The Most Dangerous Thing is Lippman's 17th novel, including 11 books in her Tess Monaghan detective series. As in her previous novels, Dangerous is set in Baltimore, this time in Lippman's hometown of Dickeyville. The heavily forested Leakin Park figures prominently.
Shifting from the late 1970s to three decades later, the tale is told from different characters' perspectives: the three Halloran brothers and best girlfriends Gwen Robison and Mickey Wickham.
In less skilled hands the numerous characters would be confusing, but here, each is distinct. The "good girl" is Gwen, or Gwennie as she was known as a chubby youngster. The bad girl is Mickey, an instantly unlikable girl whose antics are unsettling. The good boy is Sean, perfect-looking, perfect-speaking, perfect at everything. The oldest brother is Tim, insecure about not measuring up.
The bad boy is the youngest brother, Gordon, nicknamed "Go-Go," for always wanting to tag along. Clearly something is not right with Go-Go. But what is it? His strange, unpredictable behavior hints at a possible mental deficiency. Or is he just a little boy with energy to spare?
Unlike most mystery novels, in which a murder, kidnapping, or other horrific event takes place either as a prologue or within the first few chapters, in The Most Dangerous Thing, it takes a while for the usual "bad thing" to happen. It might feel a little disconcerting to devout mystery readers, but then, almost without warning, Lippman slips in a single line of ominous foreshadowing - and then you know it's on.
