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Tess Monaghan #11
Die Frau im grünen Regenmantel
Originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine, Lippman's Tess Monaghan novella turns the intrepid Baltimore PI's at-risk late-pregnancy bed rest into a compellingly edgy riff on Hitchcock's Rear Window. Lovingly tucked up on her winterized sun porch, Tess marshals her forces-doting artist boyfriend Crow, best friend Whitney Talbot, middle-aged assistant gumshoe Mrs. Blossom, and researcher Dorie Starnes - to probe the disappearance of a chic blonde green-raincoated dog walker she'd been watching from her comfy prison. Tess also takes in the missing woman's abandoned green-slickered Italian greyhound from hell, a miniature canine terrorist whose anti-housebreaking vendetta offers comic relief from Tess's threatened pre-eclampsia, her obsessive unraveling of a complex scam, and her last-trimester spats with Crow about their future. Though postpartum Tess turns alternately weepy and shrill, that condition won't last, and this entertaining romp leaves plenty of hints of detective-mother exploits to come.
172 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 11, 2011
583 people are currently reading
3332 people want to read
About the author
Laura Lippman
112 books6,342 followersSince Laura Lippman’s debut, she has been recognized as a distinctive voice in mystery fiction and named one of the “essential” crime writers of the last 100 years. Stephen King called her “special, even extraordinary,” and Gillian Flynn wrote, “She is simply a brilliant novelist.” Her books have won most of the major awards in her field and been translated into more than twenty-five languages. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her teenager.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,018 reviews
May 29, 2016
Private investigator Tess Monaghan is confined to bed rest during the end of her pregnancy. To pass the time, she sits on the sun porch watching her neighbors. She notices a dog running free, but the dog's owner--a girl who always wore a green raincoat--never showed up again. Tess is suspicious about the young woman's disappearance, and she enlists the help of her friends to find the missing dog owner.
The book first appeared in the New York Times Magazine as a serial novel. It seems to be a humorous takeoff on the short story/movie "Rear Window". The Girl in the Green Raincoat is an entertaining short mystery with a twist at the end, but it's not one that I'll remember for long.
The book first appeared in the New York Times Magazine as a serial novel. It seems to be a humorous takeoff on the short story/movie "Rear Window". The Girl in the Green Raincoat is an entertaining short mystery with a twist at the end, but it's not one that I'll remember for long.
April 13, 2011
This novella was a quick and fun read! At only a 158 pages, there is so much to enjoy about this book - stories within the story. The ending is quite a surprise and there is nothing to give it away early which is great and not a surprise from a writer like Laura Lippman.
"The Girl in the Green Raincoat" is perfect for a day if you are going to be on a train or a plane. If you are the passenger in a car and can read this is a great choice. Your trip will be so much more pleasant with this book as your companion!
"The Girl in the Green Raincoat" is perfect for a day if you are going to be on a train or a plane. If you are the passenger in a car and can read this is a great choice. Your trip will be so much more pleasant with this book as your companion!
October 9, 2019
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 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.
"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 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.
April 14, 2015
I came across Laura Lippman while googling for authors similar to Tana French. In an effort to accept the fact that I've already read all of French's currently released books, and she's probably not going to move up the release of her next one even if I ask really nicely, I thought I'd attempt to locate an author with a similar style. If you're in a similar situation this review might help you. Based on this novella alone it is hard to say that Lippman does compare to French; perhaps one of her standalone novels would make for a better comparison. While French's Dublin Murder Squad series is filled with deeply complex psychological mysteries with prose that easily propels her into the "lit fic" category, Lippman's story in
The Girl in the Green Raincoat
is a very straight and simple mystery story, with a clear and not unpredictable road from start to conclusion. This isn't to say that one is better than the other, but that they cannot really be compared, since they offer completely different things.
A large flaw within this novel is its side characters. The characters within the mystery itself fell flat and were used as walking chess pieces for Tess to play with rather than people who would actually exist outside of a daytime soap opera. Tess' boyfriend and best friend were hardly much livelier despite the latter having a few awkwardly placed perspective shifts. Perhaps they've been further fleshed out in earlier books and Lippman didn't feel the need to do so further here. This very well could be due to my choice to read them out of order and would entirely be my fault. Tess herself was the shining point of this book for me and is the reason I plan to pick up other books in this series. She's a modern Nancy Drew with the snark, stubborn curiosity, and feminist ideals of Veronica Mars. Like Mars she is not averse to dumpster digging for evidence. She's unsure that she'll ever have motherly instincts having never particularly wanted a child, questions her relationship as everyone does sometimes, still has eyes (hormones) for other men despite being loyal (women in relationships still have eyes!) and expresses distaste for the media's racist leanings and people who preface sentences by saying they heard something on NPR. I'm interested to see the beginning of her story and to experience her unravel a mystery when she isn't on bed rest.
