What the Dead Know: A Novel
by Laura Lippman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Laura LippmanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-02-10
ISBN: 006177135X
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780061771354
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of What the Dead Know: A Novel
Book Review: Fun Literary Ride
Summary: 5 Stars
Like the synopsis of the book tells you, this whole story starts with a car accident. Funny how something that seems like it should be the end of a story is actually the beginning. The story that unfolds after the accident is interesting and keeps you guessing. As an English teacher I often tell my students that a good story is like a puzzle: It comes together piece by piece and while you may have an idea of what the finished product is you can only be certain once all the pieces are assembled before you. I commend the author on doing what very few writers can pull of successfully and that is give you a puzzle that within the first couple pieces you are convinced it is one thing (for example, the Mona Lisa painting) and then after a few more pieces it begins to look entirely different (like a sports car or a forest) and you are so readily forming that sports car or forest that you are thoroughly surprised when you press the last piece in place and lo and behold it is the Mona Lisa painting.
What I mean is a good book will keep you guessing and totally surprise you at the end but a great book will let you make an assumption and then spend the majority of the pages convincing you that you've jumped to the wrong conclusion and get you asking yourself with each paragraph what you are missing and how to solve the problem, only to end the book with the conclusion you made just a few pages in. I applaud a book that can convince me I'm wrong only to turn around after a few hundred pages and go "Nope, you were right." That is truly the best ending because by that point you are so convinced of a hundred other possibilities that you are blindsided by the correct answer.
Ms.Lippman's book is the best kind of puzzle and what is presented in the story one moment is slowly picked away at until the bare facts are staring at you. She does this, not only with the mystery woman, but with the detectives, the suspects, the parents and several other characters who drift in and out. I would love to elaborate but I hate when I read a review and it gives away something crucial or interesting so I can only encourage you to read this book and watch Ms.Lippman weave this story for you. She does a masterful job of creating suspense and leaving you wanting more at the end of each chapter.
(Reviewer Note: In the interest of full disclosure I caution those who don't do well with a plot that jumps around in time to be slightly wary of this book. I loved it but I am an avid reader and I got a little lost at times and so I don't want someone to read my review of how great the book is, purchase the book and then give up halfway through because they can't keep track of the jumping. The chapters are labeled but I had it on an E-Reader and skipped by the headings rather quickly. I also noticed that when I was really into a good part of the book I just expected the next page to continue with where I was in the past or present and ended up having to go back and re-read parts in the correct era of time! That is tough to admit as an English teacher and life long reader but it is also a compliment to Ms.Lippman! However, don't let this discourage you from reading this story, just make sure you have patience and press through when stuff gets a little muddy in the middle!)
Summary of What the Dead Know: A Novel
One of the most acclaimed and honored writers in the field of crime fiction, Laura Lippman offers readers a gripping tale of deception and delusion, of family wounds and betrayals.
Thirty years ago, the Bethany girls, ages eleven and fifteen, disappeared from a Baltimore shopping mall. They never returned, their bodies were never recovered, and only painful questions remain. Now, in the aftermath of a rush-hour hit-and-run accident, a clearly disoriented woman is claiming to be Heather, the younger Bethany sister. Not a shred of evidence supports her story, and every lead she reluctantly offers takes the police to another dead end?a dying, incoherent man; a razed house; a missing grave. But she definitely knows something about that terrible day?and about the shocking fissures that the tragedy exposed in the foundation of a seemingly solid family.
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