Book review

I stopped by one of my favorite independent bookstores, Once Upon A Crime, and checked out the book they are reading for the monthly discussion at the store. This time it is Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman. I read it once quickly and I'm reading it a second time to clear up some of the confusion from the first reading.

The main story revolves around two adolescent girls who are sentenced to prison for the murder of a baby. The girls had discovered the baby in its carriage in front of a house that appeared to be deserted. They took the baby and after a few days one or both of the girls murdered the baby. The book begins as both girls are released from prison after seven years. No one other than the girls, seems to know or understand what really happened to the baby and this mystery and fear affects the actions of several of the main characters. And then another baby disappears. It is time to clear up all the mysteries.

Lippman fills the book with a bunch of female characters and that becomes unweidly at times. Each of these women is flawed, some irrevocably, and yet not one of them acts with evil intent. Class and race are prominent throughout the book.

Although the plot kept me interested, I've got to say that almost no one in this book held my interest for long. Lippman made the decision of granting each of her characters some serious flaws. In the end, it was hard to care for any of them.