'When I was seventeen, I gave birth to a baby in a hotel bathroom while attending the prom.'

Two decades ago, Amber Glass's life changed forever. No-one had even known she was pregnant - including Joe, her date. Afterwards, she left town for good - and hasn't seen Joe since. But she knows he hasn't left, that he's working for his father's real estate company, married to a cosmetic surgeon. Child free.

Now Amber is back, and as the two of them tentatively start to renew their once unlikely relationship, will their secrets and motivations finally destroy everyone around them?

Inspired by a true story, this guessing game of a novel explodes with feeling and menace.

Hailed as one of the best crime fiction writers in America today, "New York Times" bestselling author Laura Lippman now reveals another level of her mastery. Each of these ingenious tales is a gem--including the Edgar and Anthony awards-nominated story, "Scratch a Woman," in which Lippman takes us deep into the private world of a high-priced call girl/madam and devoted soccer mom, exploring the mystery of what may, in fact, be written in the blood. Sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, always filled with delightfully unanticipated twists and reversals, here are enthralling excursions to the dark side from "one of today's most pleasing storytellers" ("San Diego Union-Tribune").

There was your photo, in a magazine. Of course, you are older now. Still, I'd know you anywhere.

Suburban wife and mother Eliza Benedict's peaceful world falls off its axis when a letter arrives from Walter Bowman. In the summer of 1985, when Eliza was fifteen, she was kidnapped by this man and held hostage for almost six weeks. Now he's on death row in Virginia for the rape and murder of his final victim, and Eliza wants nothing to do with him. Walter, however, is unpredictable when ignored--as Eliza knows only too well--and to shelter her children from the nightmare of her past, she'll see him one last time.

But Walter is after something more than forgiveness: He wants Eliza to save his life . . . and he wants her to remember the truth about that long-ago summer and release the terrible secret she's keeping buried inside.

Author Cassandra Fallows believes she may have found the story that could become her next bestseller. When she was a girl growing up in a racially diverse middle-class neighborhood in Baltimore, a shy, quiet, unobtrusive child named Calliope Jenkins orbited Cassandra's circle of friends. Later Calliope would be accused of an unspeakable crime and would spend seven years in prison for refusing to speak about it. But 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 devastated not only a family but an entire country.

In the comfortable suburb where she lives, Heloise is just a mom, the youngish widow with a forgettable job who somehow never misses her son's soccer games or school plays. But in discrete hotel rooms throughout the area, she's the woman of your dreams - if you can afford her hourly fee.

For more than a decade, Heloise has believed her unorthodox life to be a safe one; rigidly compartmentalized, maintaining no real friendships and trusting very few people. But now this secret life is under siege. Her once oblivious accountant is asking loaded questions about her business. Her longtime protector is hinting at new, mysterious dangers. Her employees can no longer be trusted. Her ex, the one who doesn't know he's the father of her son, is appealing his life sentence. And, one county over, another so-called 'suburban madam' has been found dead in her car, an apparent suicide...

Can Heloise stay alive long enough to remake her life again, and save her son? Can she really expect to leave everything else behind?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER 'I loved it!' Erin Kelly 'Enthralling.' Megan Abbott 'I was utterly hooked' Stylist 'Keeps you guessing until the very last chapter.' Sunday Times Years ago Gerry Anderson wrote a novel about his dream girl, Aubrey, and for years people speculated about who she must have been based on. Now, with Gerry unwell and bed bound, he thinks someone is trying to contact him, someone claiming to be the real Aubrey. As Gerry's about to find out, dreams can quickly turn to nightmares.

From 'The Everyday Housewife' to 'The Cougar', 'Tricks' to 'Snowflake Time', Laura Lippman's sharp and acerbic stories explore the contemporary world and the female experience through the prism of classic crime, where the stakes are always deadly. And in the collection's longest piece, the novella 'Just One More', she follows the trajectory of a married couple who, tired of re-watching 'Columbo' re-runs during lockdown, decide to join the same dating app: 'Why would we do something like that?' 'As an experiment. And a diversion. We would both join, then see if the service matches us. Just for grins...'

One of the most acclaimed and honored writers in the field of crime fiction, Laura Lippman offers readers a gripping tale of deception and delusion, of family wounds and betrayals.