I also felt that this book could have used further editing. The writing was very clunky in parts and hard to understand. Sentences did not flow or make sense. I found myself rereading to try to make sense of certain paragraphs to no avail. I don't come across this a lot as I find I'm usually not overly-attentive to such things (being no master of grammar or the English language myself) but here it became so frequent and obvious that I was unable to ignore it. The plotting was also oddly paced and the entire book felt rushed. I can see how it would be hard to write a complete story with your main detective on bed rest, but then, why write the story at all if it's going to feel forced?
It's safe to say that while I enjoyed Tess as a character and Lippman's subtle commentary on racism and sexism, the jury is still out on whether or not she will prove to be an alternative to French for me. For that to happen I would need a little more than an enjoyable mystery and a lot more depth to all of the main characters. It may seem like I didn't enjoy this book, but due to Tess and due to Lippman's intelligent dialogue, I did. Also, Dempsey, the miniature Italian Greyhound who had more personality than anyone else in the story aside from Tess. I'll be reading more of her books in the future but I may try one of her standalone offerings before diving back into Tess' world again, and would recommend anyone yearning for more Tana French do the same, instead of beginning with the Tess series.
A large flaw within this novel is its side characters. The characters within the mystery itself fell flat and were used as walking chess pieces for Tess to play with rather than people who would actually exist outside of a daytime soap opera. Tess' boyfriend and best friend were hardly much livelier despite the latter having a few awkwardly placed perspective shifts. Perhaps they've been further fleshed out in earlier books and Lippman didn't feel the need to do so further here. This very well could be due to my choice to read them out of order and would entirely be my fault. Tess herself was the shining point of this book for me and is the reason I plan to pick up other books in this series. She's a modern Nancy Drew with the snark, stubborn curiosity, and feminist ideals of Veronica Mars. Like Mars she is not averse to dumpster digging for evidence. She's unsure that she'll ever have motherly instincts having never particularly wanted a child, questions her relationship as everyone does sometimes, still has eyes (hormones) for other men despite being loyal (women in relationships still have eyes!) and expresses distaste for the media's racist leanings and people who preface sentences by saying they heard something on NPR. I'm interested to see the beginning of her story and to experience her unravel a mystery when she isn't on bed rest.
I also felt that this book could have used further editing. The writing was very clunky in parts and hard to understand. Sentences did not flow or make sense. I found myself rereading to try to make sense of certain paragraphs to no avail. I don't come across this a lot as I find I'm usually not overly-attentive to such things (being no master of grammar or the English language myself) but here it became so frequent and obvious that I was unable to ignore it. The plotting was also oddly paced and the entire book felt rushed. I can see how it would be hard to write a complete story with your main detective on bed rest, but then, why write the story at all if it's going to feel forced?
It's safe to say that while I enjoyed Tess as a character and Lippman's subtle commentary on racism and sexism, the jury is still out on whether or not she will prove to be an alternative to French for me. For that to happen I would need a little more than an enjoyable mystery and a lot more depth to all of the main characters. It may seem like I didn't enjoy this book, but due to Tess and due to Lippman's intelligent dialogue, I did. Also, Dempsey, the miniature Italian Greyhound who had more personality than anyone else in the story aside from Tess. I'll be reading more of her books in the future but I may try one of her standalone offerings before diving back into Tess' world again, and would recommend anyone yearning for more Tana French do the same, instead of beginning with the Tess series.
October 20, 2020
3.5
Fast read and very entertaining.
Fast read and very entertaining.
September 20, 2016
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 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.
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 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.
December 31, 2010
At this point, any new work by Laura Lippman is an automatic must read for me. Novel, short story, novella, short essay, anything.
So, when "The Girl in the Green Raincoat" arrived, even though I had a long list of other books demanding my attention, I just couldn't help but take a peek inside the covers of this one. One sentence into the story and I was hooked.
This novella, originally published in the New York Times Magazine, finds Lippman's Tess Monagahan confined to bed rest for the final two months of her pregnancy. Tess decides she'll use the time to catch up on her reading and movie watching, but ends up taking a page from "Rear Window" and becoming curious about a woman in a green raincoat who walks her dog each afternoon. Tess quickly requests a pair of binoculars just as the green raincoated woman disappears, but leaves the dog running free.
Before you know it, Tess is pulling in Crow, Whitney and several other familiar faces from the long-running series to help her look into the mysterious disappearance of this woman.
