The Girl in the Green Raincoat

I'm a big fan of Laura Lippman. I've enjoyed her last two books which were stand alones, but I was thrilled to see that The Girl in the Green Raincoat featured her recurring character - PI Tess Monaghan.

The Girl in the Green Raincoat finds Tess exactly where she doesn't want to be - sitting still. And for a very good reason. She's in the last trimester of a difficult pregnancy. Camped out in the sun room of her home, she whiles away the time watching out the window at the local dog park. She becomes fascinated by a woman who arrives at the same time every day in a green raincoat with her greyhound. Until the day when it's just the dog - trailing his leash...

Unable to get up and out herself, Tess sends her partner Crow to corral the dog. show more What seemed like a simple search and rescue to return a lost dog turns into
something more. Attempts to find the girl in the green raincoat leads to a trail of crimes that Tess slowly pieces together from her bedroom. Think Rear Window.

This novella originally appeared serialized in the New York Times two years go. Once I discovered this, it explained why each chapter seemed to have a little story within the story. We get extra glimpses into the character's lives. Tess's doubts about her relationship and impending motherhood make the character even more realistic. I have always enjoyed the character of Whitney, Tess's best friend - we get to see some of her emotional make up this time around. I can't wait to see more about Mrs. Blossom, who is running the agency while Tess is laid up - she is a character just waiting to be fleshed out. Lippman's characters are engaging, the plots believable and the dialogue witty - I love the way Tess's mind works.

For fans of Tess this is a must. I can't wait to see where Lippman takes the storyline next. For those new to this series, you may want to start with an earlier book to get a sense of the characters and the background. Now that's not to say you wouldn't enjoy this easy, one sitting read - you definitely will - but I know you'll be hunting down the rest of the series! show less

Book on CD performed by Linda Emond

Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan is bed-bound and bored, so she takes to watching the people in the park across the way. She notices a young woman in a green raincoat, with her miniature greyhound, also outfitted in a matching green coat. Then one day the dog is running loose and the girl is nowhere to be seen.

In a plot reminiscent of Hitchcock’s Rear Window, Tess gets her boyfriend Crow, BFF Whitney, and sometimes partner Mrs Blossom to begin investigating. Crow and Whitney find the dog, and eventually track the pooch through the breeder. But when Tess calls Don Epstein he says the dog is a menace and he and his wife no longer want it. Then Mrs Blossom reports that he seems evasive when asked when his show more wife might come back. A little internet search reveals that Epstein has been widowed twice previously, and now his third wife is missing…. Something’s definitely up, and Tess will not let it go until she discovers the truth.

I’ve been a fan of this series since I read the first installment ([Baltimore Blues]). Tess is intelligent, resourceful, and tenacious. She’s also physically fit, doesn’t take unnecessary chances, and usually gets herself out of any scrapes rather than wait for some strong man to rescue her. I like the way the relationships have evolved over time and that’s a central plot point here. I read this one out of order and am upset with myself for “spoiling” things. So I won’t say anymore here to avoid spoiling anything for other readers.

Suffice to say that the plot moved quickly, there were several twists and turns that kept me guessing, and the reveal was a surprise.

Linda Emond does a great job performing the audiobook. She has good pacing, and really brings Tess to life. show less

Laura Lippman's slender mystery "The Girl in the Green Raincoat," first published in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, has a lot of "Rear Window" in it. And like the Hitchcock movie classic, this story is a winner.

Tess Monaghan, the private investigator featured in several of Lippman's novels, is about eight months into a difficult (and unplanned) pregnancy. Other than trips between her bed and her bathroom, she is confined virtually to one spot. That spot gives her a view of the street, where she often notices a young woman in a green raincoat walking her dog. One day, Tess sees the dog, but not the woman.

After a few days pass without noticing the woman walk past, and with nothing better to do, Tess does some checking using her show more phone, her computer and her friends. She learns that the missing woman's husband has had two wives and one girlfriend die under peculiar circumstances.

Whitney, Tess's attractive friend, gets the Grace Kelly role in this story. She is sent to meet Don Epstein, the husband, and to try to get some information out of him while pretending to be a vulnerable woman with few close friends or family members, the kind of woman he seems to be drawn to. Things soon get tense for Whitney and, later, for Tess herself.

This slender mystery offers an abundance of wit, romance and, eventually, excitement. It also provides one of the most unexpectedly poignant lines one is likely to find in a mystery story. After she survives her ordeal, Tess, who has been anxious about what changes her baby will mean for her life and her career, begins to view things differently. She recalls that she has known since early girlhood where babies come from. "Now, at thirty-five, in despair over her lack of maternal instincts, she had finally learned where mothers come from."

Fans of Lippman's series will be interested to find out what now awaits this private investigator/mommy. show less

First Line: "I am being held hostage," Tess Monaghan whispered into her iPhone.

In this eleventh outing for Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan, she is in the third trimester of her pregnancy and forced to endure bed rest. During the day she is ensconced on a chaise longue on her sun porch, and in homage to one of my favorite books (The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey) and one of my favorite movies (Hitchcock's Rear Window), Tess finds herself paying more attention to the people in the park across the street than she does the books, magazines and DVDs she has at hand.

In particular she pays attention to one pretty woman and her dog, both of whom are dressed alike in green raincoats. One day the woman and her dog arrive for show more their walk and only the dog comes back. The woman has disappeared. Tess knows something's wrong, but since she can't investigate she must enlist the aide of friends and employees like Dorie and Mrs. Blossom. It's a good thing Tess is lying down because she's just opened a big can of worms.

