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Tess Monaghan #3
Butchers Hill
Title 3 of 12: Tess Monaghan
Listening Length = 8 hours and 47 minutes
An Agatha and Anthony Award winner! PI Tess Monaghan has just set up shop in Baltimore when a man who was recently released from prison asks her to find the witnesses of his sentencing — supposedly to make reparations. But as she begins investigating, the witnesses start dying…
A crackling thriller from a “brilliant” author (Gillian Flynn).
Tess Monaghan has finally made the move and hung out her sign as a private investigator for hire, complete with an office in Butchers Hill. Maybe it's not the greatest address in Baltimore, but you've got to start somewhere. Then in walks Luther Beale, the notorious vigilante who five years ago shot a boy for vandalising his car. Just out of prison, he wants to make reparations to the kids who witnessed his crime, so he needs Tess to find them. But once she starts snooping, the witnesses start dying. Is the 'Butcher of Butchers Hill' at it again? Like it or not, Tess is embroiled in a case that encompasses the powers-that-be, a heartless system that has destroyed the lives of children, and a nasty trail of money and lies leading all the way back to Butchers Hill.
Listening Length = 8 hours and 47 minutes
An Agatha and Anthony Award winner! PI Tess Monaghan has just set up shop in Baltimore when a man who was recently released from prison asks her to find the witnesses of his sentencing — supposedly to make reparations. But as she begins investigating, the witnesses start dying…
A crackling thriller from a “brilliant” author (Gillian Flynn).
Tess Monaghan has finally made the move and hung out her sign as a private investigator for hire, complete with an office in Butchers Hill. Maybe it's not the greatest address in Baltimore, but you've got to start somewhere. Then in walks Luther Beale, the notorious vigilante who five years ago shot a boy for vandalising his car. Just out of prison, he wants to make reparations to the kids who witnessed his crime, so he needs Tess to find them. But once she starts snooping, the witnesses start dying. Is the 'Butcher of Butchers Hill' at it again? Like it or not, Tess is embroiled in a case that encompasses the powers-that-be, a heartless system that has destroyed the lives of children, and a nasty trail of money and lies leading all the way back to Butchers Hill.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
Laura Lippman
114 books6,355 followersSince Laura Lippman’s debut, she has been recognized as a distinctive voice in mystery fiction and named one of the “essential” crime writers of the last 100 years. Stephen King called her “special, even extraordinary,” and Gillian Flynn wrote, “She is simply a brilliant novelist.” Her books have won most of the major awards in her field and been translated into more than twenty-five languages. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her teenager.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 460 reviews
July 25, 2018
Going to applaud Laura Lippman here for tackling race. I was wondering if she was going to do it, and it's slightly imperfect, but I did love her showing how Tess was steeped in privilege and didn't even get how much until she met Jackie (one of her clients with a surprising connection to her) and Luther Beale. I loved how Lippman showcases two different Baltimore's (one for white people and one for black people). I also love the shoutout to HBO's "The Wire."
"Butchers Hill" has Tess single and dealing with the effects of being badly beaten in the last book. She finally opened up her own P.I. firm in Baltimore and is nervously waiting for business to come her way. Her first client is Luther Beale, an older African American man who was charged with manslaughter years earlier when he fired when some young kids started vandalizing his car. Beale is a pariah in his community and wants Tess's help in tracking down the survivors in order to provide them with money to help them out.
Tess's second client is a woman named Jackie that is looking to find her adopted daughter. I won't get into how Tess and her relationship is complicated, but the reveal we get is outstanding. What is great though is that Tess is floundering without her best friend Whitney by her side. She needs someone to interact with that is not her nutty family or her aunt. When Tess and Jackie start to interact, Tess finds herself envious of Jackie's money and clothes, but realizes that even that doesn't change that the rest of the world still looks down on Jackie because she's black.
I have to say a few times I wanted to shake Tess cause her thoughts and comments pretty much shows she doesn't get it when African American people she comes across don't want to have anything to do with her, and she seems to have a vague idea that racism is a thing. She makes a few jokes about the confederacy and I wanted Jackie to smother her.
