In Laura Lippman’s newest book we meet Maddie Schwartz- who after a 20 year marriage throws aside expectations and leaves to pursue her own dreams.
When a young girl, Tessie Fine goes missing near the tight knit Jewish neighborhood in Baltimore neighborhood where Maddie now lives, she joins in the search at her mothers urging and drawing on memories of her youth finds the body of the young girl. She uses this as a foot in the door the get a job at a newspaper as an assistant to a popular column, hoping to catch a break and write her own stories.
At the same time, she begins a secret relationship with a black policeman that is taboo during that time period.
When Maddie answers one of the complaints sent in to the column about lights not working in a fountain it leads to the discovery of Cleo Sherwood. Maddie thinks this is her big break but doors are shut in her face as she is told first by her editors that no one is interested in the death of a black woman and by the people she tries to interview who do not trust her and keep their secrets close.
Maddie’s struggles to be taken seriously as a writer ring very true to anyone who follows Laura Lippman and reads of her own similar experiences. This is not the classic mystery, it is a damn good story though. I am not sure I really liked Maddie, she pursued her own dreams so relentlessly, she hurt and used others that did not deserve it.
This will be enjoyed by readers who like “November Road” by Lou Berney. Thank you to @netgalley and @williammorrow books for the advance copy. “Lady in the Lake” will be released July 23, 2019.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

As a Jewish girl from the DMV no longer in her first bloom of youth, I always feel like I know Lippman’s characters, and I see Maddie Morgenstern Schwartz in my grandmother and her friends. The plot itself was certainly engaging, but the realness of the characters, the setting, the time flushed it out fully and brought the novel from a four to a five. Outstanding

Brilliant historical fiction read!!
Right from the beginning Cleo, the victim’s narrative is SO hauntingly written, she just comes to life off the pages making you fear for what happened to her. Laura Lippman takes us on a journey back in time, 1965, so vividly written I could imagine being there, when some things were simpler and some so much more complicated. Maddi leaves her husband, whom she’s fallen out of love with, in search of a fresh start. Along her journey in search of herself, she gets caught up in two very different murder investigations. So many characters, so intricately woven into the plot, never taking away from, but most definitely enhancing the story line. I loved the ending and the wrapping up of everyone involved. Definitely my favorite Laura Lippman to date.

This book fails as a mystery novel, a thriller, a romance, and a character study. At the end of the story--how did I make it that far?--the titular lady of the lake comments about the feckless, self involved protagonist that "Cleo Sherwood had said that Maddie ruined lives." I feel like the author ruined a week of my life. Not recommended.