The Girl in the Green Raincoat

November 1, 2010
Originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine, Lippman's Tess Monaghan novella turns the intrepid Baltimore PI's at-risk late-pregnancy bed rest into a compellingly edgy riff on Hitchcock's Rear Window. Lovingly tucked up on her winterized sun porch, Tess marshals her forces—doting artist boyfriend Crow, best friend Whitney Talbot, middle-aged assistant gumshoe Mrs. Blossom, and researcher Dorie Starnes—to probe the disappearance of a chic blonde green-raincoated dog walker she'd been watching from her comfy prison. Tess also takes in the missing woman's abandoned green-slickered Italian greyhound from hell, a miniature canine terrorist whose anti-housebreaking vendetta offers comic relief from Tess's threatened pre-eclampsia, her obsessive unraveling of a complex scam, and her last-trimester spats with Crow about their future. Though postpartum Tess turns alternately weepy and shrill, that condition won't last, and this entertaining romp leaves plenty of hints of detective-mother exploits to come.

As Baltimore P.I. Tess Monaghan endures her pregnancy, which turns out to be a literal confinement, work is out of the question. Her only connection to the outside world comes from email, cell phone, and her trusty binoculars. In an homage to Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW and Tey's DAUGHTER OF TIME, Lippman's new mystery has the bed-bound Tess spending much of her time peeping at dog walkers in the park outside her window. When one of them disappears, Tess suspects the woman's husband of being up to no good. Linda Emond's performance makes the smart-alecky, introspective Tess sound appropriately cranky and terrified. She also creates spot-on voices for other characters, such as the florid, breathy Mrs. Blossom and sharp-edged, loyal best friend Whitney. Emond makes Lippman's engaging mystery a great listen. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine