Hush Hush

When acclaimed author Laura Lippman wrote her first novels, they featured tough-minded independent protagonist Tess Monaghan, who soon became a much-loved member of crime-novel circles. Lippman wrote 7 books about the woman dubbed the “accidental PI” before moving on to stand-alone novels. In her latest novel, she’s returned to Tess’ life.

I have only read one Tess book, the first one (Baltimore Blues), but I loved it, so it was fun to see that Tess and Crow do stay together (I didn’t expect them to but I’m glad they did). I gladly accepted this copy from the publisher (disclosure). Hush Hush picks up with Tess living with Crow but never having officially married him, and parenting their independent 3 year old, Carla Scout. Crow’s a great dad, caring and very concerned with diet, nutrition and consistency. Tess always feels out of control and frazzled. And so, when she begins to find anonymous notes telling her she’s a bad mother, she doesn’t show them to anyone, fearing her family will agree.

Meanwhile, the case she’s working on is enough to make any mother feel out of control. Melisandre Harris Dawes was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the death of her 2 month old daughter after she left the infant to bake to death in a closed car while she sat in the shade on a riverbank. “I’m every woman’s worst nightmare. . . . Because whenever a woman kills her child every other mother—at least every one who’s honest with herself—has a flash of sympathy. Not empathy. They don’t want to have done it, cannot imagine doing it. But they know,” says Melisandre. She spent some time in a mental institution then signed over custody of her 2 older daughters and went to live abroad. Now she’s back, hoping to reestablish contact with her girls, who are teens living with their dad, step-mother, and baby brother.

Melisandre is beautiful, rich and manipulative. There are many who are skeptical about her insanity plea,  and others who are charmed by her–including Tess’ employer. And all the many accidents that happen around her, from the poisoned sugar bowl to her own anonymous notes, have a double interpretation. Is someone trying to kill her, or is she the one behind the scenes, garnering sympathy for herself by faking everything?

Hush Hush is masterfully written. Lippman is a artist of creepiness and suspense. I loved the fact that her villain (or victim, depending which side you believe) is named Melisandre, with all the echoes of fairy Melusine, who in some versions killed her children on the Saturdays when she was a monster/mermaid (see Possession by A.S. Byatt). There’s a part where Melisandre even tells someone that before killing the baby, she felt as if scales were growing on her limbs. The novel is told from various points of view; Melisandre has hired a young film maker to make a documentary about her life, and there are various transcriptions of interviews that add diversity and depth to the novel. The reader spends the entire time going back and forth, suspecting various people, trying to decide Melisandre’s innocence or guilt.

Hush Hush is a novel that stays with you, beyond just a suspense novel, as Lippman tackles age-old questions of parenting; what makes you a good mother? is love enough? The contrast between the various types of parenting, as well as the echoes of insane women through the ages, help make this an excellent book. Highly recommended.