Baltimore Blues: A Tess Monaghan Novel

I've really enjoyed Laura Lippman's books for a while now, but for whatever reason, I never actually started into the Tess Monaghan books, which is perhaps her "signature" series - the story of a former Baltimore reporter turned private eye. That's changed with Baltimore Blues, the first book of the series, hailing from nearly 25 years ago (when the print edition of papers is still so prevalent as to be relevant to the story - and let me tell you, the dramatic irony of knowing how much worse things will get for newspapers was painful here). Baltimore Blues is undeniably a debut novel; there's some clunky prose here and there, and the plot is borderline scattered. But Lippman does so much right here that the minor flaws barely matter; it's so evident that this is a talented writer who's able to take into account the world around her and the shifting social trends of a city and turn it into thematically rich material. More than that, though, there's Tess herself, a young woman who makes mistakes, who's overconfident, who is incredibly hard-working and diligent but also a sucker for her hot (and toxic) "boyfriend," who worries about her own image but also refuses to be talked down to, who overestimates her abilities but also doesn't always see how good of a job she's doing. Tess alone would be reason enough to recommend Baltimore Blues, but the book as a whole is a blast; there's a compelling mystery here, but lots of interesting digressions, portraits of life in Baltimore, great character work, and great plotting. It's a debut, without a doubt, but there's so much here that it's no wonder that it put Lippman on the map, allowing her to deliver on her promise again and again.

I started out reading Ms. Lippman's stand alone novels, and am now turning to the Tess Monaghan series, of which this book is the first. First, I must say that I enjoyed the book immensely. Tess is 29 years old, a Baltimore native (where these books are set), who is trying to get out of the rut she has been in ever since the newspaper she was working for folded two years previous. A friend offers to pay her if Tess will follow his fiancé, who may or may not be having an affair. Tess agrees, as she needs the money, and when the lawyer that the fiancé has been seen with winds up dead after Tess' friend Rock assaults him, things look bad for Rock. This book was set in 1993, and reading it now, it is strange to think that things like cell phones were a novelty. Also, there was no Google or Siri or Alexa at this time, and Ms. Lippman really impresses with her ability to explain how searches are done for many different things, such as researching a charity or how and where documents are filed in the State of Maryland. It was much harder to get information about people before the internet. I am constantly amazed when I read books from this period (just prior to the internet) even though I was there and did research myself at that time. I keep thinking "She could just Google that ", and then I remember... I am very much looking forward to the next book, as I really enjoy this character. She has my dream living space- over a bookstore, and has a nutty family that is in many ways similar to mine. This book is a mystery, but it also shows a good bit of humor.

"Baltimore Blues" is a decent first effort at a mystery novel by author Laura Lippman. It is fairly clearly written as far as style. The storyline itself seemed unlikely and slightly convoluted. The novel is slightly lengthy for the story itself and consequently, occasionally moves along slowly. However I did like it on the whole and plan on reading another "Tess Monaghan" novel in the future. The protagonist is Tess Monaghan, a former newspaper reporter in Baltimore. I definitely like her as a character. She, more or less, gets drawn into a investigative situation that she is not ready for. However she is very smart and sort of stumbles her way along. As a retired police detective I found some of her interviewing and investigative methods borderline inept. But this is a first effort for both the author and Tess Monaghan... I enjoy reading all sorts of literature and break down my reading into categories. One of many such categories is debut novels. I found a curious coincidence in this novel with two other debut private investigation novels. In this novel there is a discussion about the proper use of "who and whom". A similar conversation occurs in Robert B. Parker's first private detective novel, "The Godwulf Manuscript", and Sara Paretsky's first such novel, "Indemnity Only". So what you ask? So nothing, just curious. I did like both of those debut detective novels better than this one. And I greatly preferred Sue Grafton's first Kinsey Millhone novel, "A is for Alibi". I reside in Pennsylvania and worked as a police officer in Pa. Among my duties were cold case violent felonies. I once was the lead on a cold case double homicide. The victims were two senior citizens, minding their own business when they were the victims of a home invasion. There were no immediate suspects. Needless to say, we were not going to stand for this. We had to re investigate the case, develop suspects, build a circumstantial case with no confessions, four years after the fact. Then we had to spend a lot of time in Baltimore, of course outside of my jurisdiction, rather painstakingly reviewing a possible alibi for the offenders. Anyway that particular effort took me through a huge part of the city, including where this story is set, and in a similar time frame. Anyway I greatly enjoyed Tess Monaghan's travels throughout Baltimore and the story definitely had a serious Deja Vu aspect to it for me. But that particular enjoyment is very idiosyncratic. In summary I liked this novel and see real potential for the author. I would give it more of 3.5 stars than 3, but I give a lot of novels four stars and that is a slight stretch in this case. The novel seems just a little bit too long for the story. I almost never read the same author twice in a row without a break in between. But I liked this novel enough that I have already purchased the author's second novel "Charm City" and will read it probably in a few months time. In the event one wishes to read a different author with a similar protagonist, in order to compare and contrast, one might consider "Front Page Fatality" by LynDee Walker. Thank You...

