What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
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Book Reviews of What the Dead Know
Book Review: made for TV movie in a book
Summary: 2 Stars
For fans of such detective television shows as "Cold Case" and "Without a trace" Laura Lippman's "What the Dead Know" will satisfy the beach reader set. Anyone who wants a deeply inspiring mystery should bypass this entirely. Like a good wine I was looking forward to reading this author and anticipated a twisting turning plot with a satisfying ending. What I got however was a "two buck chuck". I cared little for the characters who seemed so self-involved I wondered if they even knew they were part of the plot line. The main character has no name and no existence and we travel her path with some curiosity and empathy. I liked her, but it didn't help that the rest of this forgetful cast seemed in the way of her journey. Ms Lippman dumbs the reader down with lots of course language and sexual overtones. It make sence that Det. Infante would see the world as jaded and obsene, but everyone? I found myself skimming over their continuous chattering trying to find the string to the end of the mystery. I wanted this to be good. I just didn't need to wade through the trash to find the jewel. Which I knew was there, I just couldn't see it. Next time I'll just watch "Cold Case" and fast forward through the commercials. Try "The Thirteenth Tale" if you want a good deep mystery about sisters. It is more than a great Merlot, its sublime. Will I try Laura Lippman again? Someones going to have to convince me.Book Review: Sisters Together
Summary: 4 Stars
Laura Lippman's WHAT THE DEAD KNOWS is suspense that keeps you glued to the end excluding a sluggish beginning. The story is told from to perspective of each character who crosses the path of Sunny Bethany. But who is Sunny and what has been her convoluted life for 30 years since she and her sister never returned from the mall?
Based on an unsolved crime the story rings with both truth and fantasy. This is not a book to take to bed if you've got an early morning call. Find a day when you can disappear into the covers of a fine, well told story and start reading. It will be a day well spent.
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Book Review: Hard to see what the fuss is about
Summary: 3 Stars
This book has been ballyhooed as something great, but it is just a pedestrian suspense story with a fairly predictable twist. The writing itself is serviceable but nothing inherently pleasing. Book Review: "World of epilogues"
Summary: 5 Stars
It was a parent's worst nightmare. Sunny and Heather Bethany disappeared from a Baltimore mall in 1975 and no real trace of them was ever found. Now thirty years later a disoriented woman walks away from a motor vehicle accident and claims to be one of the Bethany sisters.
Author Laura Lippman built a story spanning the thirty years, moving back and forth in time and bringing the characters to life. Sunny, fifteen, and Heather, eleven, are realistic and well-delineated. Their parents, Miriam and Dave, survive the loss in very different ways. The present-day mystery woman is abrupt and secretive, not likable and not easy to know. While two of the characters seemed to me to be somewhat stereotyped, the rest had the kind of realistic loose ends that only a good writer can create.
What the Dead Know feels like a novel rather than a suspense novel, if you care to make that distinction. There is a great deal of beautifully written back-story and some readers may think it's extraneous to the plot line, but the narrative conveys a vivid sense of time and place that is its own reward. The bonus I found in this book is the way Lippman wrapped it all together into a surpisingly well-supported ending.
Recently I've read several books in which the narrative moves back and forth along the time line of the story. I'm a little wary of that structure but Lippman handled it beautifully.
I listened to the unabridged CD version of this book and found the performance by Linda Emond to be very effective. While I prefer a book in print, this is one audio presentation I can recommend enthusiastically. I'll definitely be reading more from this fine writer.
Linda Bulger, 2008
Book Review: Lovely
Summary: 5 Stars
I truly loved this book. I found it easy to follow, even through the flip flop of time, and when the twist at the end came, it felt like I should have known, but I did not see it coming. I thought it was a great suspense, and it just wet my appetite for more Laura Lippman.