upper middle class. It isn’t easy for a woman in her late ‘30s to start over, but she begins pulling together a new life, including a secret relationship with an African-American cop. When Maddie discovers the body of a murder victim she manages to eventually leverage that into an entry level job at one of the local newspapers. She wants to become a real reporter, and when the body of Cleo Sherwood is found in a lake Maddie begins to research Cleo’s life and death even though everyone tells her that nobody cares about the story of a black party girl who met a bad end.

What Laura Lippman has written here is a character driven crime novel that smoothly shifts through a variety of viewpoints. Not only do we get the ghostly voice of Cleo who expresses dismay at how Maddie’s investigation is only stirring up trouble, but there are many short first-person interludes from the different people that Maddie interacts with. Sometimes these encounters make a big impact on her, like a dinner party with an old high school friend, and sometimes it’s a person that Maddie barely registers, like a waitress who serves her lunch. All of these characters have their own stories going on, and some of them are important to Maddie’s and some have no direct bearing on her at all. When you put them all together you get vivid picture of a bygone era as well as the full story of what happened to Cleo.

Lippman trusts the reader to remember what they’ve read in these parts so that very often we don’t see key events, and you have to infer what’s happened based on what we know about these other characters. It’s a tricky thing to pull off, but it all fits the tone and structure of the book so that the reader comes to feel like just one of these flies on the wall that knows far more about Maddie’s business than she realizes.

The center of all this is Maddie, and again Lippman delivers with a detailed story about a complex woman whose old secrets put her on a path that she is now desperately trying to change. Her courage and determination are admirable, and yet there’s also a sense of entitlement to Maddie. Yes, she’s a woman struggling against sexism, but she also blithely assumes she can do a job that she’s had no experience or training for. She’s also willing to do some shady things to get what she wants, and she has little regard what damage she might do other people. Sometimes she comes across as the sympathetic hero of the story, but there are points where she seems like the villain of it. I didn’t always like Maddie, but I was always interested in her.

This also acts as kind of low key tribute to the newspaper business even if watching the sausage get made isn’t always pretty, and Lippman, a former journalist herself, ends the book with a moving tribute to the five employees of the Capital Gazette who were killed during a mass shooting at their office.

Top notch writing, great character work, and a unique structure all make for one compelling book. ...more

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Jun 08, 2019 Betsy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

Whew, Lady in the Lake was a dizzying ride!

The basics of the plot do have a lot of potential--the "lady in the lake" and her killer have to be identified, and recently separated Maddie Schwartz is on the case. However, the rotating cast of narrators made my head spin.

Nearly every minor character Maddie meets ends up narrating a chapter. These narrators are often one-dimensional, and they tend to ramble, sending the storyline off on tangents that aren't central to the narrative.

It's 1966, and M ...more

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Aug 08, 2019 Jenny rated it it was amazing

I enjoyed Laura Lippman’s first novel, Baltimore Blue. I enjoyed Laura Lippman’s second novel, Charm City, but I worried that she might become a formula novelist. You know the one whose book you could open and by the time you have finished chapter three you could predict what was going to happen and by the end of the book have your predictions affirmed.
Thankfully I can say Lippman is not a “formula writer.” She is a skilled mystery writer who sets forth developed characters facing complex situat I enjoyed Laura Lippman’s first novel, Baltimore Blue. I enjoyed Laura Lippman’s second novel, Charm City, but I worried that she might become a formula novelist. You know the one whose book you could open and by the time you have finished chapter three you could predict what was going to happen and by the end of the book have your predictions affirmed.
Thankfully I can say Lippman is not a “formula writer.” She is a skilled mystery writer who sets forth developed characters facing complex situations. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in her latest novel, The Lady in the Lake.
Set in Baltimore in the 60s, we follow the entwined lives of two very different women. Madeline Schwartz is newly separated from her husband, living in a Baltimore City apartment, unemployed, and searching for a meaning to her life. Cleo Sherwood is dead. In life Cleo, a young beautiful black woman, was an unmarried mother of two young boys, who searched for happiness, a good man, and a better life. Her body has been found in a fountain in a city park. Because she is black, there is little effort to find her killer.
Madeline meanwhile, has had a bit of luck and lands a job as an aide to the help column on the major Baltimore newspaper. Facing the constraints of 60s racism and sexism, Madeline struggles to succeed. Madeline digs into the Sherwood case against the advice of others. Cleo’s ghost watches in agony as Madeline inserts herself in the case. Yes - you read that correctly. Cleo’s ghost offers her thoughts about this situation. Seeing trouble ahead Cleo wishes Madeline would give up, would leave her family alone, would let her alone. Madeline throws herself full force into the case, ignoring warnings, betraying trusts, using people, putting her needs first. Madeline’s efforts result is a gut wrenching double twist you won’t see coming.
The novel is enhanced by the perspective offered by newspaper staffers, Baltimore police, family members, bartenders, waitresses, even a Baltimore Oriole.
You will remember The Lady in the Lake and you will ruminate over the ending. I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley. #NetGalley #TheLadyintheLake ...more