"The Girl in the Green Raincoat" rockets along at a confident pace, doing what all good mysteries do--putting all the clues out in plain site but not necessarily telling you how they'll all connect until the final few pages. Lippman connects Tess and the green raincoat girl in a number of ways and it's nice to see not only Tess' inner struggle but also nice to get a chance to spend some time with recurring character and Tess's best friend Whitney as well. The sequences in the story that take place from Whitney's point of view with Tess off-screen as it were are among the most compelling in the book and will have long-time fans wondering if a novel centering more on Whitney might not be a good idea in the near future.
As with all Lippman stories, I was drawn in by the first few sentences and the hold didn't let go until I'd turned the final page. This novella is intensely satisfying and well-constructed and the only complaint I can find with it is my own impatience in not savoring it more.
Another winner from one of the top writers working today.
So, when "The Girl in the Green Raincoat" arrived, even though I had a long list of other books demanding my attention, I just couldn't help but take a peek inside the covers of this one. One sentence into the story and I was hooked.
This novella, originally published in the New York Times Magazine, finds Lippman's Tess Monagahan confined to bed rest for the final two months of her pregnancy. Tess decides she'll use the time to catch up on her reading and movie watching, but ends up taking a page from "Rear Window" and becoming curious about a woman in a green raincoat who walks her dog each afternoon. Tess quickly requests a pair of binoculars just as the green raincoated woman disappears, but leaves the dog running free.
Before you know it, Tess is pulling in Crow, Whitney and several other familiar faces from the long-running series to help her look into the mysterious disappearance of this woman.
"The Girl in the Green Raincoat" rockets along at a confident pace, doing what all good mysteries do--putting all the clues out in plain site but not necessarily telling you how they'll all connect until the final few pages. Lippman connects Tess and the green raincoat girl in a number of ways and it's nice to see not only Tess' inner struggle but also nice to get a chance to spend some time with recurring character and Tess's best friend Whitney as well. The sequences in the story that take place from Whitney's point of view with Tess off-screen as it were are among the most compelling in the book and will have long-time fans wondering if a novel centering more on Whitney might not be a good idea in the near future.
As with all Lippman stories, I was drawn in by the first few sentences and the hold didn't let go until I'd turned the final page. This novella is intensely satisfying and well-constructed and the only complaint I can find with it is my own impatience in not savoring it more.
Another winner from one of the top writers working today.
May 15, 2011
Gotta admit that I'm not thrilled that my girl Tess popped out a kid. This is not an affront to women with kids, so please do not take it as such, but rather a fear that one of my favorite characters will suddenly start talking about eating placentas, green baby poop and breast pumping (ew, ew, EW). I am still worried about the future of this series but if the author keeps handing the narrating functions to Whitney (I love her and I normally don't love ultra wealthy characters...but she's so f'd up despite her wealth that I love her) and maybe even to Crow then I think it will be okay.
Anyway, as others have pointed out, this is a novella. It is a very fast read (took me only two or three sittings) and a lot of fun. Tess is confined to her bed and bored shitless, as I would be. I could have done without the descriptions of bladder habits and such (I have tokophobia pretty bad and pregnancy literally terrifies me) though. Anyway, Tess is watching the dog park folks across the way and notices a woman in a green raincoat (ding ding ding we have a title!!!!) who disappears one day. Tess ends up rescuing the dog, via Whitney and Crow, and what a little monster that dog is! I loved reading about his antics
Anyway, as others have pointed out, this is a novella. It is a very fast read (took me only two or three sittings) and a lot of fun. Tess is confined to her bed and bored shitless, as I would be. I could have done without the descriptions of bladder habits and such (I have tokophobia pretty bad and pregnancy literally terrifies me) though. Anyway, Tess is watching the dog park folks across the way and notices a woman in a green raincoat (ding ding ding we have a title!!!!) who disappears one day. Tess ends up rescuing the dog, via Whitney and Crow, and what a little monster that dog is! I loved reading about his antics
February 2, 2011
I won this as a Goodreads First Reads. This is the second book by this author that I have read. I read I'd Know You Anywhere last year, and was left somewhat disappointed. Same here. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the best book ever either. There were some errors, which is a big pet peeve of mine. It was a veru short book, less than 200 pages and somewhat large print, and a very quick read. It was perfect for this time of year, being snowed in and all. I really like the plot of this book: a private investigator on bed rest trying to solve a mystery that nobody else seems too interested in. It is also part of a series, although I don't think I will be reading the rest of the books any time soon. My biggest issue was the narration. It just didn't flow well at points. Sometimes I found myself having to go back and reread a sentence or two because it didn't make sense (missing words in a few parts). Other times it was just ramblings that didn't matter to the story. I have a few other books by this author on my bookcase to be read, but I think I will put them off for a while and hope to enjoy those ones better than these in the future.
