What the Dead Know - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

What the Dead Know is a crime thriller by Laura Lippman 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. It won the 2007 Quill Award in the mystery/suspense/thriller category and 2008 Anthony Award 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 called it 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." The reader is kept guessing to the end as to the identity of the mystery woman.

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

What the Dead Know Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

Contents

Critical reception

Main characters, as first introduced

References