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Aug 08, 2019 DJ Sakata rated it it was amazing

Shelves: thriller-suspense, netgalley, womens-fiction

Favorite Quotes:

It was like that first great work of art that transfixes you, that novel that stays with you the rest of your life, even if you go on to read much better ones.

Within a year, she was engaged to Milton Schwartz, big and hairy and older, twenty-two to her eighteen, his first year of law school already behind him. I went to their wedding. It was like watching Alice Faye run away with King Kong.

The detectives, who seemed to find everything about her mildly hilarious, had shrugged, to Favorite Quotes:

It was like that first great work of art that transfixes you, that novel that stays with you the rest of your life, even if you go on to read much better ones.

Within a year, she was engaged to Milton Schwartz, big and hairy and older, twenty-two to her eighteen, his first year of law school already behind him. I went to their wedding. It was like watching Alice Faye run away with King Kong.

The detectives, who seemed to find everything about her mildly hilarious, had shrugged, told her that motives were for Perry Mason.

Another blue-eyed brunette would indicate that she was just a type, whereas a wispy blonde would suggest that he would never quite get over her, that she would be with him forever, sort of like chickenpox.

My Review:

Baltimore in 1966 – a completely unfamiliar locale and a lifetime away; I was a child in the sixties so I have only a vague awareness of some of the events and icons mentioned. And I should not fail to mention that laws and societal expectations were vastly more limiting, confining, and even dangerous for women and minorities.

While reading and even upon reaching the last page, I was conflicted in how to assess and rate this uniquely constructed, captivating, and complicated opus. It was like an oddly choreographed symphony consisting of numerous instruments and movements that couldn’t be fully appreciated or heard until assimilated and meshed together. Only in those final pages did the separate notes weave together to reveal the clarity and understanding of how brilliantly contrived the entirety had been.

I kid you not, while compelling and original, this wasn’t an easy read as the myriad POV and meaty storylines were robust and somewhat labor-intensive to hold together. The ingeniously diabolical Laura Lippman led me on a merry chase, and while somewhat addled and even exasperated at times my interest never flagged as the intensely captivating breadcrumbs and mysterious undercurrents constantly tickled my gray matter. It was mesmerizing and well-worthy of a 5-Star rating. ...more

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Aug 28, 2019 Stephanie Nicholas rated it liked it

Too much going on here in this noir fusion thriller by Lippman. There are points of view galore going on here, a reminiscing ghost who haunts both the reader and the main character, and a somewhat selfish yet bland protagonist I simply couldn't connect with.

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Jul 24, 2019 DeAnn rated it really liked it

4 surprise stars

This was such a surprising book! I loved the way that Laura Lippman wrote this with so many different voices. Here’s one example: there would be a scene of two characters talking at a diner and the next voice we would hear would be from the waitress. I thought this was so clever and a great way to make the story multi-dimensional. There’s a baseball player, a ghost, and a policeman just to name a few of the voices that contribute to the overall story.

Set in the mid-1960s Baltimor ...more

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Apr 11, 2019 Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, giveaways

Maddie Schwartz has been a housewife for almost twenty years. She thought she'd resigned herself to this life as soon as she married Milton and became a mother to their son Seth.
It's a guest from her past at a small dinner party that reminds Maddie of her ambitions and she leaves Milton to begin a life of her own. She assumed Seth would want to live with her and she's hurt when he decides to stay and finish high school at home with his father.