Thirty years ago, the Bethany girls, ages eleven and fifteen, disappeared from a Baltimore shopping mall. They never returned, their bodies were never recovered, and only painful questions remain. Now, in the aftermath of a rush-hour hit-and-run accident, a clearly disoriented woman is claiming to be Heather, the younger Bethany sister. Not a shred of evidence supports her story, and every lead she reluctantly offers takes the police to another dead end--a dying, incoherent man; a razed house; a missing grave. But she definitely knows something about that terrible day--and about the shocking fissures that the tragedy exposed in the foundation of a seemingly solid family.

In the third trimester of her pregnancy, Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan is under doctor's orders to remain immobile. Bored and restless, reduced to watching the world go by outside her window, she takes small comfort in the mundane events she observes . . . like the young woman in a green raincoat who walks her dog at the same time every day. Then one day the dog is running free and its owner is nowhere to be seen. Certain that something is terribly wrong, and incapable of leaving well enough alone, Tess is determined to get to the bottom of the dog walker's abrupt disappearance, even if she must do so from her own bedroom. But her inquisitiveness is about to fling open a dangerous Pandora's box of past crimes and troubling deaths . . . and she's not only putting her own life in jeopardy but also her unborn child's.

Previously serialized in the New York Times, and now published in book form for the very first time, The Girl in the Green Raincoat is a masterful Hitchcockian thriller from one of the very best in the business: multiple award-winner Laura Lippman.

'Sunburn is [Lippman's] dark, gleaming noir gem. Read it.' GILLIAN FYNN

Nominated for the CWA Gold Dagger, 2018

Meet Polly, which may or may not be her real name, this year's most dangerous leading lady...

They meet by chance in a local bar in a small town in Delaware. Polly is heading west. Adam says he's also passing through. Yet she stays and so does he - drawn to this mysterious redhead who unnerves and excites him. Over the course of one hot summer, they abandon themselves to a steamy affair. But each holds back something from the other - dangerous, even lethal, secrets . . . .

Doc McCoy is the most skilled criminal alive. But when for the first time in Doc's long criminal career, his shot doesn't hit the mark, everything begins to fall apart. And Doc begins to realize that the perfect bank robbery isn't complete without the perfect getaway to back it up.
THE GETAWAY is the classic story of a bank robbery gone horribly wrong, where the smallest mistakes have catastrophic consequences, and shifting loyalties lead to betrayals and chaos. The basis for the classic Steve McQueen film of the same name, as well as a 1994 remake with Alec Baldwin, Thompson's novel set the bar for every heist story that followed--but as Thompson's proved time and again, nobody's ever done it better than the master.

'As five we were mighty, the points on a star...Once we five joined, it was never boys against girls...Two of our triangles cut themselves off and ran away together, and we were never whole again. Never.' 'As five we were mighty, the points on a star...Once we five joined, it was never boys against girls...Two of our triangles cut themselves off and ran away together, and we were never whole again. Never.' Years ago, they were the best of friends. But as time passed, they grew apart, became adults with families of their own, and began to forget about the past - and the terrible lies they shared. But now Gordon, the youngest and wildest of the five, has died and the others are thrown together for the first time in years. Could their long-ago lie be the reason for their troubles today? Is it more dangerous to admit to what they'd done or is it the strain of keeping the secret that is beginning to wear down on their souls. Dark, provocative and beautifully written, Laura Lippman's genre defying novel will appeal to fans of Lionel Shriver, Megan Abbott and Kate Atkinson.

On January 10, 1999, a mobster walked into a psychiatrist's office and changed TV history. By shattering preconceptions about the kinds of stories the medium should tell, The Sopranoslaunched our current age of prestige television, paving the way for such giants as Mad Men, The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones. As TV critics for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, New Jersey's The Star-Ledger, Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz were among the first to write about the series before it became a cultural phenomenon. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the show's debut, Sepinwall and Seitz have reunited to produce The Sopranos Sessions, a collection of recaps, conversations, and critical essays covering every episode. Featuring a series of new long-form interviews with series creator David Chase, as well as selections from the authors' archival writing on the series, The Sopranos Sessions explores the show's artistry, themes, and legacy, examining its portrayal of Italian Americans, its graphic depictions of violence, and its deep connections to other cinematic and television classics.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Sunburn

Heloise is a single mum, who runs her own business and keeps herself to herself.

But Heloise's business is one that takes place in discreet hotel rooms. For the right money, she can be the woman of your dreams.

But now her accountant is starting to ask questions, her long-time bodyguard is hinting at new dangers, and in the local news, a so-called suburban madam has been found dead in her car.

With nothing as it seems, how will Heloise secure the safety of herself and her son?