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.

Really captivating plots and Interesting characters!

I enjoyed the author's style of writing but I am ambivalent to the main character. She was at times not very likable. Perhaps that could be said about all of us in reality, but I don't necessarily read books for reality, I want to like the main character. The ending was also a little more pragmatic than I would have liked. Overall an okay read but I am unsure I will buy anymore in this 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.

Tess is very confusing in a charming way. The author has created a personality who is very solid with lots of puzzling elements. She is brave, loyal, loving, persistent, and intelligent, but also has more than a heaping teaspoonful of lapses in judgment. She puts herself in harm's way way too often, yet magically she's free of being hurt, at least physically. Tess is very good at containing her emotional pains and ploughing through life. She is a person who, in some ways, we would like to be. She's a person we can look down on as well as up to. She's the kind of character we want to follow in a series of stories.