Baltimore Blues

Tess Monaghan #1

by Laura Lippman

Until her paper, the Baltimore Star, crashed and burned, Tess Monaghan was a damn good reporter who knew her hometown intimately -- from historic Fort McHenry to the crumbling projects of Cherry Hill. Now gainfully unemployed at twenty-nine, she's willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent -- including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl "Rock" Paxton.

In a city where someone is murdered almost everyday, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety -- and his noontime trysts with Rock's fiancee -- make the case front page news...and points to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend's innocence could prove costly to Tess -- and add her name to that infamous ever-growing list.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Detective

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1997

About the author

Since 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.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When it appears a rowing buddy of hers murdered his fiancee's boss and lover, underemployed Tess Monaghan sets about trying to clear his name. But did Rock kill ace attorney Michael Abramowitz? If he didn't, who did and why? And can Tess find out before she winds up as dead as the lawyer?

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the girl I was seeing at the time told me I would like Laura Lippman. Since she was always pushing books on me, I ignored her. Maybe she was right in that one particular instance.

Baltimore Blues is a mystery that has many more layers than it first appears, like baklava. See, I could have said "onion" but that's what everyone says when they talk about layers. Anyway, it was Laura Lippman's first trip to the dance and she did a lot better than most first time novelists.

As the title indicates, Baltimore plays a big part in the book, almost a character in and of itself, much like George Pelecanos' Washington DC, Dennis Lehane's Boston, and Lawrence Block's New York. Much like Detroit, Baltimore doesn't get by on looks. It has to work for a living, to paraphrase Elmore Leonard.

Since this was the first book in the series, Lippman had some groundwork to lay and she did it in a fairly painless way. We know Tess is into rowing, has an on again/off again reporter boyfriend named Jonathan and used to be a reporter but we don't get clubbed over the head with any of it. I liked that Tess isn't hot, wasn't involved in a love triangle, and generally behaved like a real person instead of being a moron like most fictional detectives wind up being in order to advance the plot. Also, she works in a bookstore. A lady detective that works in a bookstore? Hard to top that, ladies.

Like all great mysteries, it took me forever to figure out what really happened and it turned out I was still wrong. Part of it was misdirection but I have to say I think another part of it was that it was such a convoluted affair. That was my only gripe with the book. I thought the mystery was way too serpentine and not readily solveable. Also, I'm still pretty sure Ava was boning somebody besides Rock but that was never revealed.

So, I liked Baltimore Blues quite a lot but not enough to take it into a bus station men's room and have rough intercourse with it. I'll be reading more of Laura Lippman's chronicles of Tess Monaghan. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book in Laura Lippmann's popular 'Tess Monaghan' private investigator series.

Twentysomething Baltimore resident Tess Monaghan was a journalist until her newspaper the 'Baltimore Star' folded. Now Tess works part-time in her Aunt Kitty's bookstore and puts in a few hours a week in her Uncle Donald's government office. This gives Tess plenty of time to indulge her two favorite pursuits - sculling and running.



Tess wakes up at 5:30 every morning to row for a couple of hours.....then runs in the evenings after work. All this exercise leaves Tess's long lean body muscular and toned.

Tess's best friend is Darryl "Rock" Paxton, a science researcher whose passion is competitive rowing.



Tess and Rock meet at the Patapsco River boathouse every morning, and - after sculling in their individual shells - go out to breakfast on Rock's dime. 😊

One day Rock asks Tess to do a job for him. Rock's beautiful blonde fiancé Ava Hill, a budding lawyer who's failed the bar exam twice, has been acting squirrelly lately.....and Rock wants to know why.



Rock asks Tess to investigate Ava, and offers to pay Tess standard private investigator fees. Cash-strapped Tess agrees, and her discoveries lead to a world of trouble.

Tess learns that Ava has afternoon trysts in a hotel with Michael Abramowitz, a partner in the "Three O's" law firm that employs them both.



Rock is appraised of this news, and - soon afterwards - Abramowitz is killed in his office. Before you can say prime suspect, Rock is arrested for murder.

