By a Spider's Thread: A Tess Monaghan Novel

New York Times Bestseller

Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan—first introduced in the classic Baltimore Blues—must track down a missing wife and unravel the secrets in her marriage that led her to flee.

“A hair raising ride.”—Boston Globe

Mark Rubin's family is missing—and the police won't get involved because all the evidence indicates that his wife left willingly. So the successful Baltimore furrier turns to Tess Monaghan, hoping she can help him find his wife and three children. Tess doesn't quite know what to make of Rubin, who doles out vitally important information in grudging dribs and drabs. According to her client, he and his beautiful wife, Natalie, had a flawless, happy marriage. Yet one day, without any warning or explanation, Natalie gathered up their children and vanished.

Tapping into a network of fellow investigators spread across the country, Tess is soon able to locate the runaway wife and the children who have been moving furtively from state to state, town to town. But the Rubins are not alone. A mysterious man is traveling with them, a stranger described by witnesses as "handsome" and "charming" but otherwise unremarkable. And the deeper Tess digs, the more she suspects that the motive behind Natalie's reckless flight lies somewhere in the gap between what Rubin will not say and what he refuses to believe.

An intricate web of betrayal and vengeance is already beginning to unfold, as memory begets rage, and rage begets desperation…and murder. Suddenly, much more than one man's future happiness and stubborn pride are in peril. For the lives of three innocent children are dangling by the slenderest of threads.

Private investigator Tess Monaghan doesn't know quite what to make of her new client, Mark Rubin—a wealthy Orthodox Jew who refuses to shake her hand and doles out vitally important information in grudging dribs and drabs. The successful Baltimore furrier claims he and his beautiful wife had a flawless, happy marriage. Yet one day, without warning, Natalie gathered up their children and vanished—and the police can't do anything because all the evidence indicates she left willingly.

But the deeper Tess digs, the more she suspects that the motive behind Natalie's reckless flight lies somewhere in the gap between what Rubin will not say and what he refuses to believe. An intricate web of betrayal and vengeance is already beginning to unravel, as memory begets rage, and rage begets desperation . . . and murder. And suddenly the lives of three innocent children are dangling by the slenderest of threads.

“Both entertaining and unexpectedly touching. More Please.” - Baltimore Sun

“Tess is feisty . . . And it is a joy to watch her come alive.” - Washington Times

“A sense of place so unerring that it makes Baltimore everyone’s hometown.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Laura Lippman in her series featuring Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan just keeps getting better and better.” - Houston Chronicle

“Again, Yes! To Tess.” - Baltimore Sun

“I love her books.” - Harlan Coben

“Compulsively readable” may be a cliché, but it’s a perfect description for this novel. - Toronto Globe and Mail

“By a Spider’s Thread—arguably the most complex, moving novel in her Tess Monaghan detective series.” - Time Out New York

“The fast-paced, intelligent story involves a maze of betrayal, surprises and a murder.” - Jewish Week

“A story of deceit, love and betrayal.... Lippman unravels the knotted tale with an artful twist, and her fully realized characters, with their strange, sad back stories, linger in the mind.” - Orlando Sentinel