About this item
The award-winning New York Times best-selling author of After Im Gone, The Most Dangerous Thing, Id Know You Anywhere, and What the Dead Know brings back private detective Tess Monaghan, introduced in the classic Baltimore Blues, in an absorbing mystery that plunges the new parent into a disturbing case involving murder and a manipulative mother. On a searing August day, Melisandre Harris Dawes committed the unthinkable: She left her two-month-old daughter locked in a car while she sat nearby on the shores of the Patapsco River. Melisandre was found not guilty by reason of criminal insanity, although there was much skepticism about her mental state. Freed, she left the country, her husband, and her two surviving children, determined to start over. But now Melisandre has returned Baltimore to meet with her estranged teenage daughters and wants to film the reunion for a documentary. The problem is she relinquished custody, and her ex, now remarried, isnt sure he approves. Now thats shes a mother herself - short on time and patience - Tess Monaghan wants nothing to do with a woman crazy enough to have killed her own child. But her mentor and close friend, Tyner Gray, Melisandres lawyer, has asked Tess and her new partner, retired Baltimore P.D. homicide detective Sandy Sanchez, to assess Melisandres security needs. As a former reporter and private investigator, Tess tries to understand why other people break the rules and the law. Yet the imperious Melisandre is something far different from anyone shes encountered. A decade ago a judge ruled that Melisandre was beyond rational thought. But was she? Tess tries to ignore the discomfort she feels around the confident, manipulative Melisandre. But that gets tricky after Melisandre becomes a prime suspect in a murder. Yet as her suspicions deepen, Tess realizes that just as shes been scrutinizing Melisandre, a judgmental stalker has been watching her every move as well...
About the Author
Since her debut in 1997, New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman has been recognized as one of the most gifted and versatile crime novelists working today. Her series novels, stand-alones and short stories have all won major awards, including the Edgar and the Anthony, and her work is published in more than 20 countries. A former Baltimore Sun journalist, she has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Glamour and Longreads. "Simply one of our best novelists, period," the Washington Post said upon the publication of the ground-breaking What the Dead Know. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her family. Follow me:Website: www.lauralippman.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/lauralippman/Instagram: www.instagram.com/lauramlippman/Twitter: www.twitter.com/LauraMLippman