That said, you can see Tess in her own misguided way, wants to help Jackie and really sees her as a friend. I was surprised by the ending with these two and I think most readers will be as well.
These two cases really have nothing to do with each other besides Jackie helping out Tess with her first investigation and things tying up nicely in the end.
Tess's family shines in this one. You have heard about the bickering and pain in the butt grandmother, now you get to meet people in the flesh. I maybe laughed a few times at some of the scenes and was surprised to see how things ended up with Tess, her family, and some other characters.
The writing was really good and I liked the flow.
Baltimore is still a perfect setting for this series and this third book really comes alive with things. I don't know about the fourth book, looks like Tess is going to Texas and I am sad we won't see her in her usual habitat.
Great read!
"Butchers Hill" has Tess single and dealing with the effects of being badly beaten in the last book. She finally opened up her own P.I. firm in Baltimore and is nervously waiting for business to come her way. Her first client is Luther Beale, an older African American man who was charged with manslaughter years earlier when he fired when some young kids started vandalizing his car. Beale is a pariah in his community and wants Tess's help in tracking down the survivors in order to provide them with money to help them out.
Tess's second client is a woman named Jackie that is looking to find her adopted daughter. I won't get into how Tess and her relationship is complicated, but the reveal we get is outstanding. What is great though is that Tess is floundering without her best friend Whitney by her side. She needs someone to interact with that is not her nutty family or her aunt. When Tess and Jackie start to interact, Tess finds herself envious of Jackie's money and clothes, but realizes that even that doesn't change that the rest of the world still looks down on Jackie because she's black.
I have to say a few times I wanted to shake Tess cause her thoughts and comments pretty much shows she doesn't get it when African American people she comes across don't want to have anything to do with her, and she seems to have a vague idea that racism is a thing. She makes a few jokes about the confederacy and I wanted Jackie to smother her.
That said, you can see Tess in her own misguided way, wants to help Jackie and really sees her as a friend. I was surprised by the ending with these two and I think most readers will be as well.
These two cases really have nothing to do with each other besides Jackie helping out Tess with her first investigation and things tying up nicely in the end.
Tess's family shines in this one. You have heard about the bickering and pain in the butt grandmother, now you get to meet people in the flesh. I maybe laughed a few times at some of the scenes and was surprised to see how things ended up with Tess, her family, and some other characters.
The writing was really good and I liked the flow.
Baltimore is still a perfect setting for this series and this third book really comes alive with things. I don't know about the fourth book, looks like Tess is going to Texas and I am sad we won't see her in her usual habitat.
Great read!
January 18, 2016
actually, this was one of my favorite tess books so far. but what i love most about lippman is not just her characters, or her plots, or the setting.
it's little things like this:
"You made his day," the doorman said.
"By taking his soda and scaring him with my dog?"
"By letting him do something for someone else. Nobody wants to be on the end of the receiving line all the time, you know. Howard smuggles bread out of here every day, just so he can feed birds, just so somebody will need him."
Sure enough, Tess saw him standing in the middle of a flock of birds as she turned east on Bank Street. The pigeons and seagulls circled close to him, but he wasn't scared, she could tell. He cooed at them in their own language, crumbling the slices of bread and tossing them into the air like bright white pieces of confetti.
see? it's a throw away moment, really, especially in terms of the story, but she doesn't throw it away - she writes it. and it's beautiful.
it's little things like this:
"You made his day," the doorman said.
"By taking his soda and scaring him with my dog?"
"By letting him do something for someone else. Nobody wants to be on the end of the receiving line all the time, you know. Howard smuggles bread out of here every day, just so he can feed birds, just so somebody will need him."
Sure enough, Tess saw him standing in the middle of a flock of birds as she turned east on Bank Street. The pigeons and seagulls circled close to him, but he wasn't scared, she could tell. He cooed at them in their own language, crumbling the slices of bread and tossing them into the air like bright white pieces of confetti.
see? it's a throw away moment, really, especially in terms of the story, but she doesn't throw it away - she writes it. and it's beautiful.
July 22, 2014
This was a pretty good mystery, marred by a hasty ending. But after reading that dreadful Patricia Cornwell book a week or so ago, this was just the palate cleanser I needed for that genre.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
February 7, 2015
Now I understand.
I have enjoyed Lippman's standalone novels but was underwhelmed with the first two books in the author's Tess Monaghan series.
The evolution of a good writer into a great writer begins with book three, Butchers Hill. The plot(s) are complex and entertaining so the reader is kept guessing. Lippman continues to include Monaghan's eccentric Jewish/Irish family to lighten the mood but the slapstick humour is toned down from the previous novels. As we get to know the various family members and their many not quite so noble talents, the reader begins to understand that it takes a village to produce an independent minded PI like Tess.
Wrap a good plot, a touch of humour, great characterizations and settings and this is a series I will continue to enjoy.
I have enjoyed Lippman's standalone novels but was underwhelmed with the first two books in the author's Tess Monaghan series.
The evolution of a good writer into a great writer begins with book three, Butchers Hill. The plot(s) are complex and entertaining so the reader is kept guessing. Lippman continues to include Monaghan's eccentric Jewish/Irish family to lighten the mood but the slapstick humour is toned down from the previous novels. As we get to know the various family members and their many not quite so noble talents, the reader begins to understand that it takes a village to produce an independent minded PI like Tess.
Wrap a good plot, a touch of humour, great characterizations and settings and this is a series I will continue to enjoy.
January 5, 2012
I enjoyed the first Tess Monaghan novel that I read, but I loved this one. It was not only an entertaining story with great characters, but it provided me with a reader's special bonus--it left me something to think about.
As a private detective struggling to establish a new business, Tess calls on various members of her extended (and quirky) family to assist with two different invigations which both involve teenagers who have been touched by the child welfare system. Her bickering but supportive family creates a technicolor image as it is contrasted with the lives of the young people at the heart of her investigation.
It is no mean feat to entertain a reader while also exposing social injustice, but Lippman pulled it off with mastery. I never felt manipulated as a reader, never felt like she was preaching, but when I put the book down I knew the story would stick with me for a long, long time. Now, that's a good book.
As a private detective struggling to establish a new business, Tess calls on various members of her extended (and quirky) family to assist with two different invigations which both involve teenagers who have been touched by the child welfare system. Her bickering but supportive family creates a technicolor image as it is contrasted with the lives of the young people at the heart of her investigation.
It is no mean feat to entertain a reader while also exposing social injustice, but Lippman pulled it off with mastery. I never felt manipulated as a reader, never felt like she was preaching, but when I put the book down I knew the story would stick with me for a long, long time. Now, that's a good book.
September 5, 2023
Ich glaub, wenn es keine Murder Mystery gewesen wäre hätte ich das Buch auch nicht zu Ende gelesen. Am Ende wollte ich nur noch wissen wie der Fall ausgeht. Die klischeehafte strong female lead Detectivin oder die alle sehr eindimensionalen Nebencharaktere konnten mich echt nicht überzeugen.
Ich dachte ich würde mehr Spaß an einem Detectiv-Buch haben aber ich glaube, von dem Genre werd ich erstmal wieder die Finger lassen.
Weiß nicht ob die Anspielung jetzt zu Nische ist aber Laura Lippman schreibt als würde sie eins von diesen Exit-/Adventure-Games entwerfen.
Ich dachte ich würde mehr Spaß an einem Detectiv-Buch haben aber ich glaube, von dem Genre werd ich erstmal wieder die Finger lassen.
Weiß nicht ob die Anspielung jetzt zu Nische ist aber Laura Lippman schreibt als würde sie eins von diesen Exit-/Adventure-Games entwerfen.
November 18, 2018
What can I say? This book made me want to stop reading any more of this series. Tess is obnoxious and doesn’t give much of a damn about anything except her family and dog.
Unfortunately we don’t stop there. This is Tess’s foray into dealing with *black people.* In a nutshell, it does not go well. The black characters are all stereotypes. When one mentions the impact of systemic and direct racism on her life, Tess is like, whatevs. Ignore them. She is 29 and utterly clueless, privileged and self centered. She cannot see very well beyond her worldview.
And adoption. Oh my goodness how this topic is completely mishandled. She didn’t do much better with foster care. Again a storyline wasted and mishandled.