Rock's lawyer, also a rowing aficionado, employs Tess to look for exonerating evidence to clear Rock. While Tess is researching Abramowitz's life, she's hounded by her former boyfriend - investigative journalist Jonathan Ross - who wants a scoop for his newspaper. Ross is a lothario who drops in on Tess for a bit of nooky whenever he feels like it, and I didn't like him. 😝



Looking for information about Abramowitz's murder, Tess interviews the security guard at the Three O's law firm, and the cleaner who found Abramowitz's body. She also delves into Abramowitz's cases, to identify people who might have wanted him dead.

Tess discovers that Abramowitz started his career as a public defender, and that he got off a number of accused rapists. The rapists' female victims formed a support group, and these women - as well as convicts Abramowitz didn't exonerate - form a pool of possible suspects.



Additional characters in the book include Tess's beautiful Aunt Kitty - a woman of a certain age who still attracts men like flies; Crow - a young man who works for Aunt Kitty.....and has a big crush; Whitney - a clever young woman who helps Tess investigate; Shamus O'Neil - the managing partner in the Three O's law firm, who has a roving eye; Shamus's wife - who knows her husband runs around; and more. In addition the city of Baltimore, whose gritty neighborhoods are described in cinematic detail, is almost a character in the novel.



Tess's investigation endangers her life, but she solves the crime.....and starts her career as a private detective. Tess is an appealing sleuth and I enjoyed the book.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a zippy murder mystery set in Baltimore. Tess Monaghan has been in a rut since she lost her newspaper job, but her life gets more exciting when her friend, Darryl, asks her to investigate his fiancé. Things get messy when Darryl is accused of murdering a shady attorney linked to his girlfriend. Tess tries to help him by finding the real killer, and ends up in the crosshairs herself.

I listened to this audiobook while attending a conference in Baltimore, and it was fun to learn details about the different neighborhoods as Tess travels around the city to investigate the case. This was my first Laura Lippman book, and I enjoyed this enough that I'll check out more of her work.

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four star spangled stars! (See below.) I have been intending to try this series after reading a short story featuring Tess Monaghan in Seasonal Work: Stories. When I still needed to check off a book set in Maryland for a Spring reading challenge, I queued up this audiobook on a road trip. Here are four things I liked:
🚣‍♀️Rowing - Tess is faithful in her trips to the river for morning workouts. What she lacks in finesse, she makes up for in consistency. When she is rowing, she finds herself singing 'The Star Spangled Banner.'
🌆Baltimore - Lippman gives us a strong sense of place. I have spent very little time in Baltimore, but this book really makes me feel like I was just there.
🕵️‍♀️Investigation - Even though Tess did not seek out a job as an investigator, she finds herself going above and beyond to help a friend. Sometimes she goes too far outside the box, but she is trying!
🧩Puzzle - Lippman does not tie things ups neatly. Life is complex and so is the narrative. In the end it feels a bit like a jigsaw puzzle with many pieces being fit together to complete a picture.
I do find myself wondering about how the next chapter in Tess Monaghan's life will go. Definitely interested in trying Book 2.

[Jonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Laura Lippman and have read several of her standalone books. This led me to her Tess Monaghan series. Unlike other favorite mystery series I read, I started with the first-and I’m glad I did! I know where Tess came from, what influenced her, and how she grew to become an investigator. I love that Tess lives above a bookstore and loved experiencing Baltimore through Tess’s eyes. I hope to see characters from this book in future installments.

What impressed me most about this book, was that everything was there the whole time. I never realized the many subplots we’re all connected and would come together at the end. It blew me away. There was misdirection that I followed. There were times I thought people were guilty when they weren’t. Other times when I thought people were innocent that actually turned out to be quite guilty! Never saw it coming! The tiniest details make all the difference in this book and I missed several. I know better now and will read more closely as I prepare to dive into book two.

