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    The Girl in the Green Raincoat: A Tess Monaghan Novel
    The Girl in the Green Raincoat: A Tess Monaghan Novel
    The Girl in the Green Raincoat: A Tess Monaghan Novel
    Ebook177 pages2 hours

    The Girl in the Green Raincoat: A Tess Monaghan Novel

    By Laura Lippman

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    “Lippman is a writing powerhouse. ”

    —USA Today

     

    “I love her books.”

    —Harlan Coben

     

    New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman—winner of the Edgar® Award and every other major literary prize given for mystery and crime fiction—embroils Baltimore p.i. Tess Monaghan in the strange case of The Girl in the Green Raincoat. Originally serialized in the New York Times, The Girl in the Green Raincoat is now in book form for the very first time—a masterful thriller in the Alfred Hitchcock mode that places a very pregnant, homebound Tess in the center of a murderous puzzle that could cost her her life and the life of her unborn child.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJan 18, 2011
    ISBN9780062042378
    Author

    Laura Lippman

    Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at the Baltimore Sun. Her novels have won almost every prize given for crime fiction in the United States, including the Edgar, Anthony, Nero Wolfe and Agatha awards. She lives in Baltimore with her husband, the writer David Simon who created hit TV series The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Street.

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    Reviews for The Girl in the Green Raincoat