I feel like Tess is trying to be a female Myron Bolitar but she fails spectacularly. I found myself yelling at the book on tape because of Tess’s blatant stupidity and the absolutely ridiculous situations in this terrible book. And I never yell at books!
I’d like to hope that Tess grows up and the books get better as the series progresses, but I’m not hopeful.
Unfortunately we don’t stop there. This is Tess’s foray into dealing with *black people.* In a nutshell, it does not go well. The black characters are all stereotypes. When one mentions the impact of systemic and direct racism on her life, Tess is like, whatevs. Ignore them. She is 29 and utterly clueless, privileged and self centered. She cannot see very well beyond her worldview.
And adoption. Oh my goodness how this topic is completely mishandled. She didn’t do much better with foster care. Again a storyline wasted and mishandled.
I feel like Tess is trying to be a female Myron Bolitar but she fails spectacularly. I found myself yelling at the book on tape because of Tess’s blatant stupidity and the absolutely ridiculous situations in this terrible book. And I never yell at books!
I’d like to hope that Tess grows up and the books get better as the series progresses, but I’m not hopeful.
September 19, 2023
Laura Lippman is my current favorite mystery/crime writer and I am working my way through her books. Butchers Hill is the third in her Tess Monaghan series in which Tess has begun working as a private investigator.
On the first day in her new office she is immediately immersed in old secrets around the murder of a foster care kid that occurred five years ago. In this tale of corruption in the foster care system of Baltimore, MD, Tess unearths a trail of events that even include her own family.
These books will take me from the late 1990s to the second decade of the 21st century. As Sara Paretsky has brought Chicago crime to light in her V I Warshawski novels, Laura Lippman shows us a similar situation in her home city.
Tess Monaghan is a complex character full of smarts and foibles. I am enjoying her efforts to get her skills together as she fights the darker side in the city she loves.
On the first day in her new office she is immediately immersed in old secrets around the murder of a foster care kid that occurred five years ago. In this tale of corruption in the foster care system of Baltimore, MD, Tess unearths a trail of events that even include her own family.
These books will take me from the late 1990s to the second decade of the 21st century. As Sara Paretsky has brought Chicago crime to light in her V I Warshawski novels, Laura Lippman shows us a similar situation in her home city.
Tess Monaghan is a complex character full of smarts and foibles. I am enjoying her efforts to get her skills together as she fights the darker side in the city she loves.
December 30, 2010
Meh....The story had good potential, but I really did not care for the character of Tess, who seemed pretty incompetent as a detective, and not terribly good with people to boot. Her research methods were not very believable. Too much about her family, who were tedious rather than interesting. Also, the African-American characters seemed kind of stereotypical--though I may have been affected by the reader, who gave them all the same voice. But I did listen to the whole thing.
June 1, 2018
so far, this is proving to be a very consistent series. i am enjoying the characters, and how they are developing. i am glad, in this instalment, that lippman has finally addressed the racial inequality of baltimore, and the race divide in the city. i like that this seems to be something that will continue in the series.
December 27, 2015
It was really, really good. Thanks for the book Rene!
April 14, 2020
I recently read Lady In The Lake and did not especially like it. I decided to give Lippman another chance with Butchers Hill and I am glad I did. This clever story is both exciting and irreverant. Tess is a smartmouthed PI who manages to get to the bottom of two mysteries. Good fun, recommended.
July 9, 2022
Ну и что, что третья книга в серии.
Накручено неплохо.
Накручено неплохо.
December 9, 2011
Third in the Tess Monaghan mystery series based in Baltimore and revolving around a private detective just starting out.
My Take
It was slow to get started but I was soon deep in the two cases Tess pursued. One on a baby put up for adoption by a young but ambitious woman who turns out to have very unexpected connections to the Weinstein side of Tess' family. The other reopens the case of the Butcher of Butchers Hill unveiling a cauldron of corruption.
It's some nasty stuff that has torn up peoples' lives but I do love the ending.
The Story
Tess has opened her new office and finally gets two cases: a man who wants to find the children he shot at over five years ago and a woman who wants to find the daughter she gave up at birth. Both come with more complications than you can shake a stick at as some of the children are found murdered as well as some of the peripheral adults involved all those years ago.