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book certainly can't help that it was written almost 20 years ago & is therefore dated in ways both charming - "Tess looked over his shoulder, enthralled. Electronic data bases were new to her" and irritating - Tess's insistence that the female members of the Victims of Male Aggression group have "built their lives around passivity and inaction," the entire existence of Crow. But the mystery was interesting, and although Tess has archaic views on the proper way to be a victim of sexual assault, there is always room for her to grow. I'll stick around as long as she doesn't start dating Crow for real.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good mystery. I wasn’t sure I liked Tess that much at first but she grew on me by the end. And damn did she get herself into some situations! Of course she was always jumping into things with both feet no matter how many warnings she had not to do certain things. But I still kind of liked her. She has spunk.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars for Baltimore Blues, Book 1 (audiobook) by Laura Lippman read by Deborah Hazlett.

This was a interesting start to a new series. Former Star Newspaper reporter Tess Monaghan is persuaded to do some private investigating and she ends up uncovering layers of murders and coverups.

[Obsidian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. What a crazy ride! I loved reading about Tess, her family, her uncle (who may not be a uncle) and having this whole thing set in Baltimore. Lippman manages to make Baltimore come alive and you get to see the many sides to Charm City. I really enjoyed Tess too since we don't just get her off and running in her new freelance career as a PI. Lippman introduces some great characters, Tess's aunt Kitty, her ex Johnathan, her rowing buddy Rock, and her best friend Whitney.

"Baltimore Blues" has Tess Monaghan still dealing with being unemployed after being let go from the Star. She still dreams about going back to a newspaper and becoming a reporter again, but for now works in her aunt's bookstore and for her uncle at a state agency. When her friend Rock asks her to follow his fiancee and get some answers on why she is acting so weird, she does so, cause being broke is not that much fun. Following her around, Tess realizes there is more than meets the eye with her. When his fiancee tells Rock that a lawyer she is working with has forced her to sleep with him, he goes and confronts the man. When the lawyer is found dead, fingers point to Rock, and Tess is hired to work alongside his lawyer.

Tess is such a mess and I love her. She has a weird family and lives above her aunt's bookstore. She has an on and off relationship with an ex, but also finds herself thinking of someone who works with her aunt named Crow (I am also reading books with characters having terrible names). Tess is in a rut and her investigating to help out her friend seems like the best thing she can do. She seems to be drifting through her life.

Tess's aunt is pretty hilarious, but sketched thinly. I did love Tess and her relationship with her friend Whitney and how they pushed/pulled each other though.

We don't get to really see the different Baltimore's here though. Lippman addresses that in her third book (Butcher's Hill) and I was happy to see it. I maybe laughed at Tess talking crap about how bad D.C. was compared to Baltimore (it's funny cause it's true).

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of the Tess Monaghan series. Lippman does an excellent job of establishing a great sense of Baltimore. This is important as Tess is a Baltimore native. We meet many of the characters, her friends and family, who continue to be featured in her books. Tess is a recently laid off newspaper reporter and is scrambling to earn a living with a few part-time jobs given to her by family members. She is also an athlete and her sport is rowing. As water is so important to the city of Baltimore, being on a tributary of Chesapeake Bay. She is also a runner and with the hours she spends daily on her exercise routines, it's a good thing she is not fully employed. Being a rower, however, fits into her getting her start as an investigator. A fellow rower hires her to trail his fiance. When there's a murder, her rowing friend is a suspect and Tess goes to work as an investigator for his lawyer.
I have been reading this series for over 10 years. The first novel was published in 1997 and there are many aspects of the story that remind us how much things have changed in 18 years. For example, Tess often makes phone calls from pay phones that even in 1997 weren't easy to find.
A satisfying mystery, and decent narration. The narrator makes a decent stab at Baltimore accents for various characters, and it adds to the color.

[Rollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book after enjoying What the Dead Know, but I just couldn't get into it or make myself care about any of the characters.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because it is a Baltimore author in a genre I like. It was okay. I'll read others, but its more in the mind-candy side of things. Definite beach read.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baltimore Blues proves a very strong debut to an extremely popular series featuring savvy former reporter Tess Monaghan moving into private detection with a lawyer. Author Laura Lippman worked for The Baltimore Sun, and it’s clear she really knows the city, which becomes almost an additional character in this suspenseful read. I’m sure to be reading more Lippman novels.

[Bill on GR Sabbatical · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lippman drew from her own life in Baltimore and experience as newspaper reporter and rower and I was quickly pulled into Tess Monaghan's world. Short of cash, she takes on a job for rowing buddy Rocky, who's suspicious of his fiance's recent unavailability and wants her followed. This innocuous beginning leads Tess into investigations of murders past and present and makes her a prime candidate for the obituary page, herself. I enjoyed this debut novel in the series and expect I'll read more.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you read Mystery Scene Magazine, this has been a month devoted to author Laura Lippman. Having read a few of her standalone novels, the editors convinced me it was time to try one in the Tess Monaghan series set in Baltimore. A question often asked about series is whether you need to read them in order. If you're reading for the mystery alone I'd bet in this case you could but to set the character and locale I'm for starting right from the beginning.

Like the author, Tess is a former journalist but unlike the author who chooses writing, Tess turns her hand to private investigation. She doesn't know that this is where her life is headed at the outset of Baltimore Blues but I think the reader can see this clearly from the get go. You immediately know that this is a series where location will be just as important as the characters. By page 5 references are made to the city including one by the Mayor who calls Baltimore the "The City that Reads" and Tess dubs The city that bleeds", fodder for investigation if I ever saw one. She then goes on to call it "the city one leaves" also illustrating a mood. We find out little things about Tess that help us to form a picture in our minds. She's a rower, a good rower who others think could be great if she only had the interest. She runs too which gives us a picture of a fit woman, one capable and strong. I love that Tess lives in a row house above her Aunt Kitty's bookstore, Women and Children First. Making this Tess's home tells me reading and books are important to Lippman and therefore to her character. There are many references to support my claim. Tess has a sense of humor and seems a loyal friend. She has a what I can only call a convenient sexual relationship with a reporter who has a girlfriend and who becomes part of Tess's first dip into deduction.

Tess has me just interested enough to try another.

[Amanda McGill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh never really got into Baltimore Blues. The story follows ex-reporter Tess as she tries to clear her friend's name who is accused of killing his fiancee's boss.

I just found the story revolved around Tess just going from person to person and getting them to spill their story. I didn't find it that interesting and the ending wasn't a huge shocker.

I won't be continuing the series.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently read one of Lippman's standalone novels and liked it, so I dug up the first in her Tess Monaghan series. Not bad, but a little bit clunky. This is a book that definitely would have been better in first-person POV than in third. It's a nice set-up for the series, though. We meet Tess (who is not necessarily the most warm-and-fuzzy, likeable heroine), a former reporter turned semi-employed mooch, just as she stumbles onto the opportunity to do some detective work for the first time. I'm always looking for a good series, so I plan to find the second book soon.

[Eunyoung · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this book because Karin Slaughter mentioned Laura Lippman in an interview. I read Lippman's "The Power of Three" and "I'd Know You Anywhere" prior to this one and I liked it. But I knew that Lippman is known for her Tess Monaghan series so I was eager to start this one. I guess because Karin Slaughter had recommended her, I thought this would be similar to KS's books. So not. Maybe it's because I went into this with certain expectations, but I was a little disappointed. The tone is lighter and attempts at humor fell a little flat at times. I didn't care much for Tess. It annoyed me that she freeloaded off her family and friends and even the government when legal- proudly too (printing free copies at the library just because it was free and she felt entitled to them because she's a tax paying citizen- nothing particularly WRONG but a little annoying in conjunction with all her other quirks). Her ability to lie seemed to come too naturally and sleeping with an ex who has a girlfriend didn't seem to bother her too much. When you can't come up with one positive personality trait about the main protagonist, it makes it hard to like the book.

