Promotional Information

From a multi award-winning author: BUTCHERS HILL won the Anthony and Agatha Awards for best paperback original; CHARM CITY won the Edgar and Shamus Awards Lippman's mysteries have so far received a phenomenal total of fourteen awards and nominations She also receives excellent reviews: 'Ably demonstrates why Lippman has been sweeping up the American crime awards ... gripping' GUARDIAN 'Skilfully plotted with an unexpected denouement' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'With this engrossing mystery/suspense stand-alone novel, Lippman, winner of the Edgar, Shamus and Agatha awards for her series featuring likeable heroine Tess Monaghan, solidifies her position in the upper tier of today's suspense novelists' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 'A wonderful piece of engaged and engaging writing: focused, attentive, smart - [a] feast of a book' WASHINGTON POST 'Full of insight, humanity and good writing ... ambitious and accomplished' MORNING STAR 'The story flows easily, the dialogue is realistic and the characters sharply drawn' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'One of the most polished and consistently interesting writers of detective fiction today' ECONOMIST

About the Author

Laura Lippman is a reporter and lives in Baltimore. Every Secret Thing is her sixth novel featuring P.I. Tess Monaghan. Her previous novels are: Baltimore Blues; (nominated for the Shamus Award); Charm City (winner of the Edgar and Shamus Awards); Butchers Hill (winner of the Anthony and Agatha Awards); In Big Trouble (winner of the Anthony and Shamus Awards), The Sugar House and In a Strange City.

Reviews

"A book full of rich, complex characters coupled with a gripping plot that's always one step ahead of the reader. And as with real life, it's the reader who's left to work out just who is the real victim in the this emotionally charged tale." -- Michael Carlson CRIMETIME 2005 "Exquisite as fine jewellery." -- Lee Child DAILY EXPRESS, 7 Jul 06

With this engrossing mystery/suspense stand-alone novel, Lippman, winner of the Edgar, Shamus and Agatha awards for her series featuring likable heroine Tess Monaghan (Baltimore Blues; Charm City; The Last Place) solidifies her position in the upper tier of today's suspense novelists. Two 11-year-old children-good girl Alice Manning and bad girl Ronnie Fuller-wander homeward in Baltimore after being kicked out of a friend's pool party. They discover a baby in an unattended carriage by the front door of a house and steal it away. The reader watches in horror, knowing what will come next. The baby dies, and Alice and Ronnie are imprisoned for seven years. The mystery involves which girl did the killing, and which was the dupe. After release from prison, their blighted lives move inexorably toward further horror and tragedy. Lippman slowly relinquishes the facts of her story, building suspense as she reveals the past. Her well-honed prose is particularly suited to descriptions that impart more than just appearances: "Holly was one of those people who seemed to be put together with higher quality parts than everyone else"; "...there was something menacing in the very fineness of his bones, as if a bigger boy had been boiled down until all that remained was this concentrated bit of rage and bile." With this book, much darker than any in her past series, Lippman shows she is an author willing to take risks in both writing and storytelling. Her deft handling of this disturbing material is sure to increase the breadth of her readership. (Sept. 2) Forecast: Look for this one to garner critical praise with a sales boost to follow. Fans will hope to see series hero Tess Monaghan-who seemed a bit tired in her last outing-back on the page soon, reinvigorated from her time off. Major ad/promo; eight-city author tour. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.