December 16, 2012
This book reads like an homage to Hitchcock's "Rear Window". Tess Monaghan, private detective, is put on bed rest during a complicated pregnancy. She amuses herself by observing the world outside her window, especially a stylish young woman in a celery-green raincoat who walks her dog every day. When the dog appears on his own one day, Tess is convinced something bad has happened to his owner. With some help from her not-bed-bound friends and associates, she discovers the woman's identity. When she realizes that Carole's husband had a sad track record of losing his wives and girlfriends to death, her crime-attuned antennae start to quiver. She has to rely on her friends Mrs. Blossom, a frumpish middle-aged woman, and Whitney Talbot, adventure-loving blue-blood, to ferret out the truth. Until the truth comes to her house with a taser gun...
The fun part of the book were the secondary characters, like Mrs. Blossom and Whitney. I would have liked to find out out more about them. Tess herself got on my nerves, especially in her incessant overanalyzing of her relationship with her boyfriend. THere is also a subplot relating to the fact that a teenage associate of Tess' proposes marriage to his overachiever girlfriend, which throws the girl's two mommies in a tizzy. Between this and Tess' endless ruminating about her pregnancy and her future with her boyfriend, it was one of those books where you feel that the author created internal conflict out of nothing. Or to put it another way : I just couldn't sympathize with all these concerns - I kept on thinking : what are these people whining about.
Still, all in all, a short, entertaining read for when you have a few hours to spare.
The fun part of the book were the secondary characters, like Mrs. Blossom and Whitney. I would have liked to find out out more about them. Tess herself got on my nerves, especially in her incessant overanalyzing of her relationship with her boyfriend. THere is also a subplot relating to the fact that a teenage associate of Tess' proposes marriage to his overachiever girlfriend, which throws the girl's two mommies in a tizzy. Between this and Tess' endless ruminating about her pregnancy and her future with her boyfriend, it was one of those books where you feel that the author created internal conflict out of nothing. Or to put it another way : I just couldn't sympathize with all these concerns - I kept on thinking : what are these people whining about.
Still, all in all, a short, entertaining read for when you have a few hours to spare.
March 27, 2011
I won this novella as a first read and I usually don't have any preconceived expectations, but with all the hype about the author and being a serial from such a prestigious newspaper as The New York Times I was expecting more from Laura Lippman. While the mystery was engaging at first, the story comes to be more about pregnant PI Tess Monaghan's trepidation over her impending motherhood and her insecurities about her relationship. Although I didn't become invested in the characters, I enjoyed their exploits searching for the answers to the mystery of The Girl in the Green Raincoat. Even though it was quick read, I found when I put it down I wasn't compelled to pick it up again very quickly which, especially with a mystery, is key. There were also multiple typos and awkward sentences that I found to be distracting and unacceptable having been edited by the NYT and a publisher. It was a quick, fun read but nothing to write home about. The conclusion was too obvious and rushed and I felt a little fantastical. Why would anyone come out of hiding and risk getting caught to commit an unnecessary and heinous crime? As a story inspired by such a classic masterpiece thriller as Hitchcock's Rear Window the author set herself up for failure with such a mediocre mystery. Overall I was expecting a lot more from an author with so many accolades.
May 29, 2011
A quick, enjoyable read featuring Lippmann's PI Tess Monaghan confined to home because of pregnancy complications. The mystery is a nod to Hitchcock's "Rear Window", but the novella really focuses on the life changes brought by time, love and parenthood.
June 12, 2013
Review from first reading (February 15, 2011)
I have to admit to a bit of prejudice when it comes to authors (film-makers, whatever) taking a beloved story and redoing it or working it with a twist. Scarlett, the sequel to Gone with the Wind? Not so much. Rebecca's Story as a continuation of Rebecca? A little better. Mixing Jane Austen characters with zombies? No way, Jose! So when I started seeing Laura Lippmann's The Girl in the Green Raincoat popping up on various blogs, I was fascinated, intrigued, and leery all at the same time. Rear Window is one of my all-time favourite Alfred Hitchcock films and I hated to think that someone had taken the story and screwed it up. And yet the comparisons between Lippman's short novel and Rear Window all sounded really good. So, I decided to give it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did. This is a marvelous twist on the immobile voyeuristic detective peering out her window and seeing events that put all her investigating instincts on high alert.
In Raincoat, private dectective Tess Monaghan has been put on bedrest during the third trimester of her pregnancy. Confined to the winterized back porch of her bungalow, she is bored amidst the stacks of books, DVDs and laptop companionship her family and friends have thoughtfully provided for her. So, she takes to people-watching. Her windows look out on a park where she can watch all the local dog-walkers. One woman in particular catches her eye. Dressed in a green raincoat, she walks her minature greyhound (who also sports a green raincoat) at the same time each day. Then, one day the pair walk into the park, but only the dog comes out. Tess soon finds that the girl in the raincoat is married to a man who seems to have singuarly bad luck with women...two wives and a former girlfriend all dead and now his third wife missing (away on business, or so he says). Tess immediately smells something fishy and soon is using her laptop and all her resources to try and find out whether the man has helped the women in his life out of this world--literally. Little does she realize the Pandora's box she is opening and how close to home the danger will come.