The police suspect Beale...and Tess but the more who die, the less sense it makes. A loose tie-in with Judith Weir's case and the information Tess learns about adoptions and the foster care system provides the needed clue that unravels the entire coverup.
The Characters
Tess Monaghan has some self-esteem issues. Understandable when you meet her Grandmother and mother. Unemployed for several years when the Baltimore paper by whom she was employed merged and her position was eliminated, a fellow rower and lawyer, Tyner Gray, encouraged Tess to explore private investigation. Well, okay, he pushed her into it kicking and screaming. Esskay is her retired greyhound whom she, ahem, "inherited" from Uncle Spike. She lives above her Aunt Kitty's bookstore in a cute apartment with its own terrace.
Tess is both Catholic and Jewish through the Monaghans and the Weinsteins. On the Weinstein side who show up in this installment, there is Gramma, Uncle Jules and Aunt Sylvia, their daughter, Deborah and her husband Aaron with their son Sam, Uncle Donald who has a placeholder job with the government and is always willing to help Tess out, Uncle Spike---no one is quite sure how he's related, and her parents, Judith and Patrick. Gramma is a control freak and the siblings and grandchildren do their best to get around it.
Tess met Dorie Starnes when she did a job for the Beacon-Light newspaper. Dorie is running a secondary computer research business using her employer's access to all sorts of databases. Martin Tull is a detective whom Tess met on an earlier case. Kevin Feeney is a still-employed reporter with whom Tess used to work.
Luther Beale was recently released from a five-year stint in prison for shooting a child in the back. He now wants to find the survivors of that shooting to anonymously help them to succeed in life. Or is he more interested in revenge as the police believe?
Mary Browne, a.k.a., Susan King, a.k.a., Jackie Weir is a very successful single woman who had a daughter at age 18. She gave the girl up for adoption but now wants to know how she's doing. It's a bizarre twist in finding Jackie's daughter that clues Tess in as to the truth in Luther Beale's case with a wonderful end for eight-month-old Laylah. Willa Mott worked for the adoption agency which supposedly placed Jackie's daughter. Molly and David Edelman are Samantha King's foster parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the foster parents who were responsible for the five kids involved in the Butcher Hill murder five years ago: Donnie Moore, the one who was shot; Salamon Hawkings; Treasure and Destiny Teeter, the twins; and, Eldon. The social worker in charge was Chase Pearson, Salamon's current guardian.
The Cover
The cover looks like a very enlarged pink brick with a square cutout showcasing a nightlit street in Baltimore. A very gritty feel.
The title refers to the location of one of her cases, Butchers Hill, which suddenly erupts into multiple murders.
My Take
It was slow to get started but I was soon deep in the two cases Tess pursued. One on a baby put up for adoption by a young but ambitious woman who turns out to have very unexpected connections to the Weinstein side of Tess' family. The other reopens the case of the Butcher of Butchers Hill unveiling a cauldron of corruption.
It's some nasty stuff that has torn up peoples' lives but I do love the ending.
The Story
Tess has opened her new office and finally gets two cases: a man who wants to find the children he shot at over five years ago and a woman who wants to find the daughter she gave up at birth. Both come with more complications than you can shake a stick at as some of the children are found murdered as well as some of the peripheral adults involved all those years ago.
The police suspect Beale...and Tess but the more who die, the less sense it makes. A loose tie-in with Judith Weir's case and the information Tess learns about adoptions and the foster care system provides the needed clue that unravels the entire coverup.
The Characters
Tess Monaghan has some self-esteem issues. Understandable when you meet her Grandmother and mother. Unemployed for several years when the Baltimore paper by whom she was employed merged and her position was eliminated, a fellow rower and lawyer, Tyner Gray, encouraged Tess to explore private investigation. Well, okay, he pushed her into it kicking and screaming. Esskay is her retired greyhound whom she, ahem, "inherited" from Uncle Spike. She lives above her Aunt Kitty's bookstore in a cute apartment with its own terrace.
