Shannon Zimmerman does a hatchet job on Laura Lippman's Every Secret Thing in today's Washington Post. She starts off with some complimentary remarks and it sounds like she got the book...but then she gets the claws out and really starts to dig in: "pockmarked by contrived suspense"..."structural problems"..."frequently clunky characterization"...and then a capper of a summation: "All told, Every Secret Thing makes it clear that Lippman has an ambitious novel of ideas in her. This one, however, isn't it."

Now if reading that doesn't make you wanna be a writer, I don't know what will. Ouch! Needless to say, I think Ms. Zimmerman has the book all wrong. I found it to be fascinating, touching, insightful...one of the best things I've read all year. (See my critique in the Sun-Times.) Obviously no two people read the same book (as the old saying goes), but I think this critic missed the boat.