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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780380798476
ISBN number: 0380798476
Label: Avon
Manufacturer: Avon
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: September 01, 1999
Publishing house: Avon
Release Date: September 01, 1999
Sale Popularity Level: 162095
Studio: Avon
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Product Description:
Edgar Award-winner Laura Lippman is developing a reputation as one of the most exciting new detective fiction authors in years. Now she delivers her most suspenseful novel yet, and places Baltimore's Tess Monaghan . . . In Big Trouble.
First as a reporter and then as a p.i., Tess Monaghan has learned how to survive and thrive on the streets of Baltimore. But a new case will force her to confront her own past, and a man she loved and lost. It starts when she gets a newspaper photograph of her old boyfriend with a tantalizing shard of headline attached: In Big Trouble. The answers lie far from Baltimore, deep in a world of good-time music, old-fashioned ambiiton, and rich people's games. For Tess must find out what happened to a man she thought she knew, to a woman who may have changed him forever, and to the victims of a killer who dances to a different—and deadly—drummer.
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Rated by buyers -
IN BIG TROUBLE picks up not long after the unsettling events of Butchers Hill: A Tess Monaghan Novel (Tess Monaghan). Just when this loyal reader was on the brink of breaking down and pleading for a sign of the missing Crow, there he is! Or rather, there his picture is. Sans dreadlocks and sporting an unfamiliar bitter look, Crow's picture is cut out of a newspaper clipping and mailed to Tess via her lawyer Tyner. The headline above the picture reads, "In Big Trouble." Unsure of who sent the hint, Tess struggles with herself for a week before driving down to Virginia to see if Crow's folks have heard from him. To Tess' surprise, his parents insist on hiring her to find their son and soon she's on the road to Texas, leaving her beloved Baltimore behind. It was so fun to see Tess transplanted into unfamiliar territory, forced to be the awkward outsider instead of the cool insider we know and love. Like Baltimore in the previous books, San Antonio is a character in its own right. There are beautiful descriptions of the food, culture, weather, and landscape that made me nostalgic for the years I lived there in my early teens. My favorite Tess book so far.
Rated by buyers -
The thing I like about Laura Lippman is that she does her research. The way she describes San Antonio is wonderfully accurate, down to the names of streets, places and historical facts. Coupled with her gift to tell a really great story with out giving "too much information".
It's a great summer book and reads nice and smooth. I've no doubt you'll enjoy it as much as I did, particularly if you're already a Tess Monaghan fan.
Rated by buyers -
After listening to NPR's Crime in the City Series I decided to check out a Tess Monaghan story, written by Laura Lippman. I picked In Big Trouble arbitrarily, not realizing that this is one story that does not take place in Balitmore, even though the Monaghan series is usually set in "Charm City". It didn't matter though, San Antonio was a great location and the same type of attention that Lippman probably gives to Baltimore in her other books was lavished on Texas with great affect. The mystery itself was good, especially the way a 20-year-old unsolved murder case was woven into the plot. I almost felt the murders were true, so well was the plot line developed.
Tess was also a great protagonist; honestly I wasn't sure how a woman my age could possibly fit my vision of a hard-boiled detective, but Lippman successfully did just that, giving Tess just the right amount of humility, warmth, longing, and cynicism.
The only criticism I have of this book is that in the end the story's conclusion was a little too neatly wrapped up, with seemingly incidental characters playing major roles. I felt that either they should have been developed more so that the reader could have a chance to factor them into the mystery or that the final answers should have involved some unknown players; everyone just seemed to fit too well into the storyline.
Rated by buyers 
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In this continuation of the Tess Monaghan series, Ms. Lippman removes Tess from her usual milieu and places her in San Antonio, Texas, about as far, culturally-speaking, from Baltimore as can be.
I live in San Antonio, so I can vouch for the accuracy with which Ms. Lippman describes the Alamo City, and she does a good job of incorporating real restaurants and hangouts throughout the novel. She even got me thinking about a couple of things, including the way that the Broadway area is laid out. Kudos to her for that.
As far as the actual story goes, I enjoyed this one because it brings Tess and Crow back together. Those of you who've read the previous books in this series know that Crow left Tess when she basically told him she wasn't ready to commit to anything long-term with him. He is younger than she is, and he was always the one who gave their relationship and time together a sense of permanence; Tess felt a bit smothered and uncomfortable with that, and she told him that she didn't see their relationship the same way he did. Being the straightforward guy that he is, Crow packed his things up quick-smart and left her within moments of the conversation.
This book picks up with Crow and Tess after they've been apart for a good while, and it brings him back into her life when she gets a newspaper clipping indicating he might be in danger. She puts off doing anything about it, then decides to look into what he might be involved in. This is typical of Tess; she's excellent at either willfully ignoring her own emotions or acknowledging them and refusing to do anything about them. But she heads to San Antonio to look for Crow and see if she can get him out of trouble.
What she finds is a tangled mess of abuse, sex, and lies that almost gets her and Crow killed.
The good parts of this novel:
1) the back and forth between Tess and Crow, who is no longer just a sweet foil that allows us to see how sharp and competent Tess is (she has to fight for him now, something she's never had to do before in this series, and she also isn't as sharp and competent when it comes to understanding and interacting with this young man);
2) the peripheral characters, including the young woman with whom Crow appears to be romantically involved;
3) Ms. Lippman's consistently strong descriptive powers (you'll likely want to visit San Antonio after reading this book); and
4) the abundance of peripheral characters who keep the reader laughing and learning (I particularly want to see more of the young couple that Tess almost breaks up).
Overall, this is a good continuation of the series. Enjoy!
Rated by buyers -
This is a complex plot about relationships. Crow has left Tess and taken his band (Poe White Trash) to Texas. Now his parents contact Tess because he is no longer in contact and they are worried. Tess has also received a message with an indication that he is in trouble. The search should be simple. She has a recent photo and is looking for a performing musician. But the trail is initially cold, and things are complicated by Tess finding an overripe body, someone of interest to the police in connection with a cold case from 20 years earlier. Tess loses her lunch and decides that she will never eat another Moon Pie.
Tess eventually tracks down Crow, playing at local clubs with a new band, but it drawn into the cold case which involves the new woman in Crow's life. There is a complex web of relationships related to the woman's family and dating back to a triple murder 20 years earlier. Tess finds a second overripe body, also a man of interest to the local police. Police use some forensic entomology (maggots can be used to establish a time of death).
There are a few surprises as the novel moves towards a climax. There are questions about a past kidnapping, and questions about who was responsible for the various murders. And there are questions about motives including sex, money, and revenge.
As the novel ends, Tess is in a tenuous renewal of her relationship with Crow, her aunt Kitty has become involved with Tyner, a wealthy man is charged with murder but has a high powered attorney and social connections, a young woman is charged but her attorney is claiming insanity, and Esskay has been spoiled with pork rinds and pizza. Tess does finish reading Don Quixote.
The plot is somewhat slow reading with lots of background color. There are language, some sex (actual or by reference), and some violence. At best, I would give it a PG-13 rating. Some scenes are not for the squeamish.
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