I felt there was a lot of story lines that were dropped and/or not given adequate attention. What happened to Rock? Even though the whole book centers around Tess trying to solve Rock's case, he's barely mentioned after the first few chapters. And what about his relationship with Ava? Yes, we find out what happens to her at the very end of the book, but nothing is mentioned what happened between them.

Overall, I enjoyed her standalone books a lot more than this one about Tess. Perhaps I should give it one more chance and read the next one in the series "Charm City"?

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars. I loved this for more than halfway, and then it started getting a little violent. I love Tess though and the other recurring characters, and the humor. Also the Baltimore flavor was a nice add. The audio narrator does a really bad Baltimore accent. But other than that, the narration was also good. Will continue with the series after a little break. Nice to have found a new series to enjoy!

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book was very boring. Just as I was about to give up, it picked up quite nicely for around 1/4 of the book, but then the last quarter was very confusing and not very satisfying. There was way too much time devoted to rowing and here in central Illinois rowing generally refers to walking beans, detassling corn or bucking bales. If you're going to actually row a boat it usually is to the middle of the river or pond to catch catfish. Recommended only to Lippman fans.

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had Laura Lippman in my sights ever since Ellen Emerson White spoke highly of her in an online posting. This month, BN is offering the first book in Lippman's Tess Monaghan series for 99 cents, so I thought I should give her a chance. And I'm glad that I did.

I can't say that this book excelled beyond my wildest imagination or any of that sort of hyperbole. What it does, it does well. It's the story of how Tess, underemployed and working free lance since she was laid off as a reporter, starts working as a detective. A friend asks her to investigate his fiance, and this one request has a large number of consequences for everyone involved in their lives.

What I liked most about this book was Baltimore. I haven't been to Charm City, and I'm sure Baltimore of today is different from the time when they had almost a murder-a-day. However, I do work in Detroit, and I dearly love that city. What I saw in this book was almost a love letter to Baltimore. The city, with its crime and its neighborhoods and its impossible map and local businesses, lives and breathes on the pages of Lippman's book. I don't know if the locations she writes about are real. But I can believe they are. And, when reading a book with such a power setting as Baltimore, that's all that matters.

[Heidi (can’t retire soon enough) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those times I've had to back track through a series to start from the beginning... I really like Laura Lippman's character and enjoyed seeing where it all began. A solid mystery with a hint of humour and self deprecation on the main character's part... a real woman. Looking forward to the next one.

[Leah]

this book has everything: narrator doing a strong baltimore accent, very 90s gender politics, local journalism discourse!

[John Carter McKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flipping through a number of mysteries, I was grabbed by Baltimore Blues from the first paragraph. Tight writing, realistic characters, a strong setting, well-crafted plot with good red herrings and actual clues: Lippman serves up a solid mystery.

The main character, Tess, is particularly well-handled: she's neither an unlikeable mess nor a Mary Sue waiting to be discovered or to start believing in her own awesomeness. She's not cookies yet: life on hold after the end of her newspaper job, she's working out, scrounging, drifting, until a friend asks her to check up on his shady girlfriend.

Set in Baltimore in the 90's, Baltimore Blues is a big canvas of loss: the city's loss of identity, the end of the newspaper era, chronic underemployment. Lippman takes this cast of scroungers, hangers-on, the checked-out, and weaves a strong narrative with everything from serial killers to grifters to scammers, janitors to millionaires.

It's not great literature by any means, but it's a damn solid mystery, and I'll be reading more in the series.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a decent start to what looks like a long series, but I was not totally impressed with Tess Monaghan, the main character. She was whiny, self-indulgent and her sense of entitlement set me on edge. She relies on her family and friends to support her and seems to take them all for granted. That said, I didn't hate her and I can see that there is room for major growth for her character. I plan on reading more in this series.

[Jaksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't really know how to start this one...

First off, this book did not compel me to keep reading - yet I did keep reading, so there's that. But it was like this: well, I need to read 30 pages and maybe it'll get better, or make more sense, or something...