This is a very short novel. Easy to read and captivating. And, although this is a suspenseful story (particularly at the end), it has a lot of humor. I have had mixed results with Laura Lippman. I loved In a Strange City, which was my first introduction to Tess. But then when I went back to the beginning and tried to read through the series from the opening with Baltimore Blues, I just couldn't get into that one. Raincoat has me loving Tess Monaghan again. Four stars.
I have to admit to a bit of prejudice when it comes to authors (film-makers, whatever) taking a beloved story and redoing it or working it with a twist. Scarlett, the sequel to Gone with the Wind? Not so much. Rebecca's Story as a continuation of Rebecca? A little better. Mixing Jane Austen characters with zombies? No way, Jose! So when I started seeing Laura Lippmann's The Girl in the Green Raincoat popping up on various blogs, I was fascinated, intrigued, and leery all at the same time. Rear Window is one of my all-time favourite Alfred Hitchcock films and I hated to think that someone had taken the story and screwed it up. And yet the comparisons between Lippman's short novel and Rear Window all sounded really good. So, I decided to give it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did. This is a marvelous twist on the immobile voyeuristic detective peering out her window and seeing events that put all her investigating instincts on high alert.
In Raincoat, private dectective Tess Monaghan has been put on bedrest during the third trimester of her pregnancy. Confined to the winterized back porch of her bungalow, she is bored amidst the stacks of books, DVDs and laptop companionship her family and friends have thoughtfully provided for her. So, she takes to people-watching. Her windows look out on a park where she can watch all the local dog-walkers. One woman in particular catches her eye. Dressed in a green raincoat, she walks her minature greyhound (who also sports a green raincoat) at the same time each day. Then, one day the pair walk into the park, but only the dog comes out. Tess soon finds that the girl in the raincoat is married to a man who seems to have singuarly bad luck with women...two wives and a former girlfriend all dead and now his third wife missing (away on business, or so he says). Tess immediately smells something fishy and soon is using her laptop and all her resources to try and find out whether the man has helped the women in his life out of this world--literally. Little does she realize the Pandora's box she is opening and how close to home the danger will come.
This is a very short novel. Easy to read and captivating. And, although this is a suspenseful story (particularly at the end), it has a lot of humor. I have had mixed results with Laura Lippman. I loved In a Strange City, which was my first introduction to Tess. But then when I went back to the beginning and tried to read through the series from the opening with Baltimore Blues, I just couldn't get into that one. Raincoat has me loving Tess Monaghan again. Four stars.
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May 1, 2012Confined to bed rest in the third trimester of her pregnancy, private investigator Tess Monaghan is more than a bit stir-crazy. The highlight of her day is often her ten foot waddle to the bathroom, and although she is used to staying in one place for long periods of time for surveillance jobs, this forced inactivity is unbearable.
Needing a distraction from the tedium, Tess begins to watch the world pass by. Sitting on her sun porch, armed with her binoculars, Tess watches the daily dog walkers, longing to be outside with them. As she settles into a people-watching routine, her attention is caught by a particular pair – a small greyhound and its owner, both in matching green raincoats. The girl in the green raincoat doesn’t socialize with the other dog owners, preferring to stay occupied with the cell phone she keeps pressed to her ear.
Every afternoon, Tess watches as the girl and the greyhound in their green raincoats walk through the park, but one day the only thing she sees is the dog, running loose, with the girl nowhere in sight.
As a private investigator, Tess is naturally curious, and when the girl fails to turn up in the park again, she watches for any sign of a missing person report or some indication of what might have happened.
Tess enlists the help of her boyfriend Crow, her best friend Whitney and her employee Mrs. Blossom to see if she can discover what happened to the girl. As she eventually finds the dog, and learns the girl’s identity, Tess uncovers a dangerous history between the girl’s husband and his previous wives, all of whom had tragic accidents.
Determined to learn the truth, but trapped in her home, Tess must use all of her ingenuity and her resources to expose what really happened to the girl in green raincoat.
Originally serialized in the New York Times, “The Girl in the Green Raincoat” is a thriller worthy of the description “Hitchcockian.” Evoking the feeling of the classic film “Rear Window,” “The Girl” is a fast paced, exciting read sure to satisfy any mystery fan.
Needing a distraction from the tedium, Tess begins to watch the world pass by. Sitting on her sun porch, armed with her binoculars, Tess watches the daily dog walkers, longing to be outside with them. As she settles into a people-watching routine, her attention is caught by a particular pair – a small greyhound and its owner, both in matching green raincoats. The girl in the green raincoat doesn’t socialize with the other dog owners, preferring to stay occupied with the cell phone she keeps pressed to her ear.
