AUGUST 3 2019 LISTENER 53
by CRAIG SISTERSONF
rom the first lines of LADY IN THE
LAKE (Faber, $32.99), you know you’re
in the hands of a master storyteller.
Laura Lippman lures readers in not
with a stark opener or attention-grabbing
incident, but the mesmerising viewpoint
of Cleo Sherwood, a poor black mother
in civil-rights-era Baltimore. Cleo recalls
the first time she saw Jewish housewife
Maddie Schwartz, who’d go on to cause
trouble for a lot of people. Two very
different women, both shackled by preju-
dice, both yearning for more. Leaving
her affluent marriage for impoverished
independence, Maddie helps the police
find a missing white girl whose story was
splashed across front pages, before striving
for a foothold in the male-dominated
news industry. She targets an untold story:
Cleo becomes the “Lady in the Lake”
when a body emerges from a fountain.
Lippman intercuts Maddie’s narrative
with first-person vignettes from an array
of people, crafting a rich portrait of mid-
1960s Baltimore. Throughout, Cleo’s
contemptuous spectre lingers. Lady in the
Lake is a stylish, suspenseful tale from one
of crime writing’s very best.B
eautiful writing and exquisite plotting
are also on offer in THE WHISPER MAN
(Michael Joseph, $37), the first offer-
ing from “Alex North”, who has penned
several fine crime novels under another
name. Widower Tom Kennedy and his
young son Jake are both struggling. Tomhopes a move to the village of Featherbank
will give them a fresh start. When a young
boy vanishes, the town’s dark past returns.
Twenty years before, “the Whisper Man”
killed five people before being caught.
Detective Amanda Beck is lead on the
new case, but its eerie similarities to the
Whisper Man pulls Detective Pete Willis
aboard, too. Is their new foe linked to
Willis’ old nemesis? Meanwhile, strange
things happen at Tom’s new home, and
Jake hears whispering outside. North sets
the hook early and crafts a compulsive
tale that’s full of darkness and heart. The
Whisper Man is a creepy page-turner that’s
also a story of fathers and sons, of family
and nightmares, of past mistakes and
struggles to put things right. A top-notch
dark thriller from North.S
ydney scribe Michael Robotham has
regularly interspersed his terrific series
starring Parkinson’s-
afflicted psychologist Joe
O’Loughlin with some
outstanding standalone
thrillers. His latest novel,
GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL
(Hachette, $34.99), steps away
from Joe but occupies simi-
lar terrain. Six years after
a traumatised adolescentdubbed “Angel Face” was discovered
hiding out at a brutal crime scene, the
renamed Evie Cormac wants to move out
of state care. Forensic psychologist Cyrus
Haven is called in to assess the unusual
young woman who seems to be able to
act as a human lie detector. Meanwhile,
Cyrus also consults with the police on the
headline-grabbing murder of a teenage ice-
skating star. Intercutting between Evie and
Cyrus’ perspectives – two fascinating char-
acters who’ve found different ways to cope
with traumatic childhoods – Good Girl, Bad
Girl flows quickly. The whodunnit of the
murder is bolstered by plenty of intrigue
in relation to character secrets. Robotham
is accomplished at drawing in readers,
holding their attention, and delivering an
absorbing psychological thriller. lBlack and
white and
dead all over
Laura Lippman shows
her mastery in a civil-
rights-era mystery
featuring a female
newspaper reporter.
JA
N^
CO
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CRIME ROUNDUP
Laura Lippman: crafts a rich portrait of mid-
1960s Baltimore.