When young Tessie Fine goes missing near Maddie's ...more

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Nov 24, 2019 Diane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers

This was an engaging murder mystery, which I picked up after seeing a rave review from Stephen King.

The story is set in Baltimore in the 1960s, and our heroine is Maddie Schwartz. After being married for nearly 20 years, Maddie realizes she no longer loves her husband and decides to leave him. She moves into her own apartment, starts dating a police officer, and gets an entry-level job at a city newspaper. Soon she finds herself involved in the case of a murdered woman whose body was found in a This was an engaging murder mystery, which I picked up after seeing a rave review from Stephen King.

The story is set in Baltimore in the 1960s, and our heroine is Maddie Schwartz. After being married for nearly 20 years, Maddie realizes she no longer loves her husband and decides to leave him. She moves into her own apartment, starts dating a police officer, and gets an entry-level job at a city newspaper. Soon she finds herself involved in the case of a murdered woman whose body was found in a lake.

More stuff happens, of course, but those are the basics of the plot. However, before reading this book it may help to know that each chapter is told from a different person's perspective, so you'll want to be mindful of the brief title at the beginning of each section that describes who is talking.

The thing I most enjoyed about this novel were the passages related to the newspaper. My former career was in journalism, and I got a kick out of the scenes with the editors and other reporters, and watching Maddie learn her way around a newsroom. The murder case itself is interesting, and I was caught up in trying to solve the mystery. Technically there are two murders in the book, and it was clever how the author tied everything together.

I enjoyed "Lady in the Lake" so much that I'm looking forward to reading more of Laura Lippman's novels. She's quite prolific, so I've got lots of good reading ahead of me.

Meaningful Passage
I was incredibly moved by the Author's Note at the end of the book, explaining why she dedicated this novel to the victims of the Capital Gazette shooting in Annapolis, Maryland:

When I started this book in February 2017, I had no idea that it was going to become a newspaper novel; in some ways, Maddie Schwartz surprised me as much as she surprised her longtime husband. I had no desire to write a newspaper novel, but I soon found myself caught up in trying to imagine and re-create the world my father had known when he took a job in 1965 at what was then called the Sun ...

The first draft of this book was submitted on June 27, 2018. The next day, I headed to my mother's home on the Delaware shore with my young daughter, stopping about an hour into the trip to tell her we had eaten lunch and should be there within the next two hours. She asked me if I had run into traffic near Annapolis. No, I said, why would I? "There was a shooting." When I learned that it was at the newspaper, I knew it was all too likely that my friend Rob Hiassen was one of the victims. So while I usually take time here to thank everyone who helped me, I hope my friends and the people in my publishing life will understand that I want this book to end with a roll call of names of people who died that day. This one is for Rob Hiassen, Gerald Fischman, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith, and Wendi Winters, and their loved ones.

...more

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Aug 07, 2019 Jenny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I enjoyed Laura Lippman’s first novel, Baltimore Blue. I enjoyed Laura Lippman’s second novel, Charm City, but I worried that she might become a formula novelist. You know the one whose book you could open and by the time you have finished chapter three you could predict what was going to happen and by the end of the book have your predictions affirmed.
Thankfully I can say Lippman is not a “formula writer.” She is a skilled mystery writer who sets forth developed characters facing complex situat I enjoyed Laura Lippman’s first novel, Baltimore Blue. I enjoyed Laura Lippman’s second novel, Charm City, but I worried that she might become a formula novelist. You know the one whose book you could open and by the time you have finished chapter three you could predict what was going to happen and by the end of the book have your predictions affirmed.
Thankfully I can say Lippman is not a “formula writer.” She is a skilled mystery writer who sets forth developed characters facing complex situations. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in her latest novel, The Lady in the Lake.
Set in Baltimore in the 60s, we follow the entwined lives of two very different women. Madeline Schwartz is newly separated from her husband, living in a Baltimore City apartment, unemployed, and searching for a meaning to her life. Cleo Sherwood is dead. In life Cleo, a young beautiful black woman, was an unmarried mother of two young boys, who searched for happiness, a good man, and a better life. Her body has been found in a fountain in a city park. Because she is black, there is little effort to find her killer.
Madeline meanwhile, has had a bit of luck and lands a job as an aide to the help column on the major Baltimore newspaper. Facing the constraints of 60s racism and sexism, Madeline struggles to succeed. Madeline digs into the Sherwood case against the advice of others. Cleo’s ghost watches in agony as Madeline inserts herself in the case. Yes - you read that correctly. Cleo’s ghost offers her thoughts about this situation. Seeing trouble ahead Cleo wishes Madeline would give up, would leave her family alone, would let her alone. Madeline throws herself full force into the case, ignoring warnings, betraying trusts, using people, putting her needs first. Madeline’s efforts result is a gut wrenching double twist you won’t see coming.
The novel is enhanced by the perspective offered by newspaper staffers, Baltimore police, family members, bartenders, waitresses, even a Baltimore Oriole.
You will remember The Lady in the Lake and you will ruminate over the ending. I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley. #NetGalley #TheLadyintheLake ...more

