A black woman disappears in 1960s Baltimore and no one seems to care. A white woman learns a body has been found and decides this will make her newspaper career. I liked the idea of the historical mystery, but I found the audio a bit hard to follow as the story jumped around and I ultimately struggled to care about what was happening. Definitely not my favorite Lippman.

Thank you so much to the publisher, the author, and netgalley for sending me an e-ARC to read. I gave this book four stars.

A gripping read from one of the stars of current American crime fiction. The historical Baltimore setting was well deployed and the characters were compelling.

It's 1966 and Maddie Schwartz is determined to live the life she chooses. She has left her husband and son and the comfortable country club life she had. Now she lives in a tiny apartment downtown and after finding the body of a missing girl, has managed to parlay that into a job at one of Baltimore's newspapers. She wants to be a reporter but is instead the assistant to the man who writes the advice column.

Maddie is determined to find a story that will make her bosses give her a shot as a reporter. The discovery of a woman's body in a nearby fountain at a lake gives her an opportunity. Cleo Sherwood was a black woman at a local nightclub. Maddie is sure that Cleo was having an affair with a local politician and is sure she can find if that led to her death. Maddie has fallen into an affair with one of the policemen she reported the missing girl's body to, and she uses that to get inside information. Ferdie, the policeman, tells her she can't use anything he tells her as the department will know the information came from him, but Maddie is headstrong and sure she can write the story without leaving any clues behind. Can she make her dreams come true?

Laura Lippman is one of the best authors in the mystery genre. She is known as a feminist and her books feature strong women and her beloved city of Baltimore. Maddie is not really sympathetic as she uses everyone around her to get her way, but it is a story of how women fought to be allowed to work in occupations that had been closed to them before. It is also a historical look at race relations in the 1960's. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

I really loved the character development. This was less a thriller/suspense novel than it was a character study with a somewhat mysterious story line: two murders whose perpetrator(s) is unknown. Our main character, Maddie, whose story the plot line followed, was pretty self-involved and I didn't care much for her, but she was well developed. I really enjoyed hearing from the other characters who Maddie encountered on her quest for the truth. It was a unique way to tell a story like this.

Thanks to Faber & Faber and to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this!

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I ended up not finishing this one, it just wasn't for me, thanks anyway for taking the time to accept my request.

This was a very difficult read for me. There were so many different characters with their own point of view that it was difficult for me to keep track. The storyline also didn't grab me to want to keep reading. I didn't really care about the mystery of "the lady in the lake" or about Madeline. It was just an ok read for me.

**Thank you to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review. Review not posted to Amazon because less than 4 stars.**

I am such a fan of Laura Lippman, having loved Sunburn immediately on reading it. The noir feel, the femme fatale...it was very compelling.

What I love most about Lippman is how she writes brilliant female-centered thrillers. This follow-up to Sunburn is both haunting and stunning, an extraordinary, multi-voiced story that tackles subjects of race, gender politics and the drama of mid '60s America. Powerful and readable, I inhaled this book. So excited for future releases - I will read anything Lippman comes out with.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

**thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review**

**3.5 stars**

I did enjoy this book overall but did not love it, it’s a good historical noir mystery set in 1960s Baltimore. It deals with the changing times of the 1960s really well I thought, really brought the era to life for me: Maddie leaving her husband because she feels empty in her life, violence in the city, an interracial relationship that must be kept secret, blatant sexism and racism, etc.

Lady in the Lake is only my second Laura Lippman book I’ve read with Sunburn being the first. Like with Sunburn her female character in this story, Maddie Schwartz, is a multidimensional and strong female who at the same time is really unlikable. Maddie was an interesting character to read about though but not necessarily someone I’d want to know in real life. The city of Baltimore I felt was also a character in this book. In between Maddie’s chapters there are chapters from the viewpoint of one of the people she was interacting with in the last chapter that initially was very jarring and confusing but once I understood what the purpose was I ended up liking. Those viewpoints added to the overall story.

I listened to the audiobook as well and the narrator is fantastic.

A book that needs focus, so not as easy to fly through as you might hope. I’m not usually a fan of historicals but this was worth the read.

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 she’s the only one who seems to care why Cleo. Sherwood was murdered. Maddie begins her investigation.

Maddie’s story is about so much more than an unsolved mystery. It’s about the push and pull between genders, racial tensions, class, and religion. The story is told from multiple points of view panning around Maddie and her investigation. There’s also a ghost. The sense of time and place is so strong and steadfast, I was easily transported.