Tess is both Catholic and Jewish through the Monaghans and the Weinsteins. On the Weinstein side who show up in this installment, there is Gramma, Uncle Jules and Aunt Sylvia, their daughter, Deborah and her husband Aaron with their son Sam, Uncle Donald who has a placeholder job with the government and is always willing to help Tess out, Uncle Spike---no one is quite sure how he's related, and her parents, Judith and Patrick. Gramma is a control freak and the siblings and grandchildren do their best to get around it.
Tess met Dorie Starnes when she did a job for the Beacon-Light newspaper. Dorie is running a secondary computer research business using her employer's access to all sorts of databases. Martin Tull is a detective whom Tess met on an earlier case. Kevin Feeney is a still-employed reporter with whom Tess used to work.
Luther Beale was recently released from a five-year stint in prison for shooting a child in the back. He now wants to find the survivors of that shooting to anonymously help them to succeed in life. Or is he more interested in revenge as the police believe?
Mary Browne, a.k.a., Susan King, a.k.a., Jackie Weir is a very successful single woman who had a daughter at age 18. She gave the girl up for adoption but now wants to know how she's doing. It's a bizarre twist in finding Jackie's daughter that clues Tess in as to the truth in Luther Beale's case with a wonderful end for eight-month-old Laylah. Willa Mott worked for the adoption agency which supposedly placed Jackie's daughter. Molly and David Edelman are Samantha King's foster parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the foster parents who were responsible for the five kids involved in the Butcher Hill murder five years ago: Donnie Moore, the one who was shot; Salamon Hawkings; Treasure and Destiny Teeter, the twins; and, Eldon. The social worker in charge was Chase Pearson, Salamon's current guardian.
The Cover
The cover looks like a very enlarged pink brick with a square cutout showcasing a nightlit street in Baltimore. A very gritty feel.
The title refers to the location of one of her cases, Butchers Hill, which suddenly erupts into multiple murders.
March 4, 2021
A real joy. I like Lipmann, but all the Tess Monaghan books are not created equal. Butchers Hill is one of the really good ones. The book is dated -- there is lots of discussion of things related to computers and its funny to hear people talk about IBM clones vs. Mackintosh and floppy discs and shadowy people who have side hustles selling information because they have access to interlinked computer. But its still a great story that resonates. The resolution of the mystery surprised me and there was all the great and complicated family and friends storytelling that makes the Tess books so fun.
May 2, 2009
Private investigator Tess Monaghan’s first official client is Luther Beale, known as the Butcher of Butchers Hill. Five years earlier, Luther was imprisoned for shooting a young boy vandalizing his car, and Luther wants Tess to find the children who witnessed the shooting so he can make amends to them. Almost immediately, two of those children are found murdered and the police target Beale as the killer. Tess’s second case, which becomes a parallel investigation, involves a sophisticated fundraiser who wants Tess to find the child her sister gave up for adoption thirteen years earlier. Tess soon finds herself chasing clues on two cases based on deception, one of which will lead Tess back to her own childhood.
Tess Monaghan is a refreshing character; an athletic woman with flawed characteristics and a dysfunctional family who strives to do the ethical thing. Lippman provides two mysteries based on misconceptions and falsehoods which the reader will enjoy trying to solve along with Tess.
Tess Monaghan is a refreshing character; an athletic woman with flawed characteristics and a dysfunctional family who strives to do the ethical thing. Lippman provides two mysteries based on misconceptions and falsehoods which the reader will enjoy trying to solve along with Tess.
March 5, 2016
This was the installment of this series I was waiting for. After a disappointing second entry, I was afraid I'd have to walk away from Tess Monaghan - there are just too many good books to read to waste time with ones I don't like - even plenty of other better books by Laura Lippman. But she transforms a character who was barely likable by the end of the second book into one with depth, direction, & daring, with a complicated family history & an interesting future ahead of her. Now I'm looking forward to the next installment, & catching up on this series.
August 13, 2013
Very enjoyable private detective story, where Tess Monaghan is hired to locate several foster children for reparations of a long ago crime, and also to locate a woman's child she put up for adoption years ago. Solutions are discovered, which change many lives in the present, including Tess'.
Explosive secrets come to life, which once unburied, wakes up a long-hidden killer. Third book in the series.
