This one was a bit of a disappointment for me. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry started off strong—I was intrigued and hopeful—but somewhere around the 20% mark, it began to lose momentum. The story and characters, which initially had promise, started to feel flat, and I found myself losing interest.

I can’t quite pinpoint exactly what went wrong for me, which makes it harder to explain, but overall, it just didn’t feel like Lipman’s best work. That said, I’ve enjoyed her writing in the past and I’m definitely open to giving her another try.

While this book didn’t land for me, other readers may still enjoy it, especially if they’re longtime fans of Lipman’s voice and wit.

Every Elinor Lipman book is a treasure and Every Tom, Dick & Harry is no different. The way she weaves so many stories and characters together is a wonder.. I can't wait for the next one.

4 Stars – Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is a witty and charming novel filled with Elinor Lipman’s signature humor and sharp dialogue. The characters are delightfully quirky, and the story unfolds with warmth and humor. While not her most groundbreaking work, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable, feel-good read.

I love an intergenerational book - here we have Emma, a thirtysomething, who take in Frank, a retired school teacher, as a boarder in her home. Their friendship and encouragement helps lead each to love and laughs along the way. This is lighthearted and delightful.

I have been meaning to read Elinor Lipman's Ms. Demeanor ever since it came out in 2022, but since I'm slow I haven't gotten to it yet. That doesn't mean I didn't jump at the chance to read Every Tom, Dick & Harry and I’m so glad I did! I didn’t know what I was missing, and I loved this bighearted romcom filled with themes of family and buried secrets. I laughed continuously throughout the book, and I couldn’t get enough of Lipman’s brand of humor. There is romance mixed in with silly antics, small town drama, and plenty of memorable moments. I loved that the story is centered around an estate sale business and the way the title came through in the book cracked me up.

This is a great book to listen to on audio and I adored Piper Goodeve as the narrator. She was so perfect as the voice of Emma and listening to her made me exceptionally happy. She perfectly captured the tone of the storyline as well as its characters and listening to her narration probably made me laugh even more. The romance is closed door with no spice, so it is perfect for all you Hallmark Christmas movie lovers out there, and while the ending felt a little rushed for my liking, I did love the way everything came together. You might not like this if you don’t enjoy things wrapped up in a neat bow, but for me it was perfect.

Read this if you are on the hunt for something memorable, unique, and goofy!

My Spice Rating: N/A; Closed Door
Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Every Tom, Dick and Harry by Elinor Lipman!

I see keywords like "dark," "scary" and "tragic" associated with this book and I don't get that at all, in any sense.
Melodramatic, yes; passive voice, yes; overly wrought protagonistic second fiddle, absolutely; and so much more tell than show. I was sad.
Still, Lipman's dialogue is always great. Natural and realistic to the inner ear. But tedious in listing things for sale and agenda items.
I was disappointed.

A cute and easy read if you’re looking for something light and low stakes.

Elinor Lipman has written some truly excellent comic fiction over the years. This book is not on that list (I was shocked by how little humor it had), and it reads more like a sweet women’s fiction book. I prefer Lipman when she’s demonstrating her razor sharp wit, but there is space for books like this, especially if you’re feeling like you need a bit of charming escapism.

The story does have some structural issues as well, and gets a bit messy in the details despite the fact that the bones of the plot should be relatively straightforward. In short, I expect better quality of content from Lipman and was thus a bit disappointed, but I also didn’t mind reading this.

Lipman’s best work that I’ve come across is (by far) My Latest Grievance, which I’ll always recommend over any of her other offerings, but this one is worth a look and might make a fine beach read for the spring or summer.

A comfortable Elinor Lipman title. I got what I needed-a cozy tale in a world that doesn’t exist….nothing more nothing less.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance ecopy of this title. It is a lighthearted read with enough substance to sustain the reader. Emma moves back home to take over her parents' estate sale business when they decide to retire. They also coerce her into renting a room to a former colleague of theirs. This man becomes Emma's friend, and is quite a help with the sales. They are excited to be planning a sale at a house of significant size and stature in their town, until.. they learn it was a brothel! Along the way, Emma reconnects with an old schoolmate who is the chief of police, and her border falls in love with the chief's mother. A very entertaining story.

When her parents retire and move away a young woman takes over their estate sale business. Things get crazy when she signs a deal to organize and sell the contents of a historic mansion that turns out to have been a brothel, and not too far in the past. Lipman always comes through with quirky wit.