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      Tess Monahan is pregnant and confined to bed rest by the window where she sees a young woman wearing a green raincoat walking a dog wearing a matching green raincoat everyday. One day the dog is running around the park minus it's owner. Tess is convinced that something has happened to the woman and gets her friends to investigate. The author readily admits that she used Hitchcock's movie "Rear Window" as an idea for this story.
    • 4/5
      You would be correct in thinking that this story is reminiscent of Hitchcock’s Rear Window. I loved that film – one of my favorites.However, this story is not in any way a re-working or an attempt to duplicate what the great director created. Not that this is bad, but I’d hate to give a potential reader the wrong impression.Fans of Lippman will love this light and quick read. Avid mystery readers might find it a bit less meaty than what they’re used to. At least I did. This is not a detriment to the author’s work here.The Girl in the Green Raincoat is a perfect book for someone looking for an enjoyable weekend read. I like those. I like picking a book off my shelf that I know will allow me to sit, relax, snuggle up to the cats and a cup of cocoa and let the story take over.I’ve never read Lippman and so I know nothing about her character Tess Monaghan. This was my introduction and I quite liked her. Her quick wit and banter are refreshing and far from obnoxious or overbearing. Never did a quip fall on a wrong note.At a little over two hundred pages, the ending comes quickly and my only complaint is that I was left with the sense there could have been a chapter or two more so I didn’t feel “rushed”. That maybe there was some kind of requirement to get it all done within those pages so when it got close, the story had to come together in a curt fashion.That being said, I liked The Girl In The Green Raincoat, and I’ve put Lippman on my list of authors whose books I want to read more of. Definitely.
    • 4/5
      PI Tess Monaghan is on bed rest awaiting the birth of her first child. However, she just can't help but try to solve a mystery, even if she has to make one up for herself. A girl in a green raincoat walks her dog every day and then suddenly one day the dog is seen, but the girl is not. Tess involves herself and her growing circle of associates in the inquiry into the girl's disappearance. One of the best things about this series is that the characters continue to develop. Also, Lippman incorporates new technology as it is developed and as she writes these books. Tess' practice has grown, as has her family. These book are a joy to read.
    • 4/5
      Private Investigator Tess Monaghan has been ordered to have complete bedrest in the last weeks of her pregnancy and has had to leave her business in the capable hands of a colleague, the delightfully named Mrs Blossom. Bored and fed up whilst laying in the sun porch, Tess notes the daily walk of a young blonde woman in a green raincoat and her small greyhound (also wearing a matching green coat) in the nearby park. One day the dog appears running from the park, trailing its lead, but no owner appears. Tess is more than intrigued; she has to know what has happened and from her daybed, directs an investigation not realising the potential danger she is exposing herself and others to.I remember watching the classic Hitchcock film "Rear Window" many years ago and any similarity with this story and the film is fully intentional and acknowledged by the author. Even though this is a novella of just 158 pages, Laura Lippman has created a great character in Tess Monaghan. She is gutsy, witty and wholly believable. Her boyfriend Crow, best friend Whitney and the above mentioned Mrs Blossom complete the cast of regular characters in Tess' life all of whom I found engaging. Even the minor characters were fleshed out enough to have a meaningful part in the story. Dempsey, the missing owner's dog has his own part to play and his antics with the antique chamber pot provided a few amusing moments.The storyline has plenty of pace for such a short book with dubious characters, twists and suspense to the end and as a diversion from the mystery aspect, there is a sub story involving the love life of one of Crow's young colleagues.This was the first Laura Lippman book I had read and also the only one so far in the Tess Monaghan series (of which this #11) however I shall be seeking out the back catalogue. I enjoyed the character of Tess too much to leave her stories at this book.
    • 5/5
      I would not consider this book a great work of literature but I enjoyed it so much and it filled such a hole in me that I had to give it 5 stars.A comfy, cosy mystery with the very pregnant Tess bedridden in her last trimester and spending her days on her sun porch watching the world outside. Each day she waits and watches for those who daily walk their dogs past her windows. And each day she sees an attractive young lady in a green raincoat, green pumps, with a green umbrella walking a dog in a matching green raincoat. One day she sees the little dog go running by with his green leash flying behind him. Even though she is bedridden she must find out what has happened to the little dog's owner. A truly enjoyable book. Just right for those rough patches in one's R/L.Recommended but book 12 out of a series of 13. I need to go back and find the 1st.
    • 3/5
      Laura Lippman's slender mystery "The Girl in the Green Raincoat," first published in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, has a lot of "Rear Window" in it. And like the Hitchcock movie classic, this story is a winner.Tess Monaghan, the private investigator featured in several of Lippman's novels, is about eight months into a difficult (and unplanned) pregnancy. Other than trips between her bed and her bathroom, she is confined virtually to one spot. That spot gives her a view of the street, where she often notices a young woman in a green raincoat walking her dog. One day, Tess sees the dog, but not the woman.After a few days pass without noticing the woman walk past, and with nothing better to do, Tess does some checking using her phone, her computer and her friends. She learns that the missing woman's husband has had two wives and one girlfriend die under peculiar circumstances.Whitney, Tess's attractive friend, gets the Grace Kelly role in this story. She is sent to meet Don Epstein, the husband, and to try to get some information out of him while pretending to be a vulnerable woman with few close friends or family members, the kind of woman he seems to be drawn to. Things soon get tense for Whitney and, later, for Tess herself.This slender mystery offers an abundance of wit, romance and, eventually, excitement. It also provides one of the most unexpectedly poignant lines one is likely to find in a mystery story. After she survives her ordeal, Tess, who has been anxious about what changes her baby will mean for her life and her career, begins to view things differently. She recalls that she has known since early girlhood where babies come from. "Now, at thirty-five, in despair over her lack of maternal instincts, she had finally learned where mothers come from."Fans of Lippman's series will be interested to find out what now awaits this private investigator/mommy.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. I've never read Laura Lippman and now plan to start the Tess Monaghan series from the start.
