9780062027221
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The Girl in the Green Raincoat audiobook

  • By: Laura Lippman
  • Narrator: Linda Emond
  • Length: 4 hours 26 minutes
  • Publisher: HarperAudio
  • Publish date: January 18, 2011
  • Language: English
  • (5894 ratings)
(5894 ratings)
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The Girl in the Green Raincoat Audiobook Summary

“Lippman is a writing powerhouse. ”

USA Today

“I love her books.”

–Harlan Coben

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman–winner of the Edgar(r) Award and every other major literary prize given for mystery and crime fiction–embroils Baltimore p.i. Tess Monaghan in the strange case of The Girl in the Green Raincoat. Originally serialized in the New York Times, The Girl in the Green Raincoat is now in book form for the very first time–a masterful thriller in the Alfred Hitchcock mode that places a very pregnant, homebound Tess in the center of a murderous puzzle that could cost her her life and the life of her unborn child.

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The Girl in the Green Raincoat Audiobook Narrator

Linda Emond is the narrator of The Girl in the Green Raincoat audiobook that was written by Laura Lippman

Linda Emond’s credits include The Sopranos, all four Law & Orders, and American Experience: John & Abigail Adams. On Broadway: 1776 and Life x 3 (Tony(r) nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award). Off-Broadway appearances include Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul (Lucille Lortel Award, Obie Award).

About the Author(s) of The Girl in the Green Raincoat

Laura Lippman is the author of The Girl in the Green Raincoat

The Girl in the Green Raincoat Full Details

Narrator Linda Emond
Length 4 hours 26 minutes
Author Laura Lippman
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date January 18, 2011
ISBN 9780062027221

Additional info

The publisher of the The Girl in the Green Raincoat is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780062027221.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Book Concierge

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.

Michael

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.

Bev

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.

Laura

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.

Alice

July 07, 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.

Joni

August 06, 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.

Linda

February 21, 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.

J.D.

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.

Craig

June 28, 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.

Dory

June 29, 2019

I enjoy a good mystery. It was good. A short book.

Angie

January 06, 2011

Laura Lippman is a good writer. Since she has won just about every major award in crime fiction, and many of the minor ones as well, clearly I am not in the minority in this evaluation. The present work shows that her reputation is well-deserved. The Girl in the Green Raincoat was originally written as a serial in the New York Times magazine and is now being published as a standalone novella of about 200 pages. Many authors in this situation try to expand their magazine piece to the length of a standard novel. If the original work was good as a short piece, the expansion is rarely successful. It is a credit to the author’s skill and judgment that she chose to leave the story in its original form. The result is a satisfying “small plate” instead of a watered-down full meal.As the story opens, PI Tess Monaghan is chafing under a restriction to bed rest due to a difficult pregnancy. She misses her usual energetic level of physical activity; she misses sleeping in the same bed as her boyfriend Crowe; and most of all she misses the investigative work that allows her to pursue satisfaction of her insatiable curiosity. Plagued with worry about whether she is really cut out for motherhood and whether she and Crowe will or should marry, clearly she needs a distraction. Tess has been entertaining herself by looking out the window, and as a dog-lover she has especially enjoyed watching a woman walk her dog daily. One day she sees the dog running loose but no woman. What happened to the woman is a puzzle that Tess must solve, and the investigation leads her to suspect she has uncovered a modern Bluebeard. Tess is a character I have enjoyed since her first appearance in Baltimore Blues. Protagonists in crime novels tend to be either paragons of acumen a la Poirot or Holmes or unbelievably dysfunctional personalities with so many flaws that they tend not to be too credible. By contrast, I can imagine having a friend like Tess Monaghan. I would love her dearly, but I would find her prickly personality very irritating at times. Tess is a real person. Because of the confinement to her couch, Tess uses a number of agents to pursue her investigations or asks involved parties to come see her. Most of these other characters are rather Dickensian, such as Tess’s legman Mrs. Blossom, a senior citizen who visits the suspect’s home wearing a fuchsia trenchcoat and pink high-top Reeboks. With the possible exception of her friend Whitney Talbot, the other characters are fun but not fully developed. Even boyfriend Crowe, who is important to Tess but irrelevant to the main story, is a sketchy character without the background provided by the earlier books. I would consider this more of a flaw in a longer work. Baltimore, however, is a living character in all the Tess Monaghan tales. No other author so accurately portrays the spirit of Baltimore as Laura Lippman, and The Girl in the Green Raincoat maintains her usual standard, despite its short length. If Tess enjoys the crabcakes at a carryout named Luigi’s, you can be sure that there is a carryout named Luigi’s in the proper neighborhood and its crabcakes are worth ordering.Tess and I both enjoy the same appetizer from The Helmand. Food is a big interest of Tess’s, but the Baltimore verisimilitude goes beyond culinary matters. For example, Tess’s mother works at The National Security Agency, which is a major metro-area employer. The old-time politicians referred to off-the-cuff are real and part of the Baltimore lore.The Girl in the Green Raincoat is a must-read for Tess Monaghan fans. First-time readers will enjoy this short sample and will want to pick up the novels for a bigger helping.