Explosive secrets come to life, which once unburied, wakes up a long-hidden killer. Third book in the series.
May 1, 2018
I began again with an established author series about mid stream. The #3 in this case of Mrs Lippmans investigator extraordinaire Tess Monaghan. Its well laid out and yet another good commuter train read, if the reviews ive read this is Mrs Lippman hitting her stride and i will not argue that! I loved this one and will return for more of Tess!
January 16, 2013
Laura Lippmann Tess Monahan series which is what I classify as light mystery or suspense. I enjoyed the characters and storyline, interesting reading that didn't require a lot of attention. Just right for a change of pace.
September 1, 2015
Heartwarming?
Although Tess is not terribly sentimental, she has a heart and so do her clients. This one brought tears to my eyes and touched me like no other book of it's kind!
Although Tess is not terribly sentimental, she has a heart and so do her clients. This one brought tears to my eyes and touched me like no other book of it's kind!
March 7, 2017
Great mystery with many social messages. Two plots and families intertwine, and many Baltimore references. My first book by Laura Lippmann!
April 26, 2017
A definite step up from the last one. Two clients for PI Tess with full back stories, some real detecting and surprisingly affecting family stuff in the little-bit-too-neat wrap up. I enjoyed that.
February 26, 2019
The more of this series I read the more I love Tess!
August 24, 2019
Surprisingly dated in its language and portrayal of urban poor blacks in Baltimore
January 10, 2022
I'm going to give this one a 5. Originally I had trouble getting into it, but I think that's because I have read a few stupid mystery stories recently and I was not expecting the level of complexity. Once I was in I devoured it (thanks a lot for the missed sleep).
This one was much above the average in terms of being an intelligent story that consistenly broke stereotypes (but not in a predictable way). I did not guess the answer but it was a fair answer not too contrived. I like Tess, she's a bit messy on the inside but not overly focused on men (although one feels sure she could have a sex life even if it's not the main thing about her), her emerging frienemyship with Jackie was cool.
The ending was so happy it would make you sick but that was acceptable given the genre and the content of the rest of the story. Tess' family was toxic but sort of semi-redeemed at the end - I have some mixed feelings about that but again it was done with enough complexity for me to accept it (gramma pisses me off however). There were feminist and anti-racist barbs thrown in here and there just to keep people likeme interested (I assume). There are guns but the book is not overly casual or approving of them.
Will definitely track down and read more of these and I hope I will continue to be happy (some series fade with time, but this one seems to have potential).
This one was much above the average in terms of being an intelligent story that consistenly broke stereotypes (but not in a predictable way). I did not guess the answer but it was a fair answer not too contrived. I like Tess, she's a bit messy on the inside but not overly focused on men (although one feels sure she could have a sex life even if it's not the main thing about her), her emerging frienemyship with Jackie was cool.
The ending was so happy it would make you sick but that was acceptable given the genre and the content of the rest of the story. Tess' family was toxic but sort of semi-redeemed at the end - I have some mixed feelings about that but again it was done with enough complexity for me to accept it (gramma pisses me off however). There were feminist and anti-racist barbs thrown in here and there just to keep people likeme interested (I assume). There are guns but the book is not overly casual or approving of them.
Will definitely track down and read more of these and I hope I will continue to be happy (some series fade with time, but this one seems to have potential).
February 7, 2022
This one was good and twisty. I predicted a couple of things happening but it was fascinating reading about race and how that affected Baltimore especially within the scope of the foster system and in the early 2000s when this was written. It was not perfect but dealing with concepts of race rarely are, especially even 20 years ago. I enjoyed how her two cases came together in the end. She also was in life threatening peril in this one for a change.
February 25, 2020
This one wasn't my favourite of the series, as it dealt a lot with issues of race and while it was likely ahead of the curve when it was written it definitely feels its age now. That said I do like the establishment of Tess at her own agency, and the interaction with Tull intrigues me. Romance potential? Maybe it's just because I'm mentally casting him as Chris Messina.
April 23, 2020
Love the local Baltimore setting and references but felt some serious subjects (adoption, foster care, racism, urban poverty and crime) were given too casual treatment. The quickly resolved ending had me confused.
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