Laura Lippman

[Anonymous]

What are Laura Lippman's good books? I want to like this local author, but she's written so many books and I think only a few of them are really good. I've read a few now and have not been impressed.

[Anonymous]

I definitely like her first Tess books best—Baltimore Blues and Charm City. I also liked Wilde Lake, which is a bit more recent and a stand alone book. I’m a fan but I agree that she has written a few clunkers. Her most recent book Prom Mom was pretty bad.

[Anonymous]

I have only read Charm City and Lady in the Lake but liked them both. But they aren't masterpieces or anything -- I like the accurate insider-y view of Baltimore (Lady in the Lake explores 1960s Bmore which is great) and I like that she explores issues around motherhood and women and work and independence.

[Anonymous]

Lady in the Lake is going to be a mini series on Apple TV. When I first heard the title I thought of Lippman, but was still surprised it’s based on her book since I don’t know if her other books have been adapted for TV.

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed Wilde Lake

[Anonymous]

The only one of her books that I have read was Lady in the Lake, which I thought was pretty good.
What prompted me to want to read the book was I saw a news article about it being filmed in Baltimore a couple years ago and they had to stop filming for a while because there were threats of violence to the movie people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have only read Charm City and Lady in the Lake but liked them both. But they aren't masterpieces or anything -- I like the accurate insider-y view of Baltimore (Lady in the Lake explores 1960s Bmore which is great) and I like that she explores issues around motherhood and women and work and independence.

I enjoy the accurate descriptions of Baltimore, too. I can’t remember which book I read first but it had a scene where someone in the 80s used a pay phone on a particular street corner. I lived in Baltimore in the 90s and remembered that there actually was a pay phone on that corner. I also just like the way the view be of the city comes across so accurately.

[Anonymous]

I tried to like her books. Never could finish any.

[Anonymous]

I read a few of her Tess books and liked them. Not sure why I haven't picked up her others.

[Anonymous]

I liked both "And When She Was Good" and "Dream Girl." I think I gave them both 4 stars out of 5.

AWSWG is more of a straight-up thriller, and DG is more psychological (like some of Stephen King's thrillers).