Every afternoon, Tess watches as the girl and the greyhound in their green raincoats walk through the park, but one day the only thing she sees is the dog, running loose, with the girl nowhere in sight.
As a private investigator, Tess is naturally curious, and when the girl fails to turn up in the park again, she watches for any sign of a missing person report or some indication of what might have happened.
Tess enlists the help of her boyfriend Crow, her best friend Whitney and her employee Mrs. Blossom to see if she can discover what happened to the girl. As she eventually finds the dog, and learns the girl’s identity, Tess uncovers a dangerous history between the girl’s husband and his previous wives, all of whom had tragic accidents.
Determined to learn the truth, but trapped in her home, Tess must use all of her ingenuity and her resources to expose what really happened to the girl in green raincoat.
Originally serialized in the New York Times, “The Girl in the Green Raincoat” is a thriller worthy of the description “Hitchcockian.” Evoking the feeling of the classic film “Rear Window,” “The Girl” is a fast paced, exciting read sure to satisfy any mystery fan.
May 25, 2012
The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman was one of my favorite books that I read in 2011. I picked it for my book club pick for the month of May as I thought the other mothers in our group would enjoy it as well. The heroine, Tess Monaghan, is a private detective on bed rest for the last few months of her pregnancy. A girl in a green rain coat walks her dog each day in a park outside of Tess’s window. The girl intrigues Tess a la Rear Window, even more so when the girl goes missing and her dog is found abandoned. I’m going to focus this review on the audiobook.
The Girl in the Green Raincoat is the perfect audiobook experience. Linda Edmond does a good job narrating the book, but what really shines in the riveting plot. It really keeps the listener engaged on a long drive and it is so short that it does not leave the listener hanging for too long on plot points. The ending is great and was the one thing that most of the book club commented on as it caught them off guard.
I highly recommend this novel both in book and audio form for those who have not read it yet. It is a great mystery with interesting characters. I would love to read more about Tess Monaghan (this is the only Tess Monaghan novel I’ve read) and with my new long drive to and from work each day, perhaps I’ll have to hunt for audiobook versions.
The Girl in the Green Raincoat is the perfect audiobook experience. Linda Edmond does a good job narrating the book, but what really shines in the riveting plot. It really keeps the listener engaged on a long drive and it is so short that it does not leave the listener hanging for too long on plot points. The ending is great and was the one thing that most of the book club commented on as it caught them off guard.
I highly recommend this novel both in book and audio form for those who have not read it yet. It is a great mystery with interesting characters. I would love to read more about Tess Monaghan (this is the only Tess Monaghan novel I’ve read) and with my new long drive to and from work each day, perhaps I’ll have to hunt for audiobook versions.
July 7, 2011
I'm pretty sure I found a new literary friend. She has moxie, a good sense a humor, animals love her, and trouble finds her wherever she goes, even when she is bedridden with a high risk pregnancy. Her name is Tess Monaghan and she is one of Baltimore's finest private detectives.
I found Tess engaging. I was definitely interested in getting to know her, to find out what path she took that lead her to become a private investigator. I enjoyed the zany cast of characters with my favorite being Mrs. Blossom, the unassuming, knitting master spy. I lost count of how many times I burst out laughing during this novella. Ms. Lippman has a great writing style, direct without being pedestrian.
There were two facets I found troubling. The first was that although I had a Why the face? moment, the ending seemed rushed. I really dislike when that happens. The second was, coming into an already established story, she left me feeling a bit like an outsider looking in on family and friends that held a tight bond. However she did succeed in peaking my interest. And now that my appetite is whet, I really have no choice but to start at the beginning and find out more about my new friend Tess and her family and kooky friends.
I found Tess engaging. I was definitely interested in getting to know her, to find out what path she took that lead her to become a private investigator. I enjoyed the zany cast of characters with my favorite being Mrs. Blossom, the unassuming, knitting master spy. I lost count of how many times I burst out laughing during this novella. Ms. Lippman has a great writing style, direct without being pedestrian.
There were two facets I found troubling. The first was that although I had a Why the face? moment, the ending seemed rushed. I really dislike when that happens. The second was, coming into an already established story, she left me feeling a bit like an outsider looking in on family and friends that held a tight bond. However she did succeed in peaking my interest. And now that my appetite is whet, I really have no choice but to start at the beginning and find out more about my new friend Tess and her family and kooky friends.