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Jul 09, 2019 Lindsey Gandhi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-2019, 2019-popsugar-reading-challenge, other-book-club-books, 2019-ng-reading-challenge, books-i-own, e-books

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 absolutel ...more

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Feb 07, 2020 Kelly (and the Book Boar) rated it really liked it

Shelves: liburrrrrry-book, read-in-2019, whodunit, denied-the-arc

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

Have y’all read Laura Lippman yet????

After discovering her last year with Sunburn I knew I wanted more and immediately requested the library to purchase this after being denied the ARC. I didn’t know anything about The Lady in the Lake going in aside from the author (and also that I hated the cover, but I’ll bitch about face covers on a review for another book). The story here is about a couple of murders. Bored upper-middleclass h ...more

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Jul 09, 2019 Esil rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley

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 ...more

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Jul 19, 2019 Krista rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kindle-netgalley, fiction, mystery, mystery-historical, 2019-netgalley-reviewed, mystery-female-investigator, 2019-books-read, thriller, setting-usa, time-1950-1999

Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 CLEVER stars

What a trippy mystery that takes you on a ride in the Way Back machine to Baltimore circa 1964. This is the first Laura Lippman book that I’ve read. After reading other reviews, I understand this this book doesn’t follow her typical style. That being said, I loved the style of this book! I was intrigued when hearing from many of the bit players and observers in the story. The multiple points of view, some only a page or two in length, added to the co Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 CLEVER stars

What a trippy mystery that takes you on a ride in the Way Back machine to Baltimore circa 1964. This is the first Laura Lippman book that I’ve read. After reading other reviews, I understand this this book doesn’t follow her typical style. That being said, I loved the style of this book! I was intrigued when hearing from many of the bit players and observers in the story. The multiple points of view, some only a page or two in length, added to the complexity of the book. The reader has to decide whether the conclusions of the observer were accurate, and where those observations might fit in the puzzle.

The book contains a murder mystery; a wonderful snapshot of life in Baltimore in the 1960’s, especially focusing on the newspaper industry at that time; and occasionally narration by a ghost.

Maddie Schwartz chooses to leave her successful husband and their steady life in the upper-class Jewish society of Baltimore when her only son is a junior in high school. She is bored with her life, and wants to carve out something that is just her own. She wants to be a reporter, but that is a job usually reserved for men. If a woman does break into reporting, she is usually much younger than the mid-thirtyish Maddie.

Maddie parlays anything she can to get first her name on the byline in the newspaper, and then get a job at that paper. The story of the missing Cleo Sherwood intrigues Maddie. She can’t understand why the story hasn’t gotten any traction. Cleo is black and is a young woman of dubious character. Eight months after Cleo’s disappearance, an unidentified black woman is pulled from the fountain in Druid Hill Park. Maggie sets out to solve the ‘Cleo’ mystery her own. While trying to solve the mystery, she leaves a trail of problems and unintended consequences in her wake.

This was a fun wild ride. I felt that the 1960’s Baltimore setting was expertly rendered. The story illustrated the issues of race relations between ‘Negroes’ and Whites, and well as the niche that Jews held in the city at that time. Lippman also told the story from the perspective of the narrow confines that working women navigated in the 1960’s. If I were Maddie, I too would be frustrated with my inability to do what I really wanted to do.

