Every Secret Thing

Rating:
Summary: A mystery that transcends the genre
Review: Laura Lippman is hardly a household name, even after seven well-received books featuring P.I. Tess Monaghan. Her latest book is likely to change that. Every Secret Thing is one of those books that publishers like to say "transcends the genre," but in this case it's true.

It has been seven years since Olivia Barnes, a baby from a prominent Baltimore African-American family, disappeared. Her killers, two 11-year-old white girls, have only recently been released from prison when children again start to disappear.

Cynthia Barnes, the slain child's mother, is certain that the pair is at it again, and the police aren't far behind. But which of the teens is responsible? Is it good girl Alice or bad girl Ronnie? Or is it another killer altogether?

Every Secret Thing deals with difficult subject matter, portraying children as both victims and perpetrators of the worst kind of violence. Lippman, however, writes with such a deft touch and with such keen insight that her story is never exploitative or crass.

Whether it is driven by Lippman's feminine sensitivity, her skills as a writer, or both, one thing is certain: Every Secret Thing will stay with you for a long time.

Reviewed by David Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times

Rating:
Summary: Superb psychological thriller
Review: Two ten year old girls have been convicted of the murder of a baby seven years ago. Soon after their release from the facilities that housed them, another baby has disappeared. The public is unaware of the release of the girls and it is the police that is investigating the case. To solve the crime they must delve into the seven year old murder where the secret to the current kidnapping may reside.
I have had a problem in the past with the books of Laura Lippman almost entirely having to do with the pacing of her stories. In the multiaward winning Tess Monaughan series, she delves, in my opinion, way too deeply into the psyche of the characters portrayed. Is it really necessary, in a series, to know every inner thought of just about every major or minor character. To me, this serves to slow down the plot, at times, to a lethargic pace. As Laura describes a character in this, her latest novel and a standalone, " Helen's stories were always full of details like that- what she saw, what she ate, what she wore." So are Laura's. However, I will note that I have the same problem with the novels of Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton. So Laura is in excellent company. I might be one of the few to perceive this as a problem with the Monaghan series in that mystery fans love her work as is evidenced by her legions of fans. I have not truly enjoyed or appreciated her work- until now.
EVERY SECRET THING is a psychological suspense novel in the same vein as the works of Ruth Rendall or Minette Walters. These novels are not known for their pacing. They are novels rich in character. There is an underlying sense of the unknown which heightens the suspense. (In this case, how did the baby die in the past and do the girls have anything to do with the current disappearance.) These are leisurely works that draw out this suspense by delving into every detail of the character's lives- their innermost thoughts and actions. Hence the term- psychological suspense novel. Laura's style, which I find so irritating in her series, works brilliantly in this stand alone. Every minute detail continues to prolong the suspense as the reader compusively turns the pages to the crescendo of the shattering climax. I thought nobody writes a better psychological suspense novel than the Brits. However, Laura Lippman has, with ease, managed to outdo them. Superb and a sure finalist at all the major awards next year.

Rating:
Summary: An American Ruth Rendell.
Review: When I picked up "Every Secret Thing," by Laura Lippman, I expected nothing more than a formulaic novel about child abductions. Much to my surprise, this book turned out to be a deeply psychological page-turner with marvelously descriptive writing, dry humor, and intricate plotting. Now that I have finished the book, the highest compliment that I can pay to Ms. Lippman is that she reminds me of the great British novelist, Ruth Rendell. Why? Rendell has never been satisfied with the standard whodunit formula. She likes to examine the unexplored dark corners of the human psyche and the mystery is not always the centerpiece of her books. The people are.

"Every Secret Thing" begins with a tragedy. A little girl named Olivia Barnes is kidnapped and, several days later, she is murdered. Two eleven-year-old girls named Ronnie Fuller and Alice Manning are charged with the crime, and they spend seven years in juvenile detention facilities. When they are released, Ronnie and Alice are young women of eighteen. Before long, when another little girl named Brittany goes missing, Ronnie and Alice are once again under suspicion.

There are so many things to praise about this book that it is difficult to pick one, but above all else, the character development is uniformly outstanding. We get to know each major and several minor characters intimately, as if they were our own neighbors. Lippman gives us a glimpse into the minds of Ronnie and Alice, two unhappy and lonely misfits with a tenuous grip on reality. We become well acquainted with Helen Manning, Alice's narcissistic and foolish mother, Nancy Porter, the cop who found Olivia's body and has been haunted by the case ever since, and Cynthia Barnes, Olivia's bitter and grieving mother whose life is devoted to seeing Alice and Ronnie destroyed. That the two girls responsible for killing Olivia should be set free to walk the earth is simply not an option for Cynthia, who has powerful political connections and is used to getting what she wants.

As the story unfolds, a tale of psychological horror emerges that is truly chilling. When I turned the last page, I knew that I would be thinking about this book for some time to come, marveling at how Lippman mines so many themes so effectively, and how she makes us care deeply about the outcome of her story. Don't miss this unforgettable thriller.

Rating:
Summary: An American Ruth Rendell.
Review: When I picked up "Every Secret Thing," by Laura Lippman, I expected nothing more than a formulaic novel about child abductions. Much to my surprise, this book turned out to be a deeply psychological page-turner with marvelously descriptive writing, dry humor, and intricate plotting. Now that I have finished the book, the highest compliment that I can pay to Ms. Lippman is that she reminds me of the great British novelist, Ruth Rendell. Why? Rendell has never been satisfied with the standard whodunit formula. She likes to examine the unexplored dark corners of the human psyche and the mystery is not always the centerpiece of her books. The people are.

"Every Secret Thing" begins with a tragedy. A little girl named Olivia Barnes is kidnapped and, several days later, she is murdered. Two eleven-year-old girls named Ronnie Fuller and Alice Manning are charged with the crime, and they spend seven years in juvenile detention facilities. When they are released, Ronnie and Alice are young women of eighteen. Before long, when another little girl named Brittany goes missing, Ronnie and Alice are once again under suspicion.

There are so many things to praise about this book that it is difficult to pick one, but above all else, the character development is uniformly outstanding. We get to know each major and several minor characters intimately, as if they were our own neighbors. Lippman gives us a glimpse into the minds of Ronnie and Alice, two unhappy and lonely misfits with a tenuous grip on reality. We become well acquainted with Helen Manning, Alice's narcissistic and foolish mother, Nancy Porter, the cop who found Olivia's body and has been haunted by the case ever since, and Cynthia Barnes, Olivia's bitter and grieving mother whose life is devoted to seeing Alice and Ronnie destroyed. That the two girls responsible for killing Olivia should be set free to walk the earth is simply not an option for Cynthia, who has powerful political connections and is used to getting what she wants.

As the story unfolds, a tale of psychological horror emerges that is truly chilling. When I turned the last page, I knew that I would be thinking about this book for some time to come, marveling at how Lippman mines so many themes so effectively, and how she makes us care deeply about the outcome of her story. Don't miss this unforgettable thriller.