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Hardly Knew Her CD Audio CD – Audiobook, October 7, 2008

by Laura Lippman (Author), Linda Emond (Reader), Francois Battiste (Reader)

4.1 115 ratings

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“Lippman is a writing powerhouse.”

—USA Today

New York Times bestselling author and winner of every major prize awarded for crime fiction—including the Edgar®, Anthony, Shamus, Agatha, and Nero Wolfe Awards—Laura Lippman brilliantly demonstrates her astonishing agility as a short story writer with Hardly Knew Her. A sterling collection of sixteen suspenseful short fictions and novellas—most set in and around her beloved Baltimore and several featuring her popular series character private investigator Tess Monaghan—Hardly Knew Her was called, “Riveting…One of the best collections released in some time” by the Boston Globe. The Seattle Times says, “something in the short-story form brings out the wicked in Laura Lippman,” and this exceptional collection is indisputable proof that Lippman is without peer as she walks boldly on the dark and dangerous side.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperAudio; Unabridged edition (October 7, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Audio CD ‏ : ‎ 9 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061661597
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061661594
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1.5 x 5.75 inches

Customer Reviews:
4.1 115 ratings

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Laura Lippman

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Since her debut in 1997, New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman has been recognized as one of the most gifted and versatile crime novelists working today. Her series novels, stand-alones and short stories have all won major awards, including the Edgar and the Anthony, and her work is published in more than 20 countries. A former Baltimore Sun journalist, she has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Glamour and Longreads. "Simply one of our best novelists, period," the Washington Post said upon the publication of the ground-breaking What the Dead Know. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her family.

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Website: www.lauralippman.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lauralippman/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lauramlippman/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LauraMLippman

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Clarissa's Blog

Very Good Short Stories

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2010

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With only a couple of exceptions, these short stories are so good that I almost wished Lippman stopped writing novels and dedicated her time to writing just short stories. The only two stories that are quite weak are the ones that feature Tess Monaghan. It feels like they were stuck there for no other reason other than to attract the long-time fans of this character and get them to buy this collection. The two Monaghan stories are boring and don't live up to the high standards of the other stories in the HARDLY KNEW HER.

Lippman's stories explore various ways in which women sell sex for money. The stories are very different, they are narrated in very distinctive voices and are set in extremely different social surroundings. Still, each of them addresses the relationship between sex and money in a way that is always insightful and fresh. Cheap didacticism is alien to Lippman. Among her female characters who sell their bodies in a variety of inventive ways, the only one who has character and integrity is a career prostitute. She is, of course, despised by housewives who believe that selling themselves just to one man is somehow better. Lippman makes it very clear that her sympathies lie with the honest, resourceful prostitute and not with the spoiled housewives who go to great lengths to convince themselves of their non-existent superiority. This kind of honesty is not easy to find in a genre that is addressed to an overwhelmingly female audience. The desire to keep the housewives happy and cater to their tastes has been the downfall of many an entertainer. Thankfully, Lippman is not one of them.

Laura Lippman lives in Baltimore, and most of her stories are set in this city. The few times that she ventures to other settings, her stories lose in quality. On home turf, however, Lippman is brilliant. Her love of Baltimore and her profound understanding of its history make her stories fascinating to those of us who have an emotional attachment to this beautiful city.

6 people found this helpful

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Didn't know her

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2011

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Laura Lippman was an author with whom I was not familiar before I downloaded her collection of short stories, Hardly Knew Her. Her execution of the short story format was quite successful and interesting for the most part and I would have loved to read these in a serial format perhaps weekly. The language and vocabulary was first rate, but I was bored with the repetition of characters' motivation, so after reading three in a row, I limited myself to reading one story every few days. I would recommend this collection to those who like a little twist and strong women characters, but would warn the reader that if read in one sitting, the stories may lose their oomph. I look forward to reading Ms. Lippman's novels soon.

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Fred Camfield

An interesting collection

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2009

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Most of the short stories in the collection have appeared in other anthologies, although the novella, "Scrath a Woman," is new for the collection. Only two of the short stories are involve the author's usual character, Tess Monaghan, although a third "short story" (new for the collection) is a ficticious interview of Tess by a news reporter and acts as a short biography of the character. The rest of the short stories are about a variety of characters, and both tha novella and one of the short stories are about a woman in the world's oldest profession.

Some readers may find some of the stories a little on the dark side. Most (but not all) involve a murder (either in the past or the present) and some murderers go unpunished. The novel does include some violence, sexual content, and language with adult situations.

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bulldog7

Interesting, violent stories - sometimes triumphant, sometimes depressing

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2012

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Almost exclusively sexual and/or violent stories about women getting even or just getting away with murder - very readable, but eventually the violence got a little old (and I normally have no problem with violence). I enjoyed many of the stories, and most of the characters were appealing in some way which made me root for them, in some cases in spite of myself. What I enjoyed most were the clever twists re: how the lead characters got our of their situations... although again, after a while it became clear that killing someone was typically the end game. Still, many of the stories were worth reading anyway, even if this become predictable.

If you like Lippmann and don't mind violence, you'll probably enjoy these. You should know within the first 2-3 stories whether you'll be a fan of the entire collection. If you get the book but don't finish it, make sure you at least read the "Penthouse Forum" story - one of the best in my view!

3 people found this helpful

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J. Shetrone

Very well woven

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2012

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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.

2 people found this helpful

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Jenny

Dark dark comedy at its best.

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2015

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I love this book. I borrowed a copy from a friend, who had borrowed from another friend. This is the sort of book you will want to share. The stories are DARK. There are drugs, sex and violence throughout these stories. DO NOT buy this book if any of that will upset you.

On the other hand, if you are a fan of dark comedy, this is the book for you. The short stories are completely addicting, you will push your lunch break just to finish.

One person found this helpful

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