Kathy

October 08, 2011

Eleventh in the Tess Monaghan mystery series set in Baltimore, Maryland revolving around Tess and Crow and a select group of friends.The StoryTrapped into complete bed rest by her surprise pregnancy, Tess takes her frustrations out on the people walking in the park opposite her house. Tracking their habits, she becomes worried when one of them no longer shows and her dog is seen running around loose. She just knows something is wrong and without her usual distractions, and while under the influence of Oprah and Judge Judy, Tess pushes and pushes until everyone around her is caught up in the mystery of the disappearing raincoat.The facts that are revealed. The pattern of dead significant others is too great to ignore and Tess continues to push until the killer strikes back.The CharactersTess Monaghan has been happily running her detective agency for years; she only hopes that her new assistant, Mrs. Blossom, is up to keeping the agency going while she takes some time out for her pregnancy and the eventual, one day, maybe, in the far, far distant future maternity leave. Crow is her musician boyfriend who now runs a restaurant/bar and books bands. Lloyd Jupiter is a formerly-at-risk young man whom they helped get back on track. He's now attending Crow's old alma mater, the Maryland Institute College of Art studying film on a scholarship and is creating a wee bit of havoc with his girlfriend, May. A potential catastrophe as far as May's parents, Liz Matthias and Beth Angleton, are concerned. Martin Tull, a cop friend, gets a brief mention.Whitney Talbot is Tess' oldest and best friend. The daughter of a wealthy family, she now runs the family foundation. Dorie Starnes is a friend from Tess' journalism days who now runs her own research company.Don Epstein is the Blythewood Bluebeard. Sergeant Harold Lenhardt is a policeman Tess contacts who had been the primary on the first homicide. He sounds pretty cute with a quilting wife and I hope he's around in the next story.My TakeOmigod!! Crack. Me. Up. The first paragraph had me confused and anxious wanting to know what the heck Lippman is doing! The more I read, the more I loved it!"I am being held hostage...by a terrorist. The agenda is unclear, the demands vague, but she's prepared to hold me here for at least two months…"Nice blend of real world life and fears with the hopes and dreams of their friends to fill it out. Nice phrase to keep in mind: Being happy made me happier than being unhappy. I did enjoy Tess' dream about delivering a giant radish and the so-lovely compliments she got from everyone! Tess is following some of her family's Jewish beliefs when it comes to the baby—and it's driving Crow and her dad mad. I like how Lippman provides a back history on Tess, Crow, and Lloyd. They also have some very nice friends who pitch in and help out...just amping up the cozy feeling of the story. Along with a snapshot of her parents' courtship—not quite what she had thought! And I loved how she ended it...talk about circular!The CoverThe cover is a torso shot of a green raincoat with some pretty suggestive buttons and a pair of hands tying its belt. The title is spot on as the missing woman is The Girl in the Green Raincoat.

Jessica

February 09, 2011

If you've seen Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and appreciated his stunning work, you'll love The Girl in the Green Raincoat. Similar to the movie, this book deals with a woman who must be content spending her time watching other people through a window. Tess watches the mundane events that occurs outside, until one day something changes. When she thinks that something is amiss, she does everything in her power to solve the mystery from behind closed doors. Little does she know what she is in store for!At a little under 200 pages, I was a little concerned when this book first arrived. I was wondering how Laura Lippman could fit an intriguing mystery in such a small amount of pages. Let's just say, I shouldn't have worried! It is a quick read for sure, but in the best way possible. The pages just flew by as I devoured Tess' character, her worries, her investigation, and everything else that was wrapped up in this wonderfully written mystery. The prose in this story is also fantastically witty. There were times I laughed out loud at her inner musings. By the time I got to the ending, which was perfection, I was sad that the book was over. Now that I know this is part of a series I'm going to have to go and find the others!The characters are wonderfully developed, from the main character to the most supporting character. Tess, our protagonist, is a an independent woman that has to come to terms with allowing others to do things for her. She is used to holding her own as a detective and is suddenly having to depend on others to do the legwork for her, which maddens her. I loved her tenacity, and even though she has worries about her boyfriend Crow she is always looking at things from a logical point of view. Tess is a woman's woman if I do say so myself!This is the first time I've ever read one of Laura Lippman's books, despite her NYT Bestsellers fame. I'm glad that this book was offered to me and put this fantastic series on my radar! Overall, The Girl in the Green Raincoat is a superbly written novel with witty dialogue, well written characters, and a thrilling plot that doesn't disappoint. All you mystery fans out there need to go pick up a copy as soon as possible!

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