And When She Was Good

De: Laura Lippman

Narrado por: Linda Emond

“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, author of The Mephisto Club

Already praised as “a writing powerhouse” (USA Today) and “among the select group of novelists who have invigorated the crime fiction arena with smart, innovative, and exciting work” (George Pelecanos), New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman is constantly sending reviewers back to their thesauruses in search of new and greater accolades. Her brilliant stand-alone novel, And When She Was Good, only reinforces the fact that she stands tall among today’s bestselling elite—including Kate Atkinson, Tana French, Jodi Picoult, and Harlan Coben (who raves, “I love her books!”) Based on her acclaimed, multi-award-nominated short story Scratch a Woman, And When She Was Good is the powerfully gripping, intensely emotional story of a suburban madam, a convicted murderer whose sentence is about to be overturned, and the child they will both do anything to keep. Lippman has already won virtually every prize the mystery genre has to offer—the Edgar®, Anthony, Agatha, and Nero Wolfe Awards, to name but a few. They’ll now have to invent a few new awards just to keep up with her.

A new stand-alone, wonderful as usual.

This is a stand-alone in which Helen, an abused highschool girl, leaves home and becomes part of an escort service. But when she finds she is pregnant, she turns in her handler/pimp for murder and he is convicted to life with no parole. Helen becomes Helloise and runs her own escort service with the cover of being a lobbyist. She does very well until a “madam” in the next county is murdered, and she realizes that it is someone who also worked for her handler. She begins to realize that she is in desperate danger, particularly to keep her son unknown to his pimp father. She has decided to get out of the game, but she has continued to pay money to her pimp in jail and he doesn’t want to lose the income. She wants out of the game, but will she live long enough to get out and bring her son with her? A gripping book which Linda Emond narrates with just the right amount of coolness to represent Helloise’s point of view. Very good, as usual.

excellent from start to finish!

this was a great and very thorough book. it's about scandalous issues and the pursuit of normality spun in a thrilling but somehow relatable way that keeps you interested in the entire time. best of all there's no cheap ambiguous ending, instead it's a complete and satisfying conclusion leaving me excited for the author's next books. very much well worth the credit.

Interesting book kept my interest

What did you love best about And When She Was Good?

I found myself totally involved with the main character.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Equality for women comes in many forms.

Any additional comments?

I would have liked a little more punch at the climax.

Great mystery

What made the experience of listening to And When She Was Good the most enjoyable?

Well written mystery. The plot moved at a good speed and switched between the present and past with ease. I couldn't stop listening and couldn't wait to figure it all out.

What does Linda Emond bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Great Narration. Linda Emonds was able to read both male and female voices without sounding phony or silly. Her voice really added to the story

It kept me interested.

What made the experience of listening to And When She Was Good the most enjoyable?

I really enjoyed the narrator's voice. Looking forward to hearing more work she's done.

If you’ve listened to books by Laura Lippman before, how does this one compare?

This is my first book from this author but I intend on listening more now that I've listened to this one.

What does Linda Emond bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I really enjoyed her voice. Not too much inflection but not too boring and she differentiates characters well without trying too hard.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I thought some things were unrealistic but sometimes even the truth is unrealistic.