August 6, 2011
I've read all the Tess Monaghan books and even if this one was slim, I devoured it like all the stories that came before. Lippman's Baltimoe is now mine - so I love it when she tips her hat to local venues that I know - and her descriptions ring true. Baltimore is almost a character in this series - and it changes as the town and the character changes. Tess and Whitney's relationship weaves a strong thread through these books and while Tess's instincts are never exactly 'right on' they aren't far off eiither. Unlike other serial characters (where the pressure of a book a year tends to make the author forget the very things that made the character so interesting), Tess continues to be who is she was in the first volume: a reporter turned investigator with home-town roots, a sense of nostalgia for the past and a desire to create an independent yet ocnnected future. Throw in family, boyfriend, best friend, neighbors, dogs, and now a baby - and she shifts, rather than chnages. So well written, I like that I always can look forward to a TM book. Even when they are slim.
February 22, 2013
A good plot's worth revisiting from time to time, which is what Laura Lippman has done in The Girl in the Green Raincoat. Ms. Lippman pays homage to two classics, the film "Rear Window" and the novel The Daughter of Time. Tess Monaghan, PI, is confined to bed for the last two months of her pregnancy. Bored and restless, she takes to watching passersby in the park outside her window. The girl in the green raincoat who walks her greyhound fails to show one day. But Tess sees the dog tearing through the park alone, and Tess becomes obsessed with the thought that something dire has happened to its owner. She begins an investigation from her laptop, while her best friend, Whitney, does the leg work. The greyhound also plays a key role. Murder has occurred, but in a way Tess never foresaw. In the process, she becomes a mother and learns abruptly about how perilous parenthood can be. Girl is a brief, engaging novel, easy to breeze through, but it also manages to deliver some truths about emotions and relationships.
July 5, 2013
I found this book at Half Price Books for $1 and thought it looked interesting. I am glad it was a short book, because I almost gave up on it twice during the 158 pgs. I haven't read anything else by Laura Lippman for comparison, but was annoyed by all the extra effort that was put into using her vast vocabulary and non-stop references to other books, movies, people and current events, most of which were not very well explained. I just felt like this "novella" was trying too hard. The author prides herself on stealing (from everywhere) to get her ideas for the book and even quotes T.S. Eliot - "Immature poets imitate, mature poets steal" and goes on to say that "By that standard, The Girl in the Green Raincoat is felony larceny by an unrepentant recidivist." This is very apparent, reading this book, which the author mentions modeling after "Rear Window" and "The Daughter of Time."
All this being said, I'm glad that I finished it. One less book in the "started, but not finished" shelf.
All this being said, I'm glad that I finished it. One less book in the "started, but not finished" shelf.
May 10, 2011
Laura Lippman's wonderful PI character Tess Monaghan finds herself confined to her bed on doctors' orders due to unexpected complications of her pregnancy. What happens next is right out of REAR WINDOW: a woman who Tess is used to seeing out her window every day disappears, leaving her neurotic Italian greyhound running free. Tess resolves to solve the mystery from her sickbed, all the while dealing with the abandoned canine, worrying about the impending delivery and terrified at the prospect of being a mother.
What's so striking about this book is its compactness: it's only 158 pages, but there's a full, rich, multi-textured story told in that short time. THE GIRL IN THE GREEN RAINCOAT originally ran as a serialized novel in the New York Times magazine, and every chapter is a perfectly crafted, self-contained little gem. As so often happens with a Laura Lippman book, I put it down at the end and went "Wow. That was AMAZING." I loved this book.
What's so striking about this book is its compactness: it's only 158 pages, but there's a full, rich, multi-textured story told in that short time. THE GIRL IN THE GREEN RAINCOAT originally ran as a serialized novel in the New York Times magazine, and every chapter is a perfectly crafted, self-contained little gem. As so often happens with a Laura Lippman book, I put it down at the end and went "Wow. That was AMAZING." I loved this book.
September 17, 2018
Fun little mystery in the vein of Rear Window or Sorry, Wrong Number—Tess, a private investigator on bed rest during her pregnancy, witnesses a woman in a green raincoat walking her dog daily. When one day she sees the dog running free, Tess begins to suspect that the woman has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. With the help of a few other entertaining characters, she begins unraveling what really happened, all from her confinement (which, naturally, she very much resents). This was quick and fun, though I started it weeks ago and I’m only just finishing it up today due to books I’ve had on hold for a long time showing up and my inability to resist them. I probably would’ve enjoyed it a little more if I had tried to just read it all within a span of a few days.
May 11, 2015
a quick ( for me) fun read. lots of memorable quotes and one liners. My favorite?
"And it was an accident! My boyfriend has super sperm! It defeated a diaphragm and spermicide. This is a zygote of Destiny."
"And it was an accident! My boyfriend has super sperm! It defeated a diaphragm and spermicide. This is a zygote of Destiny."
November 7, 2017
A simple detective story, non-committing, good to pass the time and clear the head between other, more serious, books.