In the first book of the Tess Monaghan series, Baltimore Blues (Tess Monaghan Novel Book 1) , Tess is feeling adrift. It has been two years since her newspaper job ended, and she has yet to discover her new "true passion." Meanwhile, she does odd jobs and works in her Aunt Kitty's bookstore, while living upstairs in a tiny apartment. She has regular routines, however, like daily exercise, including running and the occasional rowing with her friend Rock (Darryl Paxton). One day, he asks her for a favor, for which he will pay her what will be a rather nice amount, so she agrees. He wants her to follow his fiancé, Ava Hill, who works for a well-known law firm in Baltimore. She is reluctant, but soon finds herself immersed in it all. Could this kind of work be her new passion? But what Tess discovers leads to a series of unfortunate incidents. Ava seems to be having an affair with one of her bosses, Michael Abramowitz, and Tess somehow threatens Ava into telling Rock herself, before she does. What she hadn't anticipated would be Ava lying and making it sound as if Abramowitz had "forced" her. So when Abramowitz ends up dead, shortly after Rock had been to see him, Rock is arrested and charged with the murder. His lawyer, another old rowing buddy, convinces Tess to continue working as an investigative assistant, searching for possible suspects or ways to create reasonable doubt. From there, the story takes a number of somewhat curious turns as Tess follows one clue after another, revealing to the reader how much she still has to learn. Much of what she discovers could be considered accidental, and where it all ends up is rather serendipitous. But in the end, there is a satisfactory resolution. A few other casualties along the way make it all seem realistic for a novice detective. I have read and enjoyed several books in this series, and my favorite parts involve Tess in her surroundings, with her friends, while enjoying an insider's view of her world. This first outing was not my favorite, but I have added Tess to my list of intriguing detectives. 4.0 stars.

Laura Lippman is a prolific writer. I haven't read anything she has written that I didn't like. Her writing and character development draws the reader in and keeps you interested in Tess Monaghan from the first page to the last. This first book in the series has some interesting plot developments and everyone in my book group didn't know "whodunnit" until the final pages. I want to read all of the books in the Tess Monaghan series and all of the books in her other series about Nancy Porter-police detective.

This is the first book in the Tess Monaghan series, and its a series that I've wanted to read for awhile. I liked it, but it has some flaws. I know this is a first book in a series, so I'm sure that the series will get better and stronger with additional books. I really like Tess. She's a 29 year old failed newspaper reporter who finds herself at loose ends career-wise when her rowing buddy gets involved in a murder. Tess wants to help him by finding the real killer so she sets out on a one-woman investigation that gets downright dangerous. I like some of the lesser characters in the book and think that the series holds a lot of promise. I found the book was really slow to start, but about half way through the action and the plot picked up. By the end of the book, I fully believed in Tess and in what she was trying to do and also believed in what she stood for. I look forward to reading my way through the series.

I've read several Laura Lippman novels. All of them had a Baltimore and Maryland setting. I've lived just outside Baltimore most of my life, so this fact alone makes her books especially appealing to me as I look for Baltimore snapshots in among her fun-to-read stories. And "Baltimore Blues" is fun to read. Tess Monaghan isn't perfect but she's interesting. In this book, Tess solves the murder of a prominent Baltimore attorney. I've read 2 of Lippman's Tess Monaghan mysteries. *sigh* I guess I'll be reading the other ten. Highly recommended if you're from Baltimore. Recommended for everyone else.

Really captivating plots and Interesting characters!

肉体派の若い女性の探偵シリーズの始まり。 今回は、ボルティモアの地元紙記者であった主人公が、新聞が廃刊になったために失業中で、趣味のポート仲間の無実を証明するため、弁護士の忠告も聞かずに独自に危険な捜査を始める。 展開は面白く、飽きさせないが、自分としては結末に若干無理な部分があるように思えた。 また、何故かは良く分からないが、英文は少し読みにくい。他の探偵小説では見かけないような単語や、１度読んだだけではスーと頭に入っていかないような文章が出てくるように思います。(慣れれば問題ないのかとは思っています。)

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Good read kept you guessing to the end

Laura Lippman is a fantastic writer. This is the first of the Tess Monaghan series, which is new to me: I have read Lippman’s stand-alone novels first. This is a great detective story with lots of atmosphere and plenty of red herrings. Enjoy!

Kept me intrigued to the end