    • 3/5
      What should have been a quick read for me seemed to drag a little bit. After seeing the previous reviews, I expected to read this in a couple of hours but for some reason, I kept having to go back and check who was who and my mind kept wandering off. Once on track, the "rear window like " story came together.
    • 4/5
      The Girl in the Green Raincoat was a fun book. I don't think I have read any other mysteries featuring Tess but she did seem familiar so maybe I have. HmmmmmmmmI felt for Tess who was on "bed rest" because of a high risk pregnancy. I went through that myself when I was pregnant with my boys and it's not fun. It was easy to see how she watched people out of her window and made up stories to go with them. Especially being a PI, she can easily insert trouble with the way her mind works.The story moved along at a nice pace. It is filled with quirky, fun characters. I especially liked Whitney. She is the kind of friend that we all need to have. The superstitions that Tess had about not doing anything for the baby like buying furniture, having a baby shower, baby clothes, etc until the baby was born because it is bad luck gave me a laugh. We Italians have some strange superstitions as well so that was easy to relate to.This is a nice book for a weekend read when you want a mystery but not something heavy and gory. It keeps you guessing and I was quite surprised by the end.
    • 4/5
      A novella featuring one of my favorite private sleuths, Tess Monagham of my hometown, Baltimore MD.  In this one we find Tess pregnant, confined to total bedrest, and absolutely unhappy about life in general, lack of wine, lack of sleep, lousy food, and not being able to stick her nose into everything she's used to doing.  As she stares out the window each day, she notices a Girl in a Green Raincoat walking a greyhound, and becomes fixated on her.  When this mysterious green lady doesn't show up, and the dog is running loose, Tess' fertile mind spins all kinds of scenarios.In a story reminiscent of the Hitchcock thriller Rear Window, and the Josephine Tey story Daughter of Time, Tess sets out to solve the mystery, directing her minions from her sickbed.  The ending is spectacular, surprising and edifying.  It's a quick read--originally published as a serial in the New Yorker.
    • 3/5
      This is one of those mysteries solved from the sick-bed. With an über-egotistical mention of Rear Window and Josephine Tey's [Daughter of Time], Tess Monaghan, confined to bed during pregnancy, begins an investigation of a woman she determines has gone missing. Some parts were just plain silly, but Lippman packs a lot into this lightweight novella.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed this so much that will definitely read more of the series. Good writing and fast reading. Tess is 7 months preggie and on bed rest. There are similarities to The Rear Window, and I was surprised to learn who was the real killer.
    • 3/5
      I've never read a book by Laura Lippman. I'm not sure why I haven't (although it could have something to do with my recent falling out of love with the mystery genre), but I've seen her name around the book blogging community and when I saw this offering on the NetGalley site, and noticed that it was under 200 pages long I figured I'd give it a go.The Girl in the Green Raincoat is the eleventh Tess Monaghan story, but in spite of not knowing Tess at all, I found myself easily getting my bearings and figuring out who was who fairly quickly. I felt sympathy for Tess and her bedridden state, although I had a harder time understanding just why she seemed to feel resentment toward her unborn daughter. I admit to snorting with laughter at the opening few pages of the book and, as a result, easily understanding the relationship between Tess and Whitney. The mystery was okay, with a nice twist thrown in that, while not completely unseen, still gave me a few details that I hadn't thought of.I do have one nit-picky thing to say though. The raincoat that plays so prominently in this story is described in the book as being "celery green". The book on the cover is definitely not "celery green", being more of an emerald color. It was that very color that drew my eye to the book in the first place, so to have it be described in the book as more of a celery color got to me (probably more than it should have). Such an easy thing to fix - I wonder why it was done that way.
    • 4/5
      I'm pretty sure I found a new literary friend. She has moxie, a good sense a humor, animals love her, and trouble finds her wherever she goes, even when she is bedridden with a high risk pregnancy. Her name is Tess Monaghan and she is one of Baltimore's finest private detectives. I found Tess engaging. I was definitely interested in getting to know her, to find out what path she took that lead her to become a private investigator. I enjoyed the zany cast of characters with my favorite being Mrs. Blossom, the unassuming, knitting master spy. I lost count of how many times I burst out laughing during this novella. Ms. Lippman has a great writing style, direct without being pedestrian. There were two facets I found troubling. The first was that although I had a Why the face? moment, the ending seemed rushed. I really dislike when that happens. The second was, coming into an already established story, she left me feeling a bit like an outsider looking in on family and friends that held a tight bond. However she did succeed in peaking my interest. And now that my appetite is whet, I really have no choice but to start at the beginning and find out more about my new friend Tess and her family and kooky friends.
    • 5/5