There were multiple mysteries in the book. These kept the plot moving with plenty of twists and unforeseen turns. Unexpected plot developments surprised me more than once. Additionally, some twists that I anticipated dread from pretty much the start of the book never materialized. I liked hearing from Cleo (the ghost) occasionally. Her wry wit and constant head shaking at Maddie’s latest action added levity to the book. This would be a fun summer beach read. I will be recommending it to my friends who enjoy mysteries and to those who enjoy historical fiction.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Faber and Faber Ltd; and the author, Laura Lippman for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Jul 18, 2019 Bkwmlee rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, netgalley-books

3.5 stars

This was an interesting read, one that I felt was quite a departure from the traditional thrillers I’m used to reading. Right off the bat, we know that a death has occurred, a woman’s body found at the bottom of a fountain, the titular “lady in the lake” from whose first person perspective it seems the story will be told. But then, the story switches to that of another woman, Madeleine “Maddie” Schwartz, a housewife who seemingly has the perfect life, but is actually restless and bored 3.5 stars

This was an interesting read, one that I felt was quite a departure from the traditional thrillers I’m used to reading. Right off the bat, we know that a death has occurred, a woman’s body found at the bottom of a fountain, the titular “lady in the lake” from whose first person perspective it seems the story will be told. But then, the story switches to that of another woman, Madeleine “Maddie” Schwartz, a housewife who seemingly has the perfect life, but is actually restless and bored and is thinking about leaving her marriage. Determined to be a reporter, Maddie takes up a job at the local newspaper, but because she is a woman with no media experience to speak of, she is assigned to do menial, seemingly unimportant tasks. At first, it is hard to figure out what the connection is between Maddie’s story and that of the dead woman — a connection made more difficult to understand as alternating chapters are narrated by each of the different characters that Maddie encounters throughout the story. Some of the characters who “speak” seem to have nothing to do with the story, while others actually provide insight into the life — and death — of the woman in the fountain, whom we learn is an African-American woman named Cleo Sherwood. In a slow-burning but well-written narrative, we bear witness to Maddie’s journey of “self-discovery” as she grows to understand what it is she truly wants in life and, in her attempts to achieve her goals, how her actions impact those around her. Along the way, more of the mystery surrounding Cleo’s death is revealed bit by bit, culminating in us (as readers) eventually learning the truth as the two story arcs converge.

Overall, I enjoyed this book well enough, though the structure of the story did take some time to get into, not just because of the many characters that shared in the narration of the story, but also the general slow pace of the plot, which, for me at least, made it not work too well as a mystery / thriller. In a way, this book would also fit into other genres such as historical fiction, as the story actually took place in the 1960s and in addition to addressing some of the societal issues prevalent during that time period (such as segregation and racial prejudice against African-Americans as well as women’s rights and their roles in society), some of the events in the story were also based on real-life events (which the author talks about in her author’s note at the end of the book). While the story did sustain my interest throughout (for the most part), some sections did drag a little — given these aspects, plus the “unique” format of the narrative, I can understand why the reviews for this book have been a mixed bag. For me, this is my first time reading one of Laura Lippman’s works and I ended up liking this one enough that I would definitely consider reading her other works, whether new or backlist.

Received ARC from Faber and Faber via NetGalley.
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Jul 05, 2019 Erin Clemence rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, first-reads

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 assista 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.
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Jul 27, 2019 Jeanette rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Well I almost gave this 5 full stars. Until the last 30 or 40 pages, I would have. And be warned before I truly begin the reaction. It could go long.

Lippman, you are a sister in and under the skin to me. Not only are you peer in age and "eyes" but you have the most excellent ability to grab the core. And you REMEMBER how it was. Oh, I'm sure 100,000's of other women do too- but are not able to express it AS IT WAS and as it IS- for those who are selfish enough to want a CAREER. If you are under Well I almost gave this 5 full stars. Until the last 30 or 40 pages, I would have. And be warned before I truly begin the reaction. It could go long.