This book is a delight from start to end! Emma Lewis, with her masters degree in writing, is a little unmoored, having not really launched a career. When her parents suddenly decide to retire, they pass along their estate sale business and Emma takes over -- a little half heartedly, but what else is she going to do? She gets to live in her parent's house, rent free, while they move to their new condo in Cape Cod, provided she agree to take on a roommate for extra money. The roommate, Frank, is a retired teacher. Together, these two tackle the estate sale business, and find love (with others, not each other). When their biggest sale ever turns out to be a mansion that was once a secret brothel, all their new skills are put to the test. Very fun, romantic story that is great to recommend to Elinor Lipman readers, and readers who enjoy books by Anne Tyler, Elin Hilderbrand, and Susan Mallery.

Emma’s mother and stepfather spring taking over their estate sale business because they want to retire. Oh, and they’ve already gotten her a roommate - a retired teacher whose wife was just killed by lightening on the golf course. Humor abounds as she takes on a client who may or may not have run a house of ill repute and just happened to be the ex-wife of the disgraced former chief of police. Laugh out loud circumstances and found family combine for a winning read.

Emma has taken over the family estate sale business and has landed a big client. This is either a cause for celebration or concern when she learns that the popular B&B she thinks she is planning an estate sale for was actually the town bordello. Not wanting to step on toes she is trapped between selling everything interesting or selling everything scandalous. Small towns love nothing better than gossip and secrets and there is a big one she is hiding - she is secretly dating the police chief. Lots of fun and romance with a small town vibe and the laugh out loud high jinx Elinor Lipman knows oh so well. Fans of J. Ryan Stradal will love this! My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Delightful. Not flawless. There were times when the plot became a bit too hectic, farcical or ridiculous. But largely and characteristically this was a deft, funny and diverting read, with lots of wit and charm. Lipman is not an author who delivers large scale pizazz. It’s generally a small canvas with her, and an uncontroversial but engaging job of mining quirky, attractive characters. Same here. Lots of good one-liners and some folk you’d be happy to meet. More please.

Elinor Lipman never disappoints! This book is a full -on comedy of manners, with a bit of romance too. The sly, quiet humor, the human foibles...its all there.

This was such a fun book with offbeat characters (roommates dating a mother and son), very weird circumstances (an estate sale at a "house of ill repute", and small town setting in the middle of Massachusetts, where everyone knows everyone else's business. It is also about a seldom written profession--estate liquidators. Anyone who has ever watched Antiques Roadshow or been to the giant flea market at Brimfield MA. will enjoy the premise of this book--and chuckle at the ending... There are "nests" where "business" is conducted ( and not B and B business), secret rooms, and a wedding in a school gym. All in all a fun read that doesn't take itself too seriously.

3.5 stars

Elinor Lipman is always a spirit lifter. Her daily life comedic novels have unforgettable characters dealing with quirky situations. This story features Emma, who has taken over her parents' estate sale business. It's not what she expected doing and she's not really sure how she feels about it.

The first life-altering event is that she takes in a boarder -- an older retired teacher who worked with her folks. Frank is recently widowed under strange circumstances -- his wife was killed by a lightning strike and he wants to get out of the house where they lived together. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Many more odd and fascinating details emerge about their situation.

Meanwhile, Emma finds out about a house full of stuff that is coming on the market -- and then discovers it was actually part b&b, part bordello. While reeling from the idea that her community had its own house of ill repute, she also wants to capitalize on the opportunity to make some money.

Frank and she both have love interests, and Frank's new lady friend happens to be the mother of Emma's new boyfriend, the chief of police. It's entertainment with occasional poignancy and quite an enjoyable ride. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Elinor Lipman is one. of my favorite writers and much needed right now when I need to turn off the news cycle and enjoy a book. This was not my favorite of hers, but still enjoyable to read. Please write more books!

I am a big fan of Elinor Lipman and have read all her novels. I found this book a bit thin. The plot was stretched to make it book length, but there wasn’t enough! Lots of characters, gravitating around Emma and her estate sale business. Far too many subplots and definitely some just silly.

I usually stay up night’s reading a Lipman opus, but this one dragged. I think her first book, THEN SHE FOUND ME, is still one of my favorites! I even liked the film version.

Always looking forward to reading more Lipman novels.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of a novel by one of my favorite authors.