Thursday, September 16, 2010

Review: I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman

I picked up I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman while I was at BEA this spring. I happily snatched it up without even looking to see what it was about because I’d read and enjoyed her earlier book, What the Dead Know. So I was more than a little dismayed to realize Lippman’s latest is a serial killer story (have I mentioned how much I don’t enjoy those enough yet? I still keep reading them though!). I’d Know You Anywhere is the story of Eliza, a happily married 38-year-old mother of two, who one day receives a letter from death row inmate Walter Bowman, the man who held her captive for six weeks the summer she was 15—she was the only one of his victims to escape alive. When I hit chapter 2, which is a flashback to 1984 told from Walter’s point of view, I almost put the book down. But Lippman’s writing drew me in and in the end, I’m so glad I kept reading!

I’d Know You Anywhere is not your standard mystery: for one thing, it’s a howdunit rather than a whodunit. Moreover, since the perpetrator has been identified and apprehended, there’s no sleuth of any kind. The novel flips back and forth between the present (told mainly from Eliza’s point of view but also from the points of view of several other people who have been directly affected by Walter’s crimes) and the past (told from Walter’s and then Eliza’s point of view). The story examines the consequences of violent crime on the lives of the people left behind: a survivor (in Eliza’s case), some of the victims’ family members and several other people who get involved in the case.

Two things really struck me about this book and kept me reading. The first is that Lippman does a great job of getting inside her characters’ heads, including Walter’s, who is portrayed as a human being who does monstrous things rather than as a monster. For some reason, his delusions got me thinking about the ways in which we all, to some extent, delude ourselves and the harm we do to ourselves and others in the process. Second, unlike other books I’ve read with sociopaths or psychopaths in them, this book didn’t scare me. I was horrified by Walter’s actions, of course, but ultimately the book is hopeful in a way that all those other books were not.

After reading only two of her books, Laura Lippman is fast becoming one of my favourite writers!

Thank you to Harper Collins for providing me with this book to review.
_______________________________________________

I’d Know You Anywhere is on blog tour with TLC Book Tours in August and September. Visit these other blogs for reviews:

red headed book childShhh I’m ReadingStaircase WitA Bookworm’s WorldThoughts from an Evil OverlordProud Book NerdBooks and MoviesWordsmithsoniaRaging BibliomaniaLesa’s Book CritiquesMy Random Acts of ReadingJen’s Book ThoughtsnomadreaderBook ChatterIn the Next RoomBibliofreakblogCafé of Dreams

Other reviews:

Booking MamaBookin’ with BingoCaribousmomGirls Gone ReadingKellyVisionLife... with BooksLuxury ReadingMaterial WitnessMostlyFiction Book ReviewsNashville Book WormOn a Clear Day I Can Read ForeverPresenting Lenore

Interview with the author: Murderati
_______________________________________________

10 comments:

  1. What a great review! This sounds like an excellent book, and I like the fact that it left you to an extent feeling hopeful (especially given the subject matter).

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd probably like this book - I do enjoy serial killer stories, for some odd reason, and I love Lippman's writing. Great review.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This book sounds so good. I haven't read anything from this author but I'd bet I'd really like her stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm partial to this author since she's a Maryland girl like me. :) So glad that you enjoyed this one - thanks for being on the tour!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm glad you stuck with it - it really isn't a gory serial killer thriller - it is about the characters. I too really enjoy her writing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. When I spotted the title and cover illo's in my reader they drew me in to your review. Though this one isn't typical to my usual reads, it souds like one that would be hard to back out on once started.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This book sounds so good. I just went to the bookstore and wish I would have browsed around more and picked this one up too!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've never heard of a howdunit mystery before! This is an author I've been meaning to try.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I want to read a book by Laura Lippman, I keep meaning too & now that you have enjoyed her book that includes a serial killer in the story-line despite your dislike, generally, of serial killer stories, I have to read her books! I know I will really enjoy (besides I peeked at one or two in the book store!)

    I am looking forward to this being a howdunit rather than a whodunit & I find it fascinating that Lippman makes her serial killer human and sympathetic (relatively). Some of my interest probably stems from my interest/fascination with crimial law & crime, too!

    Thank you for a great review. I have to read these books...at least one! lolol

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lippman's more recent novels are more about why the crime occurred than just about solving the mystery. I really like that examination of things and watching things unfold here was a treat.

    ReplyDelete