March 2, 2020
Hmm I don’t know. I liked the others so much. This one seems goofed up.
Added...decided to quit series. Something happened. Not interested in this family/baby stage.
Added...decided to quit series. Something happened. Not interested in this family/baby stage.
June 29, 2017
A nifty little novella that manages to pack a lot of action into a few pages. Laura Lippman's tough-gal detective Tess Monaghan is in the final trimester of her pregnancy and has been put on complete bed rest by her doctor. So she starts watching out her window and becomes intrigued by a woman in a green raincoat who passes by every day walking her dog -- especially when the woman disappears and she spots the dog running loose with its leash dragging.
Before long Tess has unleashed her best friend Whitney and her elderly co-worker on the case and they've flushed out what appears to be a Baltimore version of Bluebeard. But nothing is quite what it seems, either in the case or in Tess' own life, as she discovers when her father reveals some unsettling personal history and she speculates about her future with her boyfriend Crow.
All in all a satisfying read and I plan to check out some more of Monaghan's casebooks.
Before long Tess has unleashed her best friend Whitney and her elderly co-worker on the case and they've flushed out what appears to be a Baltimore version of Bluebeard. But nothing is quite what it seems, either in the case or in Tess' own life, as she discovers when her father reveals some unsettling personal history and she speculates about her future with her boyfriend Crow.
All in all a satisfying read and I plan to check out some more of Monaghan's casebooks.
March 8, 2018
There were certain things I liked; the dogs, the sense of humor, the unpredictability. But it was very short and had an unfinished feel to it. It read more like the menu than the meal.
Tess is pregnant and on bed rest, she is bored out of her skull. Every day she sees a lady in a green rain coat walking her dog who is also wearing a green coat. One day she sees the dog running free but no lady. She uses her computer and her friends to start researching. What she finds leads her to suspect the husband, he has numerous dead wives, could the lady in the green rain coat be the latest casualty? And the dog? Ends up with Tess. Don't think you now know the whole story because you don't, surprise, surprise!
Tess is pregnant and on bed rest, she is bored out of her skull. Every day she sees a lady in a green rain coat walking her dog who is also wearing a green coat. One day she sees the dog running free but no lady. She uses her computer and her friends to start researching. What she finds leads her to suspect the husband, he has numerous dead wives, could the lady in the green rain coat be the latest casualty? And the dog? Ends up with Tess. Don't think you now know the whole story because you don't, surprise, surprise!
October 22, 2021
A delightful novella paying homage to classics ( in the afterwards)
The “girl” is actually a woman, but maybe that wouldn’t sound cool?
The mystery was good, but somewhat predictable when the family connection to his ex girlfriend was revealed.
This short book gave us some more background on friends and continued to reveal that Tess is really just one big immature person.
I don’t know what Crow sees in her, and I feel pity for the baby😄
The “girl” is actually a woman, but maybe that wouldn’t sound cool?
The mystery was good, but somewhat predictable when the family connection to his ex girlfriend was revealed.
This short book gave us some more background on friends and continued to reveal that Tess is really just one big immature person.
I don’t know what Crow sees in her, and I feel pity for the baby😄
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2023
Quick mystery read which is always nice. Also happy that I wasn’t able to see how it’d be solved until the very end. That being said, it was a bit drawn out in the wrong areas and the “action” portions were way too quick. Regardless, I enjoyed reading this as a nice palette cleanser but probably won’t be picking up anything by this author again.
September 12, 2025
3.50 stars
An enjoyable quick read by an author I've read before and enjoyed.
Tess is laid up with her high-risk pregnancy and bored out of her mind. Being a private investigator that is not on the go working is driving her crazy. If you are a fan of Hitchcock, Ms. Lippman borrows from the movie Rear Window, which has a bored Jimmy Stewart seeing a crime from his window but has to rely on others to do the footwork because he cannot. This is the storyline for this book and sometimes what you think you know is actually way off.
I definitely would look at this author fir other stories in the future.
50 State Reading challenge- #39- Maryland
An enjoyable quick read by an author I've read before and enjoyed.
Tess is laid up with her high-risk pregnancy and bored out of her mind. Being a private investigator that is not on the go working is driving her crazy. If you are a fan of Hitchcock, Ms. Lippman borrows from the movie Rear Window, which has a bored Jimmy Stewart seeing a crime from his window but has to rely on others to do the footwork because he cannot. This is the storyline for this book and sometimes what you think you know is actually way off.
I definitely would look at this author fir other stories in the future.
50 State Reading challenge- #39- Maryland
September 5, 2020
This is one of the shorter Tess books, so it was a quick and easy read. I had wondered about how she would get through the whole birth scenario, and tie it into a mystery, but she did a good job of bringing elements from different crime writers and mysteries into it. Shades of Hitchcock and several Hollywood films.
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