Tess Monaghan is an out of work journalist who is willing to take most any part time job offered her in order to help pay the rent. When an old friend is accused of murder, she determines to find the real killer.
The only real surprise in this who-dunnit was who the killer was. There were no clues linking him to the victim and he played only a very minor part in Tess’ investigation. In fact, when the killer was finally named, I honestly had to stop and ask myself "Who the hell was he?"

I found the premise of the book a bit hard to believe. Somehow, I can’t picture a standard, low-rent slip and fall lawyer, known best for his sleazy, cheap commercials being hired by one of the city’s premier law firms way over the top. I found Tess to be a whiner obsessed with her own victimology - sponging off of relatives for jobs and a place to live. Ms. Lippman may have been a good journalist, but good journalism doesn’t always translate into good fiction. Lippman also seemed intent on showing off her love of classic poetry-quoting several poets throughout, and gave me the impression of wanting to show off her English major background more than anything else.

This is not a book I would recommend, unless you are waiting in line at the DMV and are really bored.