Latest from Laura Lippman
On Oct. 7, Laura Lippman’s latest, a short story collection called Hardly Knew Her, will go on sale. (For the obsessive fan, HarperCollins’ website includes an up-to-the-second countdown reminiscent of a Space Shuttle flight.) Loyal fans may have already read many of the short stories, which have been published in noir collections as far back as 2001. All the signature elements of Lippman’s novels are scattered through the collection: private detective Tess Monaghan (who appears in several stories), lovingly painted scenes of Baltimore, the snarl of family ties, and clever plot twists.
But what I enjoyed most about the collection was watching Lippman’s writing evolve. Read several stories in a sitting, and it’s easy to see.
The early "Ropa Vieja" (2001) is a rush of conversation and plot twists, with dialogue comes too easily and is unconvincing.
But in later stories such as "Easy as A-B-C" and "Femme Fatale" her characters are more fully formed, her insights sharper. The change is most apparent in the novella "Scratch a Woman,"
Of one key character she says: "There has always, always, been a tightness about Meghan, a kind of controlled fury. You can see it even in baby pictures, her long, skinny body propped on a sofa, her face pinched with resentment. ... Meghan believes she was short-changed on everything in childhood: allowance money, new clothes, extra helpings, her father’s attention."
And she describes the chatter of soccer moms, whose husbands "are the fodder for ... the endless anecdotes about how much these women put up with, the heroic tales that tend to end: ‘And it was in his closet’ – or the refrigerator, or the garage, or the front-hall powder room, or even the man’s pocket – ‘the entire time!’ "
The collection is a fitting complement to Lippman’s many novels. And after reading the bite-sized dramas about average Baltimoreans who commit vicious crimes, you’ll never walk down the sidewalk without wondering about the folks around you.
While she always preferred The Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew, 
