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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780380788750
ISBN number: 0380788756
Label: Avon
Manufacturer: Avon
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: February 01, 1997
Publishing house: Avon
Release Date: February 01, 1997
Sale Popularity Level: 52291
Studio: Avon
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Product Description:
Until her paper, the Baltimore Star, crashed and burned, Tess Monaghan was a damn good reporter who knew her hometown intimately -- from historic Fort McHenry to the crumbling projects of Cherry Hill. Now gainfully unemployed at twenty-nine, she's willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent -- including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl 'Rock' Paxton.
In a city where someone is murdered almost everyday, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety -- and his noontime trysts with Rock's fiancee -- make the case front page news...and points to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend's innocence couls prove costly to Tess -- and add her name to that infamous ever-growing list.
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Rated by buyers 
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Lippman's honest appraisal of Baltimore is tempered only by her obvious love of the city. I've lived in Baltimore, and while it gets into your heart in a short time, it's also a tough love. Baltimore has a high murder rate and more social problems than you can shake an oar at. Lippman does not flinch at either of these things, particularly the murder rate. We overhear cops putting money in a betting pool as to the number of homicides that will happen this year. Yes, this sort of thing happens.
One of those murders lands in Tess's lap, and following her attempts to solve it is a fascinating ride. There's no wonder there have been nine books. Tess is a fine mind, and not bound by some higher morality that seems to afflict only the detectives of fiction - she does what she needs to do, without endless navel-gazing as to The Meaning Of It All. The mystery is a good one, with multiple layers.
But the real star is Lippman, a writer and reporter. Tess is a real person and a clear reflection of Lippman, with enough idealism to balance the natural cynicism. It's a good mix, and a familiar one.
And unlike the standard mysteries lining the shelves of your local bookstore, this one isn't entirely wrapped up in a neat bow. Sometimes the real bad guy gets away, and sometimes all the questions aren't answered.
No one knows that better than a reporter.
Read the full review at CultureGeek: http://bellevillenewsdemocrat.typepad.com/culturegeek/2007/09/bookgeek-baltim.html
Rated by buyers 
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Since I loved WHAT THE DEAD KNOW from this author, I decided to try her Tess series. This was a really good start. It has interesting characters and the premise was interesting. I look forward to reading more of the Tess books and getting to know more about the different characters.
Rated by buyers 
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I have to admit that I don't read very many American mystery/crime writers, and those I do tend to be overwhelmingly male (my two favorites are probably George Pelecanos and Elmore Leonard, just to give you a sense of my taste). And when I have sampled female-written series (Patricia Cornwell and Janet Evanovich are the two that spring to mind), they have utterly failed to connect with me. Nonetheless, Lippman's Tess Monaghan series came highly recommended to me, and the nearby Baltimore setting was a big draw.
This very first in the series finds heroine Tess teetering on the brink of 30, and somewhat adrift following the closing down of the newspaper she worked at. She lives in a cheap apartment above her aunt's bookstore, and barely makes ends meet working as a clerk in the store and doing an odd job for an uncle. Her personal life is equally in flux, as she doesn't exactly have a slew of friends, and her love life is vacant, save for the random booty-call by her ex-boyfriend who cheats on his current girlfriend with Tess. The one constant in her life is a daily crack-of-dawn appointment with her racing shell and the Patapsco river.
This daily exercise has led to a friendship with another avid rower, Darryl Paxton. One day he hires her to check up on the activities of his type-A fiancee, and thus Tess embarks on her very first session of amateur sleuthing. However, what starts as a fairly simple tailing job turns into a high profile murder case, as the fiancee's high-profile boss at a prestigious law firm has his head bashed in. Darryl is charged with the murder, and Tess is put to work by his defense lawyer as a gopher/investigator. Of course, when a lawyer is killed, one has to start digging into his past cases and soon Tess is following all kinds of threads in an endeavor to clear Darryl.
The book definitely feels like a debut -- it starts sluggishly and takes far too long to pick up speed, as Lippman struggles with pacing. Many of the supporting cast are archetypes (the brassy aunt, the ambitious journalist, the patrician lawyer, the breezily confidant best friend) rather than full-figured characters, and few are colorful or engaging enough to want to spend more time with. Tess herself is somewhat generically flawed and feisty character, rather more clueless and prone to blundering than seems reasonable. However one can see glimmers of what could become a rich series character with further development.
The writing is also uneven when it comes to the various relationships. For example, Tess and Rock's easy friendship is handled quite well, however her reaction to the killing of someone close to her doesn't seem to distress her nearly as much as one might expect. The plotting is also somewhat uneven, as at times the reader will be three steps ahead of Tess and grow weary of waiting for the amateur to catch up, while near the end, events start to unfold much more quickly and with more surprises. Many reviewers have lauded the Baltimore setting as amazing, and while I found the details all quite accurate, they never felt like much more than deliberate local color. Of course, I'm fairly familiar with Baltimore, so perhaps it's all a little more fascinating for others. In any event, it's not a great debut, but not a bad one either, and I'll probably read the subsequent two to see if it gets better.
Rated by buyers -
I was excited to find a new female lead mystery series to start reading...and was a little disappointed. It was a slow read, but got better towards the end, & I'm going to continue on & think positively that they'll get better! She seems like a great author. On a personal note, it bothers me when people/characters drink a lot, & I was particularly bothered that Tess smokes weed, but I guess I'm a little odd-man-out to be bothered by something like that. *shrug*
Rated by buyers -
This is the very first book of Ms. Lippman's I've read and I was extremely pleased. Her latest, "What the Dead Know," arrived in yesterday's mail. Need to set aside to read in one sitting. I know it is a cliche, but "Blues" did keep me up until 2AM. I'm looking forward to catching up on her other Tess Monaghan books later this year.
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