Hush Hush: A Tess Monaghan Novel

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman plunges Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan into a twisted and disturbing case.

Tess Monaghan has encountered almost every possible criminal motive throughout her career: greed, revenge, jealousy, rage. But there are crimes that defy all attempts at understanding, where a search for motive seems pointless.

Melisandre Harris Dawes committed such a crime. Found not guilty by reason of insanity, she fled the country, leaving her two daughters with their father. Twelve years later, she’s back in Baltimore, and Tess is asked to provide security detail while Melisandre films a documentary about her attempts to reconcile with her now teenaged children.

Tess, juggling work with caring for her demanding toddler, is uneasy about the case. Still, Melisandre’s lawyer is family. And there is something about the woman herself—confident, beautiful, shrewdly intelligent—that draws Tess in. Is she a master manipulator or someone who was driven to temporary madness? Cold and calculating, or a mother concerned for her daughters’ well being? Someone is leaving Melisandre enigmatic, threatening notes. Soon Tess, insecure about her parenting abilities and receiving cryptic messages of her own, isn’t sure whether she should be protecting Melisandre from harm—or protecting everyone else from Melisandre.

When Melisandre becomes the prime suspect in a murder, Tess must uncover the truth. Doing so will mean confronting her deepest beliefs about what separates good parents from bad, madness from sanity, and what lengths even the most rational person will go to, to protect what they cherish most.

On a searing August day, Melisandre Harris Dawes left her infant daughter locked in a car while she sat nearby on the shores of the Patapsco River. Melisandre was found not guilty by reason of criminal insanity, although there was much skepticism about her mental state. Freed, she left the country, her husband and her two surviving children, determined to start over.

Now Melisandre has returned to Baltimore to meet with her estranged teenage daughters and wants to film the reunion for a documentary. But she relinquished custody and her ex isn't sure he approves.

Now that's she's a mother herself, Tess Monaghan wants nothing to do with a woman crazy enough to have killed her own child. But a friend has asked Tess and her new partner, Sandy Sanchez, to assess Melisandre's security needs.

A decade ago, a judge ruled that Melisandre was beyond rational thought. But was she? As her doubts about Melisandre grow, Tess realizes that she's under scrutiny as well, followed by a judgmental stalker with an ax to grind . . .

Praise for And When She Was Good: “I love her books.” - Harlan Coben

Praise for After I’m Gone: “In this edge-of-your seat tale, a man’s disappearance has unexpected consequences for the women he’s left behind.” - O, the Oprah Magazine

“I never miss Laura Lippman’s novels.” - Anna Quindlen, New York Times bestselling author

“Lippman’s latest installment in the Tess Monaghan series weaves an exploration of the joys and frustrations of motherhood with a clever and engaging mystery. [...] Lippman dives deep not only into the ways women tend to question their choices and abilities, but also into whether all mothers, and kids, are a little crazy. ” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Motherhood plus murder equals one intense, uproarious, and riveting mystery from a classy crime writer of wit and wisdom. [...] With an intriguing cast of characters, stinging dialogue, hilarious moments, and a superbly convoluted and suspenseful plot, Lippman has created an incisive and provocative tale about parents good and evil.” - Booklist

“one of Lippman’s finest novels.” - Chicago Tribune

“Lippman’s taut, mesmerizing, and exceptionally smart drama of predator and prey is at once unusually sensitive and utterly compelling.” - Booklist (starred review)

“I never miss Laura Lippman’s novels.” - Tess Gerritsen, author of THE MEPHISTO CLUB

“She’s one of the best novelists around, period.” - Washington Post

” Lippman is a writing powerhouse. - USA Today