Tess Monaghan has lost her job, reporter for a newspaper in Baltimore which has recently folded. Kind of at her wit's end, she spends time rowing and working for her aunt who owns a bookstore. She's got a sometime boyfriend, and a 'good friend' who also rows, and then another fellow who works in the bookstore she sorta kinda likes. Lucky girl, two possible love interests and then a guy friend who's engaged to a girl who's having an affair with an older man. The story then gets all muddied up in that Tess gets involved in solving a murder for a lawyer - who's not really well-fleshed out - because her 'rowing guy friend' is the chief suspect. However, this guy - the murder suspect - gets lost in the pages. He just wanders around, doing whatever he wants even though he's been accused of a gruesome murder.

The parts don't hold. They don't congeal. They don't fit neatly into a 'hey, this is all very plausible!' It just doesn't. I was lost in who Tess was REALLY working for: for a story she can sell? To help out her rowing friend? For the rowing friend's lawyer? Or just cuz she wants to solve the murder. If this story were a disarticulated skeleton, and we, the readers, are waiting for the author to put the bones back together, there'd be a skull down by a kneecap and a spine sticking out of the rib cage...

Really, that's how I felt reading this book. It's all disjointed! Confusing! And with the obligatory characters who exist just to help Tess with some research, or an obscure microfilm, or some 'clue' that they give Tess by making an odd comment.

However, and here's the funny thing: I rather like Tess. Just like I like Kinsey Millhone or even Richard Jury. Sometimes the books are kind of 'messy' with things added last minute - or last chapter - but I enjoy reading about them so much I say, okay, get on with it.

So three stars. Serviceable, despite the fact that at the end there are toe bones stuck on the right hand.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tess definitely fits the broken detective genre. Sadly, this book ends with a bit of unresolved mystery... but I am intrigued to know how Tess grows. In this book, she's trying to figure out who she's going to be and sleeping with an ex-boyfriend who has a new girlfriend.

I'm willing to keep going and see what happens with Tess.

[Marty Fried · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not bad for a first in the series, but it didn't really grab me for some reason. I think it was a bit confusing, and Tess was a little strange at times, perhaps because she seemed to lie a lot even when it might not have been necessary or even expedient. But there were some interesting characters, maybe too many.

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

So many things wrong with this book... where do I even begin?

1. Maybe this is my fault for reading books out of order but of course the only other Tess Monaghan book I have read is the one that calls back to the story that unfolds in this book. So it turns out I already know the ending from reading a later book in the series.

2. I'm surprised this book started such an apparently "hit" series since it's poorly written. Like the author assumes you just know things without telling you. We don't know Crow has dreadlocks until halfway through the story, she neglects to say that Tyner's in a wheelchair (although she does note that his legs are "shriveled"), but then she stresses over and over how boyish Tess is.

3. Where's the mystery? It's like the story really wants to focus on Tess and her relationships with Jonathan and Kitty and Whitney. I thought her aunt said to get out of town - but why? and of course Tess doesn't listen.

I made it about 75% through this but since I know "whodunnit" and who kicks the bucket (so to speak) there is no reason for me to waste any more time on this story. I might avoid Tess Monaghan books going forward. I seem to only like Lippman's books when she writes books about lost little girls.

EDIT: I finally made it through just out of curiosity about how everything fit together and it was just MEH, as I thought. Don't waste your time!

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baltimore Blues is the first in Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series and very enjoyable. I like Tess as a hero and Lippman's writing is always first rate. I also enjoyed the portrayal of Baltimore.

In the opening of the series, Tess is still adjusting to losing her job as a reporter and trying to find herself a new job/career. A rowing friend (I like that Tess is a large, somewhat ungainly woman and not a classical beauty) of Tess asks her to investigate his girlfriend to see if she's being faithful. Tess follows the not-very-nice girlfriend and her trail leads her to corpses and her friend's arrest as a murderer.

If this all seems predictable, well, it is somewhat but deftly done and well presented. It was good to track Tess to her beginnings. I will go back and read more in this pleasant series.