      Tess Monaghan is back. And Laura Lippman’s new Tess long short story/novella (at 208 pages call it what you choose) was worth the wait. It’s Lippman’s take on ‘Rear Window,’ as a pregnant homebound Tess watches dog walkers in the nearby park and becomes fascinated by ‘The Girl in the Green Raincoat’ who spends her time talking on her cell as she walks her green raincoat-clad miniature greyhound. Then, no surprise, one day the little greyhound runs free trailing his green color coordinated leash, and the plot thickens.For those enmeshed in the Tess series, this is a must read. Our iconoclastic Tess, pregnant? Tess, who could happily subsist on candy bars, sausage, and beer, and has little concern about her personal safety, is going to be responsible for someone else? Tess and Crow (?) as parents? Who other than Lippman and possibly Crow ever expected this day?And for those new to the series, while ’begin at the beginning’ is the best way to tackle this series where the characters actually change and grow, relationships develop in a believable fashion, nevertheless, ’The Girl in the Green Raincoat’ gives a good introduction to the world of Tess Monaghan. Lippman and Tess handle the ‘Rear Window’ theme with elan. The story is, as are all of the Tess books, interesting on three levels: the mystery element, the Tess-Crow relationship, and, as always, the portrait of Baltimore and its citizens.
    • 4/5
      First Line: "I am being held hostage," Tess Monaghan whispered into her iPhone.In this eleventh outing for Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan, she is in the third trimester of her pregnancy and forced to endure bed rest. During the day she is ensconced on a chaise longue on her sun porch, and in homage to one of my favorite books (The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey) and one of my favorite movies (Hitchcock's Rear Window), Tess finds herself paying more attention to the people in the park across the street than she does the books, magazines and DVDs she has at hand.In particular she pays attention to one pretty woman and her dog, both of whom are dressed alike in green raincoats. One day the woman and her dog arrive for their walk and only the dog comes back. The woman has disappeared. Tess knows something's wrong, but since she can't investigate she must enlist the aide of friends and employees like Dorie and Mrs. Blossom. It's a good thing Tess is lying down because she's just opened a big can of worms.I only made Tess's acquaintance in December, reading the first book in the series, Baltimore Blues. Even though I'm usually a stickler for reading series books in order, I couldn't resist this one. Was I confused by the nine unread books in between? Not really, because Lippman is a pro at giving the reader enough information not to feel lost. It's obvious to me that plenty has happened in Tess's life in those nine books, and reading The Girl in the Green Raincoat has whetted my appetite to go back and fill in the blanks.This is short and fast and thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the conversations Tess would have with her unborn child (whom she usually referred to as "Fifi"): "Don't ever settle, Fifi. Don't get married just because it's still marketed as the ultimate achievement for women. On the other hand, learn to value men for something other than their paychecks."Very wise words, Fifi. You'd do well to listen to them. If you're a fan of Tess's-- or even if you're not-- The Girl in the Green Raincoat is one fine mystery.
    • 3/5
      This novel was originally done as an installment series for the newspaper, and has now been published as a book. This features the private investigator, Tess Monaghan, in a Baltimore, Maryland setting. The story closely resembles Hitchcock's The Rear Window with a pregnant Tess unable to leave the house. The story also features dialogue from The Bad Seed. Lippman does an excellent job of incorporating this feeling of suspense and hopelessness into her story. Of course, pregnant Tess fights jealousy and insecurity as her body adjusts to this alien within her body. The other characters seem minor in comparison to Tess in this book, as Tess struggles to understand the changes that will soon happen.
    • 3/5
      I found “The Girl in the Green Raincoat” interesting enough…but couldn’t get away from the main problem I had with the mystery. I understand that the main character, Tess Monaghan, is very interested in where the title character has gone – but the reader is only given 7 (maybe 8) paragraphs in which to become interested as well – and it just didn’t work for me.I understand that this book had been serialized – and maybe that’s why the content feels so light – but I was just shocked that a book that compares itself to “Rear Window” (one of my favorite movies) – gives the reader so little to view of the woman who becomes the center of the mystery. This brief glimpse makes her easy to forget and even easier to care little about.I would say what kept me going was the fact that Tess suffers from pre-eclampsia during her pregnancy, as I did, yet even that seemed light in substance.I think there was a good idea here, and had it been fleshed out more, could have been a good book. There just wasn’t enough substance to make me care much about what was happening or to really draw me into the plot.
    • 4/5
      I'm a big fan of Laura Lippman. I've enjoyed her last two books which were stand alones, but I was thrilled to see that The Girl in the Green Raincoat featured her recurring character - PI Tess Monaghan.The Girl in the Green Raincoat finds Tess exactly where she doesn't want to be - sitting still. And for a very good reason. She's in the last trimester of a difficult pregnancy. Camped out in the sun room of her home, she whiles away the time watching out the window at the local dog park. She becomes fascinated by a woman who arrives at the same time every day in a green raincoat with her greyhound. Until the day when it's just the dog - trailing his leash...Unable to get up and out herself, Tess sends her partner Crow to corral the dog. What seemed like a simple search and rescue to return a lost dog turns intosomething more. Attempts to find the girl in the green raincoat leads to a trail of crimes that Tess slowly pieces together from her bedroom. Think Rear Window.This novella originally appeared serialized in the New York Times two years go. Once I discovered this, it explained why each chapter seemed to have a little story within the story. We get extra glimpses into the character's lives. Tess's doubts about her relationship and impending motherhood make the character even more realistic. I have always enjoyed the character of Whitney, Tess's best friend - we get to see some of her emotional make up this time around. I can't wait to see more about Mrs. Blossom, who is running the agency while Tess is laid up - she is a character just waiting to be fleshed out. Lippman's characters are engaging, the plots believable and the dialogue witty - I love the way Tess's mind works.For fans of Tess this is a must. I can't wait to see where Lippman takes the storyline next. For those new to this series, you may want to start with an earlier book to get a sense of the characters and the background. Now that's not to say you wouldn't enjoy this easy, one sitting read - you definitely will - but I know you'll be hunting down the rest of the series!