I only made Tess's acquaintance in December, reading the first book in the series, Baltimore Blues. Even though I'm usually a stickler for reading series books in order, I couldn't resist this one. Was I confused by the nine unread books in between? Not really, because Lippman is a pro at giving the reader enough information not to feel lost. It's obvious to me that plenty has happened in Tess's life in those nine books, and reading The Girl in the Green Raincoat has whetted my appetite to go back and fill in the blanks.

This is short and fast and thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the conversations Tess would have with her unborn child (whom she usually referred to as "Fifi"):

"Don't ever settle, Fifi. Don't get married just because it's still marketed as the ultimate achievement for women.

On the other hand, learn to value men for something other than their paychecks."

Very wise words, Fifi. You'd do well to listen to them. If you're a fan of Tess's-- or even if you're not-- The Girl in the Green Raincoat is one fine mystery. show less

Tess Monaghan is back. And Laura Lippman’s new Tess long short story/novella (at 208 pages call it what you choose) was worth the wait. It’s Lippman’s take on ‘Rear Window,’ as a pregnant homebound Tess watches dog walkers in the nearby park and becomes fascinated by ‘The Girl in the Green Raincoat’ who spends her time talking on her cell as she walks her green raincoat-clad miniature greyhound. Then, no surprise, one day the little greyhound runs free trailing his green color coordinated leash, and the plot thickens.

For those enmeshed in the Tess series, this is a must read. Our iconoclastic Tess, pregnant? Tess, who could happily subsist on candy bars, sausage, and beer, and has little concern about her personal safety, show more is going to be responsible for someone else? Tess and Crow (?) as parents? Who other than Lippman and possibly Crow ever expected this day?

And for those new to the series, while ’begin at the beginning’ is the best way to tackle this series where the characters actually change and grow, relationships develop in a believable fashion, nevertheless, ’The Girl in the Green Raincoat’ gives a good introduction to the world of Tess Monaghan.

Lippman and Tess handle the ‘Rear Window’ theme with elan. The story is, as are all of the Tess books, interesting on three levels: the mystery element, the Tess-Crow relationship, and, as always, the portrait of Baltimore and its citizens.

(A copy of this novella was provided by the publisher.) show less

If you've seen Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and appreciated his stunning work, you'll love The Girl in the Green Raincoat. Similar to the movie, this book deals with a woman who must be content spending her time watching other people through a window. Tess watches the mundane events that occurs outside, until one day something changes. When she thinks that something is amiss, she does everything in her power to solve the mystery from behind closed doors. Little does she know what she is in store for!

At a little under 200 pages, I was a little concerned when this book first arrived. I was wondering how Laura Lippman could fit an intriguing mystery in such a small amount of pages. Let's just say, I shouldn't have worried! It is a quick read show more for sure, but in the best way possible. The pages just flew by as I devoured Tess' character, her worries, her investigation, and everything else that was wrapped up in this wonderfully written mystery. The prose in this story is also fantastically witty. There were times I laughed out loud at her inner musings. By the time I got to the ending, which was perfection, I was sad that the book was over. Now that I know this is part of a series I'm going to have to go and find the others!

The characters are wonderfully developed, from the main character to the most supporting character. Tess, our protagonist, is a an independent woman that has to come to terms with allowing others to do things for her. She is used to holding her own as a detective and is suddenly having to depend on others to do the legwork for her, which maddens her. I loved her tenacity, and even though she has worries about her boyfriend Crow she is always looking at things from a logical point of view. Tess is a woman's woman if I do say so myself!

This is the first time I've ever read one of Laura Lippman's books, despite her NYT Bestsellers fame. I'm glad that this book was offered to me and put this fantastic series on my radar! Overall, The Girl in the Green Raincoat is a superbly written novel with witty dialogue, well written characters, and a thrilling plot that doesn't disappoint. All you mystery fans out there need to go pick up a copy as soon as possible! show less

Not anything to argue about with the 11th book following Tess Monaghan. Tess pulls a Hitchcock and after spying on a young woman in a green raincoat realizes she hasn't seen her for a while and worries that something happened to her. Tess can't do much investigation in this one, and relies on Whitney, and old friends to track down the young woman and find out what happened to her. The ending was definitely a surprise and I liked the change in direction in Tess's life.



"The Girl in the Green Raincoat" is a short story (176 pages to be exact) letting readers into Tess's life now that she is bed-bound and pregnant with her first child. After watching a young woman in a green raincoat for a number of days go to the local dog park via show more binoculars, Tess realizes that she hasn't seen her and worries something has happened. When Tess's long-time boyfriend Crow and best friend Whitney go off investigating, they find the missing dog, but not the young woman. Before long they track the dog's owner and realize that the woman is now missing.

Lippman usually follows multiple people via her books, and I have to say that I liked the change up of not only letting us get into Tess's head, we got more into Whitney's in this one. We get to see her at her job, get her feelings about her life, and she actually gets to do more leg work in this one due to Tess's condition.

We get some updates on Lloyd and I have to say that I still wish the Lloyd story-line wasn't a thing, but it's more palatable in this one.

Crow is in this, but merely there to wring his hands about Tess and her job. I liked how things were resolved in this. I don't think Tess would be Tess doing something else. And I liked how Tess starts wondering where are they going with each other long-term.

The writing was really good and the mystery aspect set up quite nicely. I loved all of the people that come to Tess when she starts digging more into the mystery of the girl in the green raincoat.

The flow was great, and I think it being a shorter story had Lippman tighten things up a lot.

The setting of the book is mostly focused on Tess at her home, but also follows Whitney around a bit at her job and when she's investigating as well.

The ending was a shocker, I didn't expect that at all. Usually Lippman telegraphs things a bit too early for me, but this one was just right. show less