Wilde Lake

A Novel

By: Laura Lippman

Narrated by: Kathleen McInerney, Nicole Poole

The New York Times best-selling author of the acclaimed standalones After I'm Gone, I'd Know You Anywhere, and What the Dead Know challenges our notions of memory, loyalty, responsibility, and justice in this evocative and psychologically complex story about a long-ago death that still haunts a family.

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 18, 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?

The more she learns about the case, the more questions arise. What does it mean to be a man or woman of one's times? Why do we ask our heroes of the past to conform to the present's standards? Is that fair? Is it right? Propelled into the past, she discovers that the legal system, the bedrock of her entire life, does not have all the answers. Lu realizes that even if she could learn the whole truth, she probably wouldn't want to.

©2016 Laura Lippman (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Enjoyable read

Another great story, woven together by Ms. Lippmann. Though the book jumps back and forth in time, it is so perfectly written that it seems seamless.

Very Unique and EXCELLENTLY Written

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The plot kept me on the edge of my seat because of how it was written. It lulls you into thinking it's just a sort of memoir or, but all the pieces come together to reveal mystery upon mystery...secret upon secret, lies upon lies.

Any additional comments?

As a MD resident, I always love listening to Lippmans books because she includes so many local references. The narrator must not be from the area, though, because many names were mispronounced. Such as Catonsville...(Long A sound)....but it wasn't too distracting.

Fantastic book

I have never read one of her books. I loved every minute of it. Fantastic

Borrows liberally from To Kill a Mockingbird

This is an okay story, read well by McInerney and Poole. However, I was shocked at all of the plot, character, and theme "borrowing" Lippman has done from Harper Lee.

This is why I love Laura Lippman.

Laura Lippman is one of my favorite contemporary authors and this story is a perfect example as to why. My only complaint is that while I prefer stories told in the first person, this story bounces back and forth between first and third person narrative. At first, I thought it was to differentiate between the timelines of Lu as a child and Lu as an adult, but as the book progressed, that didn't hold up. All in all, I still enjoyed the story. I might even say that this is the best one yet.

Excellent story. Excellent narrator.

Having lived in Charm city in 1969-71 and visited it in the late 50s as well as yearly now I could not get enough of the city and the various routes (aka "the Californians") to get places. And Columbia and the hope. And race. And good girls who drank too much. And the doing the best thing at the time.

Living near the locale of this book was a plus

Two voices worked very well with transition from childhood flashbacks and career adult challenges. Relatable, well paced, great storyline.

Are Our Memories Our Own ?

I found the flow of the story, the jump from the past to present and back, done in smooth transition. I was reminded, that we accept the past so easily. Soon what we are told, becomes our own story, our own memories.#doanyofusknowtruth#tagsgiving
#sweapstakes#thestortthatmatters

not the best for narration

while I think I would've really liked the book, I found it really hard to follow thru an audiobook. The back and forth in time was hard to keep up with just thru voices and there not being a break or something to decipher it from. I love Nicole pool she is one of the best narrators, this one was just too hard to follow and stay interested for me

boring

struggled to finish. nothing really exciting. the "big reveal" was ehhh ... I usually love Laura Lippmann books this story was disappointing