    • 4/5
      While on bed rest for the end of her pregnancy, Tess becomes an observer of life outside her house. Someone she observes everyday disappears. And this novella begins. Some humor, easy reading.
    • 4/5
      This novella marked the long-awaited return of Tess Monaghan - sweet!At the beginning of the book, we find out that she's in her third trimester and on strict bedrest. The normally very active PI (she's usually rowing on the rivers of Baltimore) begins to entertain herself by doing some people watching. Conveniently, there's a park across the way where people walk their dogs, take their lunch, etc. She soon notices that there's a woman in a green raincoat who walks a dog every day at the same time. One day, she notices that the dog is running loose, but the titular girl in the green raincoat is not with him.Tess is convinced that something is amiss, but from her bed, there is only so much she can do. With much cajoling, she enlists the help of her partner Crow and her best friend Whitney. The investigation soon turns up a suspect (the husband, who has a string of dead wives).The subplot about the kid who Crow and Tess have taken under their wing is equal parts amusing and interesting. He's dating someone and - wow, is he fumbling! Imagine Tess' surprise when the mothers of the love interest come calling.This was a great read, albeit too short. I was really excited when I heard a new Tess work was in the works, but I was really disappointed when I found out it was a novella. Apparently it originally appeared as a series and was then culled into a novella. I'm also a disappointed because the end seems to spell a turning point for Tess and Crow that I'm not quite pleased by, although some others might be.
    • 4/5
      The Girl in the Green Raincoat, Laura Lippman’s eleventh Tess Monaghan novel, was originally published as a serial in the New York Times Magazine. Since I only became acquainted with Lippman’s work beginning with 2007’s standalone novel, What the Dead Know, other than a short story or two, this is my first experience with Ms. Monaghan – and I seem to be catching her at a bad time.Tess, because of preeclampsia, is ordered to spend the last two months of her pregnancy on extended bed rest. In a takeoff on Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, Lippman has Tess move her bed out to her winterized sun porch for the duration of the pregnancy. There, armed with a trusty pair of binoculars, Tess begins to study the dog-walkers who use the little park across the street from her house. One walker, in particular, catches her eye - a green-raincoat-wearing blonde whose Italian greyhound always wears a matching green slicker on their walks.When, one afternoon, Tess sees the dog sprinting through the park on its own, she fully expects to find the woman in the green raincoat running behind in a desperate attempt to catch up with her freedom-seeking pooch. But this does not happen and, when neither the woman, nor the dog, has been seen for another day or so, Tess begins to suspect that something is very wrong. So, as a means to avoid going totally stir-crazy on her sun porch, Tess decides to put her detective skills and experience to good use by tracking down the woman in the green raincoat to make sure that nothing has happened to her. Luckily for Tess, she has a crew-of-four willing to do for her what she cannot accomplish from the confines of her little makeshift bedroom: Crow, her boyfriend and father of the baby holding her prisoner; Whitney Talbot, Tess’s best friend; crackerjack researcher Dorie Starnes; and a most unusual private investigator, Mrs. Blossom. As Tess grows more and more concerned about the missing woman’s fate, she will manage (much in the tradition of Rear Window) to move the investigation in a direction that places her sun porch in the middle of all the action.The Girl in the Green Raincoat will work best for readers already at least a little familiar with the repeat characters from previous Tess Monaghan novels. This one is very short, at just over 150 pages, and is probably best characterized as a novella rather than a novel. That does not leave much room for character development in a plot that features such a large supporting cast. Motivations, relationships, and personal histories that can only be guessed at by new readers are likely to be perfectly clear to Tess Monaghan veterans for whom the backstory is certain to be a significant part of the fun of The Girl in the Green Raincoat. This is not a good spot at which to jump into the Tess Monaghan series.Rated at: 3.5
    • 4/5
      A modern day Rear Window knock off, this novel finds Tess hugely pregnant, on mandatory bed rest, and bored to death. When she asks her boyfriend to get her some binoculars, Tess thinks she uncovers a murder when she spies on the activities of the dog park visible from her bed.A very skillful and entertaining writer, Laura Lippman thoroughly entertained me. I found myself frustrated at Tess's selfishness of her condition--most women would be more concerned about her baby's welfare instead of her own personal inconvenience. But that is somewhat in character with Tess anyway, so while it is annoying, it does not ruin the story.
    • 4/5
      Private investigator Tess Monaghan must stay in bed because of her pregnancy so she occupies her time by watching the world go by outside her window. She sees a young woman in a green raincoat walk her dog at the same time every day. Then one day she see the dog running free and the woman is nowhere to be seen. Tess decides to to investigate the woman's disappearance from her bed.The book is a little like the movie Rear window but is still a great read.
    • 3/5
