Laura Lippman on MURDER TAKES A VACATION: Art, Age, and a Woman’s Right to Reinvent Herself

Writer's Voice

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.

Episode Summary

This week: Grandmaster of crime fiction Laura Lippman joins us to talk about her delightful new mystery, Murder Takes a Vacation. The novel brings back Muriel “Mrs.” Blossom—now a wealthy, single woman in her sixties—on a river cruise where art theft, murder, and self-reinvention intersect. It’s a twisty, character-rich whodunit that also explores the power of friendship, pleasure, and starting over in the third act of life.

“Crime is interesting. It cracks the world open, and then things change.” — Laura Lippman

Then, as New Yorkers begin voting in the Democratic primary for Mayor, we revisit Francesca’s 2021 conversation with Ross Barkan about his book, The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, The Coronavirus & The Fall of New York.

“I don’t think Cuomo is Donald Trump by any means. I don’t think anyone is Donald Trump, but I do think there’s more similarities between the two than a lot of liberal left-leaning people would admit.” –Ross Barkan

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Key Words: Laura Lippman, Murder Takes a Vacation, cozy mystery, feminist crime fiction, ageism, fatphobia, Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster, Ross Barkan, Andrew Cuomo, Covid19 in New York.

You Might Also Like: Ross Barkan, THE PRINCE, Claire Coughlan, WHERE THEY LIE

And check out Francesca’s new podcast about creating a new land ethic, Changehampton Presents: Changing the World One Yard At A Time

Segment One: Laura Lippman

Crime fiction legend Laura Lippman talks about her latest novel, Murder Takes a Vacation, a witty and warm cozy mystery featuring Muriel “Mrs.” Blossom—a retired PI assistant turned millionaire lottery winner—who embarks on a cruise down the Seine and finds herself caught up in art theft, murder, and rediscovering who she really is.

Lippman shares why she wanted to write about an older female protagonist unapologetically enjoying her life, how friendship, fatphobia, ageism, and female pleasure inform the book, and why cozy mysteries are harder to write than noir. Along the way, we explore art world ethics, the joy of self-designing one’s space (especially with paintings by abstract expressionist Joan Mitchell), and why writing decent people can be more challenging—and rewarding—than writing unlikable ones.

Key Topics

• Cozy mysteries vs. noir fiction
• Ageism, fatphobia, and feminist representation
• Writing likable characters in mystery fiction
• Art theft and provenance ethics
• Female autonomy and sexual agency
• Divorce, reinvention, and living alone
• Literary inspirations: Joan Mitchell, Charade, Maltese Falcon, and more
• The evolving crime fiction genre

Read or listen to a sample from MURDER TAKES A VACATION

Segment Two: Ross Barkan

New York City has already begun early voting in the Democratic primary for mayor. Andrew Cuomo is still leading in the polls, although second placer Zohran Mamdani is narrowing the former governor’s lead—and Brad Lander, in third place, may get a boost after he was detained by ICE while trying to escort an immigrant out of the Federal building after the man was stripped of his status by a judge who dismissed his case.

Back in 2021, during the last election for New York governor, Writer’s Voice interviewed reporter Ross Barkan about his book, The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, The Coronavirus & The Fall of New York. It’s a deep dive into Cuomo’s record during the coronavirus epidemic in New York and his governing style. Cuomo was widely criticized for causing thousands of deaths in nursing homes after he ordered covid patients to be released to them from hospitals. We play an excerpt from that conversation.

Listen to the full interview