Lippman, you are a sister in and under the skin to me. Not only are you peer in age and "eyes" but you have the most excellent ability to grab the core. And you REMEMBER how it was. Oh, I'm sure 100,000's of other women do too- but are not able to express it AS IT WAS and as it IS- for those who are selfish enough to want a CAREER. If you are under 65, you probably will not understand that last sentence.

First the language. It's 5 star. She has the cadence, the context, the minutia, the outfits colloquialisms, the parlance of interview or flirting or just neighboring within 1966. I must be in a dream that someone actually knows how it was. And how women who were star lookers really were. Maddie is it. Laura Lippman got it perfect. And her prose flows with the counterpoint and connective gaps superbly too. All that switching and you only notice it about 4 or 5 times when the character is NOT the "other" one in the conversation or placement you just finished. MASTERFUL. Rarely do I read an author who can do this, despite 100's and 100's of them trying constantly this switching narrators epidemic. Maybe 4 or 5 other authors I can think of have capacity to bridge the switching without losing the tension and continuity of/for the plot.

Do I like Maddie, the main character who is forging a "new life" at 37? NO. In fact I nearly ditched the book at the beginning. I picked up the pieces myself for too many Maddies in very real life as a room Mother or 100 other functions. And also had too many of their offspring (some I got too attached to having around so much and often) either eating or staying over (one time the Mom did not return for over 2 weeks and did not communicate with her daughter either- I just saw this girl/woman this last year, she will be 50 this fall) for me to read about her "full life" plans. Or the methods for her plans to be a CAREER SOMEONE. One who is NOT a nurse or a teacher. LOL!

Well, the mysteries (who did the killing deed) are duo in this book. Two murders are being fact and placement chased by our perky tiny-waisted newspaper copy underling who has recently emancipated herself. The one that has all the men's eyes eternally following her when she isn't looking. But she is looking.

Who will like this book? I'd have to go too long to explain the "can't put it down" factor. Some who hate reading sex scenes might not be pleased. But the language is not foul in any sense- and it's placed in solid 1966 dual morality. "Me Too" meant something entirely different and toxic masculinity was advertisement catnip. That worked.

She knows what people were thinking about then. Also what they read, watched on tv- how they evaluated clothes. And "stuff". Yes, some people didn't even have telephones in their house/ rental. And she also gets the politics of then and of "now" (2019). Fully Lippman is not the author living in a coastal bubble of affront and victim hood that runs constantly in fiction print now. For this age and every age she gets the working pleb. Lippman understands how the service populace and union people (loved her old lady politico/ cop/ labor reporter character and the waitress "eyes") have evolved. I realize so many of you will most likely not know what I'm posting about at all. I'd be willing to bet she is a "deplorable", but one of those deplorables who never mentions it in company aloud or answers the poll questioners the other (opposite) way to further mess their minds. Regardless, her politico races in this Baltimore book hold full "understanding" for association (related to her inquisitions). They are exactly the same in Chicago- so I know that she knows. Also about how all that century or two long corruption goes down under "different" names and faces. And how neighborhoods change and what happens to homeowner equity. Baltimore is a Chicago with warmer/ kinder weather (oh yes, despite the humidity) and on a quarter or a sixth of the scale for people and mean. Biggest difference is the number of occupants because Baltimore's can know one another (by name if not personally) almost across the boards if either a mover or shaker. Happenstance too, if only a real "player"- the pecking order is entirely similar.

What kept me from giving the book a full 5 was the Cleo reveal. I LOVED that character, far more than Maddie. Although all her narrative sections were written in italics, which I dislike intensely. It's very difficult for me to read. My eyes are not going to outlast me.

Well, if you know who Lakey from "The Group" is- you might get about 200 other asides in this one too. Very subtle and extremely there for the "change" of the late 1960's.

Even today, there are remnants of Maddie's around me (usually they have perfectly coiffed light hair now and botox lineless faces). Women who don't like and refuse to help other women (only for chit-chat) and just know they can in some ways, control and /or master the man met or known universal. In order to opt the situation for themselves. It is something, oftentimes, that the young females of today, with all their hook ups and experience aftermaths of hook ups, hardly know anything at all about in comparison.

