''What the Dead Know'' is a crime thriller by the American writer

Laura Lippman Laura Lippman (born January 31, 1959) is an American journalist and author of over 20 detective fiction novels. Life and career Lippman was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Columbia, Maryland. She is the daughter of Theo Lippman, Jr., a w ...

, published in 2007. The story, set in Baltimore in 2005, is about an investigation into a woman who claims to be Heather Bethany, a girl who had gone missing thirty years before. The book was critically acclaimed and it won the 2007

Quill Award The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years in 2005-2007. It was a "consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy." The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the Quill Award, was support ...

in the mystery/suspense/thriller category and 2008

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Among the m ...

for Best Novel.

Critical reception

Reviewers saw ''What the Dead Know'' as a success both as a well-crafted mystery and as an emotionally powerful novel. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described the novel as a "realistic and poignant detailing of emotional hide-and-seek, ... an excellent mystery and a thoughtful exploration of the nature and effects of grief and loss."

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

praised the novel, noting that "Lippman (To the Power of Three, 2005, etc.) crafts a tale that resonates long after the last page is turned."

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' praised ''What the Dead Know'' as "an uncommonly clever imposter story", "three-dimensional", and worthy of reading a second time — "You read it once just to move breathlessly toward the finale. Then you revisit it to marvel at how well Ms. Lippman pulled the wool over your eyes."

Main characters, as first introduced

* The Bethany family: Dave and Miriam (née Toles); daughters Heather and Sunny * Penelope Jackson – registered owner of a car in a highway accident * Detective Kevin Infante – lead investigator * Harold Lenhardt – Infante's sergeant * Gloria Bustamante – lawyer * Nancy Porter – police researcher and Infante's former police partner * Kay Sullivan – social worker at St. Agnes Hospital; children Seth and Grace * Dr. Schumeier – psychiatrist at St. Agnes Hospital * Chester "Chet" V. Willoughby IV – retired detective * Stan Dunham – former Pennsylvania property owner * Irene – a foster mother * Tony Dunham – man killed in a Florida house fire * Roy Pincharelli – music teacher * Joe – art gallery owner * Javier – art gallery employee * Jeff and Thelma Baumgarten – couple in fidelity crisis * Ruth Leibig – Ohio school girl * Estelle and Herb Turner – practitioners of Fivefold Path spirituality * Priscilla "Syl" Browne – employee at "Swiss Colony" restaurant

References

{{Reflist 2007 American novels American thriller novels American crime novels Anthony Award-winning works Macavity Award-winning works Barry Award-winning works Novels set in Baltimore