      I've read other Laura Lippman books (novels and short story collections), and usually love them. I've been meaning to start reading her Tess Monaghan collection. But it was a mistake to start with this book. There's a mystery here, but it is overshadowed by the interactions of the main characters. These interactions would probably be very entertaining if I already knew and loved the characters. But without the backstory, it really didn't grab me.
    • 4/5
      Tess Monaghan, the full time private detective and part-time control freak, is put on bed rest prior to the birth of her first child. Tess is not one to sit around, and with only Judge Judy and Oprah for companions, she believes she is destined to lose her mind. Unable to find much to do but watch people out the window, Tess notices a young lady walking her dog every day at the same time. The girl's dog wears a matching green raincoat, which leads Tess to speculate about the woman and who she is talking to on her cell phone every afternoon. Until one day, the dog with the raincoat comes running across the park dragging his leash and the girl is nowhere to be found. Tess is, of course, unable to let this go and becomes concerned about the fate of the young woman, who doesn't return to the park with her dog after that day. Alas, Tess pulls in her friends and fellow private detectives to figure out who the girl is and what might have happened to her. In the process, Tess finds herself in danger, as an extremely pregnant woman on bedrest can do little to protect herself from potential threat...This was a very quick read and fairly entertaining. Tess is driven and witty and the story moved along at a good and suspenseful pace. Though somewhat predictable, I enjoyed the story, which takes a twist from the typical private detective storyline.
    • 4/5
      If you've seen Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and appreciated his stunning work, you'll love The Girl in the Green Raincoat. Similar to the movie, this book deals with a woman who must be content spending her time watching other people through a window. Tess watches the mundane events that occurs outside, until one day something changes. When she thinks that something is amiss, she does everything in her power to solve the mystery from behind closed doors. Little does she know what she is in store for!At a little under 200 pages, I was a little concerned when this book first arrived. I was wondering how Laura Lippman could fit an intriguing mystery in such a small amount of pages. Let's just say, I shouldn't have worried! It is a quick read for sure, but in the best way possible. The pages just flew by as I devoured Tess' character, her worries, her investigation, and everything else that was wrapped up in this wonderfully written mystery. The prose in this story is also fantastically witty. There were times I laughed out loud at her inner musings. By the time I got to the ending, which was perfection, I was sad that the book was over. Now that I know this is part of a series I'm going to have to go and find the others!The characters are wonderfully developed, from the main character to the most supporting character. Tess, our protagonist, is a an independent woman that has to come to terms with allowing others to do things for her. She is used to holding her own as a detective and is suddenly having to depend on others to do the legwork for her, which maddens her. I loved her tenacity, and even though she has worries about her boyfriend Crow she is always looking at things from a logical point of view. Tess is a woman's woman if I do say so myself!This is the first time I've ever read one of Laura Lippman's books, despite her NYT Bestsellers fame. I'm glad that this book was offered to me and put this fantastic series on my radar! Overall, The Girl in the Green Raincoat is a superbly written novel with witty dialogue, well written characters, and a thrilling plot that doesn't disappoint. All you mystery fans out there need to go pick up a copy as soon as possible!
    • 3/5
      This light mystery novella is a far cry from Lippman's wonderful What the Dead Know which is truly unfortunate. Though the parallels with Rear Window are immediately obvious, this book had none of the suspense or thrill of the original. The plot could easily have been worked into a full length novel which would have given Lippman a chance to flesh out these characters enough to pull in the reader; as it was, I couldn't share Tess' obsession with the missing woman nor understand how or why Lloyd and May fit into things. The book was just too short in my opinion to pull me in; I finished it in just under two hours with no sense of satisfaction. 3 stars because the writing as always was good, there just wasn't enough of it.
    • 4/5
      I seem to be on a Laura Lippman kick lately. This book is actually a novella, a 158 page fun read that is quite unusual for Lippman even though it is a part of the Tess Monaghan series. My copy says "available for the first time in book form."The story begins with a very pregnant Tess confined to a chaise lounge in her sunroom by a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia and a close call with a miscarriage. Baby Daddy Crow is happily doing his best imitation of Martha Stewart, cooking and keeping house, while harping at Tess to "stay put" and not to work. Since she is fascinated by the people walking their dogs in the park next to her house, he brings her binoculars and she does her imitation of "Rear Window."Every day a young woman in a celery green raincoat walks an Italian greyhound wearing an identically colored raincoat. The woman talks on a cell phone constantly while the dog prances in front of her and for some reason Tess finds them interesting. Then one evening the dog runs back out by itself and Tess never sees the woman again. Certain something terrible has happened to her, Tess sets out to solve the mystery - to Crow''s horror.Tess' new employee Mrs. Blossom who resembles her name and best friend Whitney help in the investigation. As she gets involved, her house begins to take on a Grand Central Station atmosphere, and since she must leave the door unlocked (Crow would kill her if she got up to answer it), she's wide open to danger. I was fooled by the story, but then I was a little busy laughing at the characters and the antics of the dogs, hers plus the little greyhound, and I kept hoping she wouldn't lose the baby. Want to know how it all came out? You'll just have to read this charming little novella for yourself.
    • 1/5
      I am half way through and I just can't do it anymore. This book is so boring.