Overall, I found this an interesting historical mystery. I loved the crime aspects, the writing is strong, and the premise is consuming!

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

This is an engrossing mystery set in 1960’s Baltimore. Madeline Schwartz has left her husband, desperate to make something of her life house and kitchen. After 20 years, she finds herself (mostly) free to make her own decisions and she decides to try and find her dream job - that of a journalist. But this is the 1960’s, and the closest she gets is as a PA at the newspaper.

Addie puts herself in the path of danger in order to solve the deaths of two women: one black, one white. The police are all in in their crusade to find the murderer of the white woman, not so much the black woman. And the newspaper centres around the white woman’s story too.

This book looks at themes of racism, classism, gender discrimination and ageing. Maddie is 37 years old, attractive, yet ageing. She’s looked down on by the men for her gender, and by the women because they think her looks scored her the job. No-one seems to appreciate her capabilities, or even give her the chance to show them.

I loved the chapters from other characters points of view - people Maddie had met in her investigation - and the way that we learn a bit more about her background. I was equally interested to see that the murders were based on real life cases from the same period, and the media coverage was the same as in the story.

An absorbing mystery that I’d recommend!

I enjoy recent historicals, those books that are far enough in time to be considered historical but close enough to still be feeling the ripple effect of the time period in modern day culture (in this case pertaining to the role of women in society). Lady in the Lake, set in the 60's, fits right into that sweet spot. In addition, you have a mystery and supernatural elements, so it's an all around interesting read. Because it has multiple POVs, it's not a page-turner type of book, but more to read when you have the focus for it.

I really like when I find a mystery that's told a little bit differently. This novel has a ton of different POVs (which it looks like some readers weren't a fan of based on their reviews), but I thought it created a flair of variety that was appreciated. Instead of getting perspectives from one or two main characters, Lippman inserts random characters and their takes on the same events (everyone from a beat cop to a waitress). This helped create a more well-rounded setting that felt authentic (and helped achieve the aura of the 1960s era for me).

The story is about a Baltimore woman named Maddie Schwartz who decides to divorce her husband and make it on her own as a reporter (two things that weren't common in the '60s). She becomes obsessed with the case of a black woman whose body has been found in the fountain of a park lake and is determined to bring justice about for this woman (and also further her own investigative career). The mystery had a good twist at the end that I didn't predict, and Lippman did a great job tying up all loose ends.

The book did feel a tad slow in terms of some of the pacing and there was a distance from the characters that I can't really explain that prevented me from giving this five stars - even though I thought there were some great elements to this book.

The author made you feel as if you were right there alongside the characters. The scenes were vivid and real and obviously the characters were well developed.

A true mystery!

Baltimore, 1966. This story takes place during a period of social change and touches on a lot of those dynamics, including suburban migration, interracial relationships, divorce, and women in the workplace. In the midst of this social dynamic is Maddie Schwartz, looking to make a name for herself as a reporter at age 38 in an environment that is less than welcoming after finding the body of a missing girl. While Maddie was selfish and may be one of my least favorite protagonists ever, I could not wait to see what would happen next as the threads she pulled kept unraveling.

I really enjoyed this story. Maddie Schwartz is strong and independent. She has a drive like no other. I was cheering her on the entire time hoping that she could finally get her byline. While not shocking but still sad, Cleo, a black woman, goes missing in Boston 1960's. I was so devastated that no one seemed to care, even though it's not entirely surprising based on time and location. This book had me captivated and begging for answers.

3 stars Thanks to NetGalley for the download.

Laura Lippman is a favorite author of mine. Usually I fall right into her books, however this particular one took me a bit more time.

This is a very light mystery about the unsolved death of two people, one black woman and one 11 year old black child. These murders are held together by a once well taken care of housewife, who upon leaving her husband, became a newspaper reporter, Maddie Schwartz. Maddie would not let either death go.

The story it told by many many voices. Everyone from a waitress to a bartender to the black cop that Maddie is quietly seeing on the side. This being Baltimore in the mid 60's, there was racial disparity and multi-racial couples were not tolerated.

The most prominent voice is that of Maddie. She is the pushing force in both finding the bodies, then solving the crimes. However, nothing in these crimes seem to be as cut and dry as it appears.

Lippman explains that a number of the characters in the story are real, as are a number of the factual events. Then goes further to acknowledge the deaths of the 5 victims killed in a gun incident at a newspaper office in Annapolis, just days after she finished this book.

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.