Ratings4
Average rating3.3
Luisa "Lu" Brant is the newly elected--and first female, state's attorney of Howard County, Maryland, a job in which her widower father famously served. Fiercely intelligent and ambitious, she sees an opportunity to make her name by trying a mentally disturbed drifter accused of beating a woman to death in her home. It's not the kind of case that makes headlines, but peaceful Howard county doesn't see many homicides. As Lu prepares for the trial, the case dredges up painful memories, reminding her small but tight-knit family of the night when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another man's life. Only eighteen, AJ was cleared by a grand jury. Now, Lu wonders if the events of 1980 happened as she remembers them. What details might have been withheld from her when she was a child?
Reviews with the most likes.
This is a wonderful story with an elegant style of writing. I'd never read Laura Lippman before and am happy to add her to my list of favorite authors. The style of this book reminds me of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (only better). As the book opens, Lu Brant is elected to State's Attorney, Howard County, MD. In alternating chapters of the present and her youth, she sees how a current murder prosecution causes her to question her beliefs about a life altering event years ago. She questions what she remembers, was told, believed to be true. There are wonderful unexpected twists and turns that kept me reading
For 90% of this book, I thought it was entertaining but nothing special. Then the last 10% completely wowed me. Definitely recommend.