Hush Hush: A Tess Monaghan Novel

by Laura Lippman Narrated by Jan Maxwell

Overview

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman plunges Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan into a twisted and disturbing case.

Tess Monaghan has encountered almost every possible criminal motive throughout her career: greed, revenge, jealousy, rage. But there are crimes that defy all attempts at understanding, where a search for motive seems pointless.

Melisandre Harris Dawes committed such a crime. Found not guilty by reason of insanity, she fled the country, leaving her two daughters with their father. Twelve years later, she's back in Baltimore, and Tess is asked to provide security detail while Melisandre films a documentary about her attempts to reconcile with her now teenaged children.

Tess, juggling work with caring for her demanding toddler, is uneasy about the case. Still, Melisandre's lawyer is family. And there is something about the woman herself-confident, beautiful, shrewdly intelligent-that draws Tess in. Is she a master manipulator or someone who was driven to temporary madness? Cold and calculating, or a mother concerned for her daughters' well being? Someone is leaving Melisandre enigmatic, threatening notes. Soon Tess, insecure about her parenting abilities and receiving cryptic messages of her own, isn't sure whether she should be protecting Melisandre from harm-or protecting everyone else from Melisandre.

When Melisandre becomes the prime suspect in a murder, Tess must uncover the truth. Doing so will mean confronting her deepest beliefs about what separates good parents from bad, madness from sanity, and what lengths even the most rational person will go to, to protect what they cherish most.

Hush Hush is a psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Laura Lippman's masterful storytelling will leave you guessing until the very end.

HarperCollins 2024

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

★ 12/08/2014
In bestseller Lippman’s searing 12th installment in her series featuring Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan (last seen in the 2011 novella “The Girl in the Green Raincoat”), Tess, now the mother of a three-year-old girl with longtime boyfriend Crow, reluctantly takes a security job from attorney Tyner Gray, a family friend. Tyner represents Melisandre Harris Dawes, who, 12 years earlier, intentionally left her infant daughter in a hot car to die. Melisandre, a former lawyer, successfully argued that she suffered from postpartum psychosis, and was found not guilty by reason of insanity. She left Baltimore—and her two young daughters—behind, and moved abroad. Now Melisandre is back, with a documentary filmmaker in tow, to reunite with her daughters, 17-year-old Alanna and 15-year-old Ruby, who live with their father, Stephen, his new wife, and their baby. Tess, along with her new partner, ex-cop Sandy Sanchez, must assess Melisandre’s security risks. Lippman expertly delves into what it means to be mad—and more importantly, what comes next. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary Agency. (Feb.)

Library Journal

★ 01/01/2015
In the 12th title in Lippman's best-selling series featuring Baltimore investigator Tess Monaghan (The Girl in the Green Raincoat), Tess is tasked with investigating a complex and disturbing woman. Melisandre Harris Dawes left her infant daughter unattended in a stifling hot car 12 years ago. After a lengthy murder trial that acquitted her by reason of insanity, Dawes left Maryland for a new life abroad. Now she's back, with a documentary camera in tow to film a hoped-for reunion with her two surviving children. However, not everyone is happy about Melisandre's return, including her ex-husband and teenage daughters. Tess and her partner have been hired to assess Melisandre's personal security. As a mother herself, Tess is skeptical about the woman's innocence and wary of her manipulations. But when another murder occurs and Melisandre is once again a suspect, Tess is drawn into the mystery of what happened so many years ago. VERDICT After writing several excellent stand-alone novels (After I'm Gone), Lippman returns to her popular series sleuth in this compelling mystery about a good mother gone bad. Strongly recommended for the author's fans as well as readers who enjoy stories about female PIs such as Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone.—Amy Hoseth, Colorado State Univ. Lib., Fort Collins

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2014-11-18
Lippman's latest installment in the Tess Monaghan series weaves an exploration of the joys and frustrations of motherhood with a clever and engaging mystery. In the last Monaghan mystery, The Girl in the Green Raincoat (2011), Tess solved a Rear Window-style crime when her doctor confined her to bed rest at the end of her pregnancy. Fast-forwarding three years, Lippman has brought Tess back, now the mother of toddler Carla Scout as well as a full-time PI. She has taken on a new partner, ex-homicide cop Sandy Sanchez (the protagonist of Lippman's excellent 2014 stand-alone, After I'm Gone), but even with Sandy's help Tess struggles to juggle her tantrum-prone daughter, her relationship with longtime boyfriend Crow and her work. The job in question is complex and juicy: Tess has been hired by the rich and haughty Melisandre Harris Dawes, who killed her infant daughter by leaving her in a sweltering car. Dawes was found not guilty by reason of insanity (specifically, postpartum psychosis), but after her trial, she gave away custody of her older daughters, divorced her husband and fled the country. Now she's returned to Baltimore and wants Tess to look into her security. She's also commissioned a documentary on the insanity defense, giving Lippman plenty of room to share her observations on our passion for reality TV and obsession with the most horrifying crimes. Before long, both Dawes and Tess are receiving notes with creepy stalker overtones, and the case takes a nasty, violent turn. Tess' constant worry about whether she's a good mother dovetails ironically with Dawes' fight to win her daughters back. Lippman dives deep not only into the ways women tend to question their choices and abilities, but also into whether all mothers, and kids, are a little crazy.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170325351
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Series:	Tess Monaghan Series , #12
Edition description:	Unabridged

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