Every Tom, Dick & Harry

December 2, 2024
In the droll latest from Lipman (Ms. Demeanor), a woman takes over her family’s estate sale business. The company was called Finders, Keepers when it was run by Emma Lewis’s father and stepmother, and Emma ruffles feathers in their bucolic Massachusetts town by renaming it Estate of Mind. When a respected bed-and-breakfast is put on the market, Emma swoops in to handle its contents, but controversy ensues from revelations that the B&B doubled as a brothel. Dismissing any possible legal risks stemming from the property’s illicit use, she takes on the “sale of the century,” as a friend calls it. Emma, a self-styled matchmaker, also sets up her recently widowed employee Frank with the mother of police chief Luke Winooski, and starts dating Luke, despite worrying he might find a reason to bust her on the brothel’s estate sale. The reappearance of Frank’s stepdaughter, the unveiling of the brothel’s client list, and an accusation of theft further stir the pot. The plot chugs along through its many twists and turns and the dialogue is snappy and witty. Lipman’s fans and newcomers alike will be tickled. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME.

January 1, 2025
Harrow, Massachusetts, is a small town, especially for thirtysomething Emma Lewis, who still lives in her childhood home. Her ex-teacher parents, owners of an estate-sales business, have just retired and relocated to a condo on the cape. They leave her the company, the house, and Frank, her dad's best friend and recent widower, as an expense-defraying boarder. Emma is glad for Frank's company and assistance in managing the lookie-loos at open houses. For his part, Frank is grateful for Emma's confidence-building prowess, especially when newly widowed Connie expresses romantic interest. As befits the village vibe, Frank happily returns the favor when sparks fly between Emma and Connie's son Luke, the town cop. All four join forces in commerce and crime when Emma lands the contract to dismantle the estate of the town's largest and most notorious mansion, a former B&B that surprisingly added a third B, for brothel. In the delightfully reassuring rom-com tradition of Nora Ephron, the perennially mood-lifting Lipman is equally revered for her lovable characters, spitfire wit, and happily-ever-after romantic escapades.

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February 15, 2025
An estate-sale manager in a small Massachusetts town stumbles on its worst-kept secret. When Emma Lewis' parents ask her to move back to Harrow and take over Estate of Mind--their business staging home sales for estates, downsizers, and others--she steps in with relative ease, having been been sticking price tags on candelabras all her life. Since they're retiring to Cape Cod, they also offer her their house, and have already arranged a roommate: her father's friend Frank Crowley, a retired math teacher, recently widowed when his wife was struck by lightning on the golf course. The warm relationship that develops between Frank and Emma as they share the house and soon, the responsibilities of the business, is at the heart of this tale of love and money and love-for-money. Estate of Mind soon has the opportunity to put on a sale at the infamous house at 1010 Quail Ridge Road, which operated variously as a B&B and a brothel known as Lola's Ladies. Meanwhile, Frank has begun dating Connie Winooski, a recent widow and mother of the police chief, Luke Winooski. When Luke and Emma also start seeing each other, sticky situations arise. This book is all about the complications and overlapping romantic alliances that are the leitmotif of small-town drama, and some readers may find it useful to make a character list to keep track of all the names and relationships. For example, who is Theo? Well, he's former kindergarten teacher Athena's son; she's now dating Manny, the disgraced former police chief, who was married to Lola, the "housemother." Theo himself is dating Rain, aka Francine, the daughter of Frank's dead wife, Ginger, from her marriage to Stefan. Lipman seems to be having herself a grand old time with this sort of thing. For the Daily Double, what's the connection between John-Paul, Uncle Paul, and Paulina? Devoted readers will be ready for the quiz. Charming if sometimes a little hard to follow.

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