Life Sentences

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.

'Laura Lippman's stories aren't just mysteries; they are deeply moving explorations of the human heart. She is quite simply one of the best crime novelists writing today.' Tess Gerritsen 'I love her books.' Harlen Coben 'Exquisite as fine jewellery.' Lee Child 'A writer at the peak of her powers.' Washington Post 'Lippman's [demonstartes that the] best action is inside her characters' minds ... Lippman fans won't be disappointed .' Kirkus Reviews 'One of the most distinctive voices in contemporary fiction...Lippman has once more challenged, realigned and ultimately transcended the boundaries of genre.'New York Observer 'Succeeds brilliantly...Lippman is in total command of her material...a mystery so taut the reader is nearly afraid to keep going-and simultaneously powerless to stop.' People Magazine 'From its gripping opening pages about a burned-out author's bookstore reading, Laura Lippman's Life Sentences may be the most absorbing, entertaining mystery published in the last year. Lippman does it all, from creating vivid, three-dimensional characters, to painting a beautifully detailed portrait of her hometown, Baltimore, to crafting a plot that drives readers along at a fast clip while simultaneously building suspense as one dramatic revelation leads to another.' Boston Globe 'A terrific crime writer.'Daily Mail 'Intricate and witty.' Publisher's Weekly 'A gripping novel.'Closer

Author Cassandra Fallows has achieved remarkable success by baring her life on the page. Her two widely popular memoirs continue to sell briskly, acclaimed for their brutal, unexpurgated candor about friends, family, lovers—and herself. But now, after a singularly unsuccessful stab at fiction, Cassandra believes she may have found the story that will enable her triumphant return to nonfiction.
When Cassandra was a girl, growing up in a racially diverse middle-class neighborhood in Baltimore, her best friends were all black: elegant, privileged Donna; sharp, shrewd Tisha; wild and worldly Fatima. A fifth girl orbited their world—a shy, quiet, unobtrusive child named Calliope Jenkins—who, years later, would be accused of killing her infant son. Yet the boy's body was never found and Calliope's unrelenting silence on the subject forced a judge to jail her for contempt. For seven years, Calliope refused to speak and the court was finally forced to let her go. Cassandra believes this still unsolved real-life mystery, largely unknown outside Baltimore, could be her next bestseller.
But her homecoming and latest journey into the past will not be welcomed by everyone, especially by her former friends, who are unimpressed with Cassandra's success—and are insistent on their own version of their shared history. And by delving too deeply into Calliope's dark secrets, Cassandra may inadvertently unearth a few of her own—forcing her to reexamine the memories she holds most precious, as the stark light of truth illuminates a mother's pain, a father's betrayal . . . and what really transpired on a terrible day that changed not only a family but an entire country.