Each of these point-of-view character profiles flows organically from the main storyline, but the details of their lives are really incidental to the plot. With each alternating chapter in the first two-thirds of the novel, Laura Lippman “interrupts” Madeline’s story to present a portrait of one of the citizens of Baltimore. Meanwhile, her budding relationship with a black police officer is making a bigger statement than she intended and brings her more risk than she ever imagined. Through her work with a Baltimore newspaper, she uncovers a murder that seems to have gone under-investigated by the local police – largely because the victim was a black woman – and she takes it as her mission to bring the crime (both the murder itself and the authority’s flippancy regarding it) to light and in doing so discovers yet another murder. Unfulfilled by her marriage and suburban existence, Maddie runs off to the city to forge her own way. Lady in the Lake features Madeline Schwartz, a woman at a crossroads in her life during the 1960s.

It is to Laura Lippman’s credit that all of this is managed while never being anything less than completely entertaining. Lady in the Lake is a story of a city at a specific time, a story of a city’s population during transition, and a story of one woman’s journey toward self-awareness and independence – all woven together against the backdrop of the newspaper industry, touching on gender and racial politics at every unexpected turn. Make no mistake, Lady in the Lake is indeed a crime novel, but that element is really the least of its offerings.

One year after releasing Sunburn – her slim and deft ode to the noir aesthetic – Laura Lippman once again pivots to provide readers with something completely different, something that defies categorization, something utterly beguiling.

Lady in the lake laura lippman review