Life Sentences by Laura Lippman

Recommended by Sue

FIC Lippman

Author Laura Lippman continues to transcend her mystery-writer roots with another fine single title, Life Sentences. Cassandra Fallows is a successful author of very revealing memoirs, whose recent venture into fiction was poorly received. A chance snippet on CNN reminds her of the fate of a former classmate, Callie Jenkins, who went to jail rather than reveal anything about the disappearance of her infant son. As Cassandra searches for Callie - literally and metaphorically - she learns that the way she remembers events does not always mesh with how other players do. Cassandra faces different sorts of danger thant Lippman's wonderful PI, Tess Monaghan, but the secretive, small-town nature of Baltimore, their mutual city makes, as always, a lively character in itself.

Reviews

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

Recommended by Sue

636.8092 MYR

I was afraid this best-selling story of a kitten abandoned in an Iowa library drop one frigid night would be a maudlin one-note wonder. Not at all! The tiny, starving ball of fur grew into Dewey Readmore Books, a gentle monarch who charmed library users of all ages. The town itself, Spencer, suffered many small-town setbacks - local farms being sold to conglomerates, jobs moving offshore - but the library always tried to help people with transitions. Dewey helped, too, with his cat radar for who needed a warm heartbeat on his or her lap to get through a hard day. The fact that he was the living image of my neighbor's cat, a less-gentle but equally sensitive autocrat who has helped me through some tough days, made the book even more fun! Check out his appearance on Iowa public television at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jGpvvLmwbs .

Reviews

Life Sentences by Laura Lippman

Recommended by Irene

FIC Lippman

Laura Lippman writes delightful mysteries set in Baltimore with a winning character, Tess Monaghan. Lippman has branched out with stand alone novels of great depth and character. Life Sentences is her latest.

Author Cassandra Fallows has achieved remarkable success by baring her life on the page. Her two widely popular memoirs continue to sell briskly, however, her new fiction offering has fallen flat. Seeking another runaway subject, Cassandra believes she may have found the story that will enable her triumphant return to nonfiction.

When Cassandra was a girl, growing up in a racially diverse middle-class neighborhood in Baltimore, her best friends were all black. One of the girls, a shy, quiet, unobtrusive child named Calliope Jenkins - who, years later, would be accused of killing her infant son, hung in the edge of the group of girls. For seven years, Calliope refused to speak and the court was finally forced to let her go. Cassandra believes this still unsolved real-life mystery, largely unknown outside Baltimore, could be her next bestseller.

As Cassandra digs deeply into the mystery, she discovers disturbing truths about herself, her family and her friends, shaking to the very core all that she believed true.

Reviews