    Book preview

    The Girl in the Green Raincoat - Laura Lippman

    Chapter 1

    Iam being held hostage, Tess Monaghan whispered into her iPhone. By a terrorist. The agenda is unclear, the demands vague, but she’s prepared to hold me here for at least two months. Twelve weeks or eighteen years, depending on how you look at it."

    Nice way to talk about our future child, said her boyfriend, Crow, tucking a quilt around her, although it was a typical early autumn Baltimore, not at all chilly. The quilt was a gift from Crow’s mother, an artist with an exceptional eye, which made up for her lapses when it came to the nickname she had allowed her only son to keep into adulthood. Under normal circumstances Tess would have been thrilled by this updated version of a Geese-in-Flight, rendered in her favorite colors: muted greens and golds chosen to complement the recently winterized sun porch. But it was another reminder of her captivity, no different from an orange jumpsuit.

    All summer long she had looked forward to sitting in this addition to her bungalow, watching the leaves change, warming her back at the two-faced fireplace connected to the living room. But that anticipation had been based on her belief that she would be able to leave the room when she wanted, not forced to lie here for days on end, under strict instructions to move as little as possible. Much to her horror, there had even been a discussion of bedpans, and her well-intentioned aunt had sent her an antique chamber pot. The doctor told Tess she could avoid that indignity, except perhaps at night. As long as you don’t overdo it, she added. Overdo a slow waddle to the bathroom! This made no sense to Tess. Raucous fun could be overdone. Drinking could be overdone. High-fat food could be overdone, even exercise. But a ten-foot walk to the bathroom?

    Bring wine, she hissed into the phone. And Matthew’s pizza. Those lima beans with feta cheese from Mezze. Sopa-pillas from Golden West. Hurry!

    Crow took the phone from her gently. Oh, he was forever gentle, wasn’t he, except when his sperm was storming the gates of one’s diaphragm, eluding spermicide and wiggling its way into the winner’s circle, a 99-to-1 long shot that drilled into her unsuspecting egg, creating the truculent would-be person who now had her pinned to this wicker chaise longue.

    You’re welcome to visit, he told her oldest and best friend, Whitney Talbot. And she’s actually allowed to have some salt, within normal limits. She’s joking about the wine.

    I am not! If this state weren’t so backward, I could buy wine on the Internet. Stupid protectionist liquor lobby. I bet Eddie’s will deliver, if it comes to that.

    They probably would, Crow agreed, bidding Whitney goodbye and placing the iPhone on the stack of books that Tess’s aunt had sent with the chamber pot, trying to anticipate all her moods and whims. But I’ve already spoken to them about our situation and your dietary requirements for the next ten weeks. Meanwhile, watch your tone. Even mock outrage can goose your blood pressure. In fact—

    He took the cuff out. Tess already hated the sight of it. Most expensive bracelet I’ve ever owned, she muttered as he fitted it over her left bicep, and although the device was only eighty-nine dollars, this was a literal truth. That eighty-nine dollars was the first of many expenses, she now realized, that would not be covered by the modest group health insurance she had set up for her company. She would need a family plan, which cost four times as much, and even then there might be more unanticipated expenses that could drain their savings. She willed herself to calm down as the cuff swelled and deflated. But being angry was preferable to being scared, and she had been extremely scared since ending up in the E.R. three days ago.

    The first warning bell, in hindsight, had been the ease with which she’d sat through five hours of surveillance without a twinge of discomfort. Normally, the ability to last hours before her bladder asserting herself would be a cause for celebration in Tess Monaghan’s world. Although many manufacturers had tried, there was no perfect solution for what she called the feminine relief problem. Men had more options, especially if they weren’t shy. Since becoming a private investigator six years ago, she had trained herself to be extremely stoic, and often blessed her father for those early years, when his insistence on making good time on family trips taught a young Tess to sync her body to the family’s ancient station wagon’s need for fuel. Edging into her third trimester, she discovered that pregnancy inevitably took its toll on her stalwart bladder, making surveillance problematic. Which was a problem, for surveillance was the bread-and-butter mainstay of Keys Investigations. That and Dumpster-diving, which she had reluctantly put on hold since she learned she was pregnant.

    However, pregnancy turned out to be an excellent cover for surveillance. Women looked at her belly, not her face. Men looked away from her. Especially the one man she was determined to catch on her iPhone’s camera, a deadbeat dad named Jordan Baum. A house painter, he maintained via his attorney that he had taken a bad fall on a job, sustaining the impossible-to-disprove soft tissue damage. His baby mama believed that Jordan was a cheater twice over, working off the books for a contractor who preferred to pay in cash, allowing Jordan to shortchange her and the government.

    But Jordan Baum was cagey enough not to take jobs that placed him in public view. Over the week that Tess had been watching him, he’d hobbled in and out of a major rehab near the Canton waterfront, and while it was suspicious for an out-of-work painter to keep visiting a house-under-renovation, it wasn’t proof of anything. Stymied, she arranged for an attractive blonde to cross his path, a blonde who would prove much unluckier to Jordan Baum than any black cat.

    On the appointed day, Whitney hid around the corner from the work site until alerted by text message that Jordan was making his faux laborious way toward the building. Whitney sailed out, arms piled high with stacks of paper. Tess had asked only that she drop them, but Whitney literally threw herself into the role, sprawling at Jordan’s feet, screaming in horror as her papers scattered, faking an injury to her knee. Gallant Jordan ran about—sometimes limping, sometimes not—gathered the papers, and helped Whitney to her feet. She insisted on buying him coffee at a nearby diner. All the while, Tess was snapping photos of the miraculously healed Jordan. These would be enough to make him kick in what he owed his ex. The IRS could hire its own private investigator to get their piece.

    But once a cheater, always a cheater, Tess told Whitney over a celebratory late lunch at Matthew’s Pizza. He’ll pay for a while, then fall behind again. Without a regular check to garnish, it’s impossible to make him stay current.