I was surprised that Lippman gave that ending. I know she wants to keep her audience. AND SHE WILL. But really- in actual life it would have been BAD for Maddie asking too many questions in the wrong places. She wasn't a fraction as savvy as she thought she was. ...more

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Aug 30, 2019 Barbara rated it really liked it

Shelves: crime-mystery, historical-fiction

I need to read more novels by Laura Lippman. In her newest, “Lady in the Lake”, Lippman, who always writes novels inspired by true crime, bases her story on two murders that happened in Baltimore in the 1960’s. In her NPR interview she is clear that she doesn’t base her novels on facts of the crime, just the crime itself. She was 10 years old when 11 year-old Esther Lebowitz went missing, and then her body was found a few days later. This impacted a young Lippman, who couldn’t fathom a girl her I need to read more novels by Laura Lippman. In her newest, “Lady in the Lake”, Lippman, who always writes novels inspired by true crime, bases her story on two murders that happened in Baltimore in the 1960’s. In her NPR interview she is clear that she doesn’t base her novels on facts of the crime, just the crime itself. She was 10 years old when 11 year-old Esther Lebowitz went missing, and then her body was found a few days later. This impacted a young Lippman, who couldn’t fathom a girl her age could be murdered. Because Lippman wanted to write a novel in the 1960’s genre and one based in Baltimore, she chose to reflect the murder of Shirley Parker. Ms Parker was black, and at the time, murders of black people didn’t warrant major media coverage. Lippman not only based her story on these crimes, but she wanted to reflect how race was portrayed in the media. In reality, these two murders had no connection to each other. They didn’t happen in the same year. In her novel, she connects them with her main character, Maddie Schwartz.

“Lady in the Lake” is character driven. I’m a big fan of this method. Each chapter is based upon one of the character’s observations and thoughts. Maddie is not written in first person, while the other character chapters are first person accounts. At the start of the novel, Maddie is 37, married with a son, and perceived to be a successful housewife. Maddie is yearning though; she wants to be relevant and use her mind, not just be a mother and wife.

Her ambition moves her to leave her husband and son, and move into a small apartment in a questionable neighborhood. She begins an affair with a black police officer and finds a low level job at a newspaper. Lippman deftly adds racism, sexism, and the Baltimore political climate into her novel based in the mid 1960’s. Such details add to her richly developed story.

Maddie infiltrates herself into two murders that happen while she is separated from her husband. The first is a 10 year old white girl who disappears and is found dead which becomes a media uproar Next, is a black woman who is found in a fountain and whose death is barely noted. Maddie is incensed that no one cares about this young woman. As a mother herself, she finds it horrible that no one is interested in the death of this young woman, just because she is black.

Yes, the story is structured around the mysteries of these two deaths. The main themes though, are the political, race, gender, and media issues of that time. This is a fabulous read as a mystery, but also as a bit of historical fiction as a social snap shot of American culture in the mid sixties.

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Sep 04, 2019 Kathleen rated it really liked it

Lippman combines historical fiction with her love of Baltimore in her latest crime thriller. [In June of 1969, the body of Shirley Lee Wigeon Parker, a black 35-year-old divorcee, was found in a fountain. In September, Esther Lebowitz, an 11-year-old Jewish girl, was beaten to death inside a fish store.] Lippman wraps her story around the deaths of two women that mimic these two, but she also adds the conflicting emotions surrounding women in 1965-66. How do women satisfy their need for accompli ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Play Book Tag: The Lady in the Lake 3.5 stars	1	5	Jun 29, 2020 11:38AM
Mystery/Thriller ...: Group Read - Lady in the Lake - Part 3 to end Spoilers Welcome	11	44	Nov 09, 2019 04:13PM
Mystery/Thriller ...: Group Read - Lady in the Lake - Part 2B - Spoilers Welcome	8	25	Oct 09, 2019 03:20PM
Mystery/Thriller ...: Group Read - Lady in the Lake - Part 2A - Spoilers Welcome	7	20	Oct 04, 2019 05:43PM
Mystery/Thriller ...: Group Read - Lady in the Lake - final comments Spoilers Welcome	15	50	Sep 21, 2019 10:40PM
Get Lit with All ...: What do you think about having one narrator be a ghost?	1	15	Sep 09, 2019 08:07AM

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