Hardly Knew Her

By Laura Lippman

A trade paperback collection of 16 short stories, some new, some published before, all together for the first time, featuring Tess Monaghan, New York Times Bestselling author Laura Lippman’s acclaimed private eye

For the first time together in one collection is a mix of brand new Tess Monaghan short mysteries as well as previously published, award-winning short stories.

Split into three parts—Girls Gone Wild (seven stories about girls behaving badly); Other Cities, Not My Own (four stories about places outside of Baltimore); My Baby Walks the Streets of Baltimore (four stories and a profile)—the inimitable Tess Monaghan, along with some old friends and new faces, is back solving crime.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 3, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061846298

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.

Reviews for Hardly Knew Her

[copperskye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If Laura Lippman continues to publish short story collections like this one I’m going to have to stop saying that I really don’t like short stories. These were, with the exception of maybe two that I felt were just OK, absolutely great, well-plotted and entertaining stories. My favorite was One True Love which I wished was longer (like novel size) because I loved the character and wanted to read more about her. I was, therefore, pleasantly surprised to get to the final novella which I enjoyed immensely!

[rmagahiz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The stories in this collection all draw a lot of their vitality from their nicely constructed protagonists, none of whom are completely innocent and many of whom are quite despicable. The author has a knack of devising endings which ought to feel more far-fetched than they do, in the best tradition of the mystery. I hadn't read anything else by this author but plan to look for her novels some time in the future.

[ameise1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was a fast-paced reading. The book comprised 17 short stories, whereupon two are related to each other. Each story is gripping from the start up to the very last full stop. They make so addictive that one isn't able to stop reading. In each story women get the upper hand and there is a also a strong devilish thinking. It was an enjoyable reading and I can strongly recommend this book.

[miyurose_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This short story collection could have been subtitled “Women Who Kill”, because that is essentially what most of the stories revolve around. It’s a very strong collection, with only a few duds. Strangely, one of those duds was a Tess Monaghan story (Lippman’s most well-known character).It’s difficult to narrow down exactly which stories were my favorites. The first story, The Crack Cocaine Diet, is fabulous just for its voice. I really enjoyed The Accidental Detective, a newspaper-style piece on Tess Monaghan that gives nice insight into the character, even if you haven’t read any books in that series. Easy as A-B-C was also quite entertaining — one of the few in the collection from a male point of view. And I thought the novella, Scratch a Woman, was very good.Lippman is an excellent weaver of stories. Even when you think you know where a story is going, she can surprise you. If you enjoy crime fiction or short story collections, I think this is a must-read.

[sugarcreekranch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Terrific collection of short stories. Most are crime stories, and most have surprising perpetrators or extremely unusual modus operandi. Laura Lippman comes up with some pretty sick stuff, and I love it!

[coppers_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If Laura Lippman continues to publish short story collections like this one I?m going to have to stop saying that I really don?t like short stories. These were, with the exception of maybe two that I felt were just OK, absolutely great, well-plotted and entertaining stories. My favorite was One True Love which I wished was longer (like novel size) because I loved the character and wanted to read more about her. I was, therefore, pleasantly surprised to get to the final novella which I enjoyed immensely!

[sarahlh-41506 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful, engaging, and thrilling book of short stories that all have delightful twists in their endings and center around a cast of women you definitely shouldn't take for granted. I'd never read a Tess Monoghan novel before reading this, which I thought would hurt me as two of the stories center around Tess, but my lack of knowledge didn't detract from the enjoyment; if anything, it has reminded me of how much I want to start reading the Monoghan PI mystery series.