A review by cjeanne99
What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman

dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Oh {child} what is going on?” - my favorite line from this book. 
Two sisters disappear from a Baltimore shopping mall trip in the mid 1980’s. Sonny is 15 - Bethany is 11 - the police are baffled. The parents are distraught. No clues - no ideas where the girls are. 
Fast forward 30 years - a woman is involved in a minor traffic accident outside of Baltimore. She is taken to the hospital - she won’t tell her name - but claims she is the younger of the missing sisters. The police start digging in to the cold case of the kidnapping. The story moves back and forth between current times and the reluctant to identify herself “sister” and the 1980’s and 90’s. The parents divorce - the dad’s ”collectibles” business grows - mom moves to Texas as a real estate agent. After the dad dies - mom moves to Mexica to escape. 
Modern day police find mom and she flies to Baltimore to meet this person who claims to be one of her daughters - but the police are not convinced. 
Well told story.
Sonny falling in love with Tony - I could so believe that story line. 15 year old girl getting attention from at 20 something guy - riding the bus alone at the end of the school day. Sonny wanting to get out of the house - and then her world falling apart and her “father-in-law” being the one who helps her the most - even while the abuse was happening.