    Did you know he has four kids by three different women? Whitney asked. He actually took their photos out of his wallet and said, ‘I make beautiful babies.’ Is that a new seduction technique, advertising one’s bona fides as a baby daddy? I mean, I know I lead a relatively sheltered life, but—what’s wrong, Tess?

    Tess had finally registered the strange absence of her bladder’s demands. The realization was quickly followed by a pressing presence—intense cramps, then a stretch of violent vomiting, first in the restaurant’s tiny ladies’ room, then on the sidewalk, then the gutter, and finally down the side of Whitney’s Suburban as Whitney rushed her to Johns Hopkins. It’s seen worse, Whitney said when Tess apologized between retching episodes. My mom’s corgis are prone to diarrhea.

    The tale unspooled in the E.R., where the doctors tended to Tess with reassuringly brisk confidence. Preeclampsia was just another day at the office for them. At thirty-five, Tess was officially a high-risk pregnancy. She was at risk, her child was at risk, and unless she wanted to deliver a baby the size of a bratwurst—Whitney had provided that elegant image—she must spend the rest of her pregnancy in bed.

    Remember how you used to say you would love to take time off just to read and watch movies? Crow asked her now, continuing to bustle around the room, putting a vase of flowers on the mantel, then moving them to the windowsill. For a straight man, he was alarmingly in touch with his inner Martha Stewart. He seemed to have inherited the nesting phase that would normally be Tess’s, but that was true even before her diagnosis. He had wanted to paint the baby’s room, throw a shower. Tess, falling back on the traditions of her mother’s Jewish family, insisted it was bad luck.

    I used to say a lot of things. Interestingly, she had never said she wanted to be a mother, but she did not remind Crow of this. His joy at the news had been unadulterated. If he ever had any fears or doubts about fatherhood, she never saw them. Crow, reliable as sunrise, was not one of the Jordan Baums of the world—right? She had not planned to be a mother, but she had not planned not to be a mother. Her whole life was governed by accidents—her career, her relationship, even this house that she so loved. It made sense that her future daughter would continue this pattern.

    And if her daughter turned out to be a precocious pain in the butt in the bargain—well, she knew whose DNA that was, too.

    Crow said: With Mrs. Blossom now working for you full-time, you can afford to take the time away from the office. You were comfortable with her taking over during your maternity leave. What’s an extra two months?

    Two months of reduced billings. Prodigy though Mrs. Blossom may be, she’s only one woman.

    One woman ran your business for years, Crow said. "Everything will be all right.

    "You don’t know that."

    No one knows anything, in the end.

    Those words could be a comfort or a curse. For once, Tess decided to accept the comfort. The sun was beginning to set, and although her porch faced east, she could see the effect in the amber light that filtered through the still-green leaves. The porch was cantilevered out from the house, which was built into the side of a steep, wooded hill, so it felt like a tree house. Rock-a-bye, Tess, in the treetops. Surrounded by books and Crow’s towering stack of Criterion Collection DVDs, she could improve her mind while her body held her here. She could read the great books, study maps of the world, attack the ideas—philosophy, economics—she had bypassed in college.

    Or she could stare wistfully out the window, into the park, where the local dog walkers were beginning to file in. A week ago she had been among them, exercising her greyhound and Doberman, Esskay and Miata. How she missed that, she thought, forgetting all the times she had complained about the chore, how often she’d yearned to sleep in while the greyhound bathed her with hot, fishy breath. (Part of the reason she was on the sun porch was that Esskay would not fight her for the chaise longue, the way she did for the queen bed in the master bedroom.) Yes, she had longed for time off, for a chance to read more, to be absolved from the morning walks that fell to her. But she had imagined herself on a beach, not shaped like a beach ball.

    Her eye was drawn to a miniature version of Esskay, a prancing greyhound, a true gray one, whereas Esskay was black with a patch of white at her breast. The little dog wore a green jacket belted around its middle and moved with the cocky self-confidence of someone used to being noticed. As did its human companion, in a tightly cinched celery-green raincoat that was a twin to the greyhound’s. Hard to tell the woman’s age at this distance, but Tess could make out sleek blond hair, a wasp-waisted figure. She was the kind of pretty-pretty woman who would be called a girl into her forties. She ignored the other dog owners, cradling what appeared to be a cell phone against her ear. Tess frowned. She believed that dog owners, like their dogs, should experience the walk on a Zen level of being. She wished she could see the woman more clearly, make out the expression on her face.

    Is there anything else you need to make your haven perfect? Crow asked.

    Binoculars, Tess said.

    That had been Sunday; she had the binoculars by Monday. And for the rest of the week, Tess did, in fact, read quite a bit and began to catch up with the films that Crow thought essential to cultural literacy. But each afternoon, she picked up her new binoculars and watched the dogs converge on the park, then studied the girl in the green raincoat as she stalked past them, her prancing little greyhound leading the way. The girl was always on the phone, it seemed, but perhaps

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