Baltimore Blues

Rating:
Summary: Great Trouble
Review: This is another great book as a part of Tess Monagrham

Rating:
Summary: A Good Initial Start
Review: This is the first in a series featuring Tess Monaghan from Baltimore. I enjoyed the story line, however, became bored @ times with too many characters. The plot seemed disjointed at times. However, I will read additional books by Ms. Lippman!

Rating:
Summary: Starting point of a major crime novel series
Review: This novel introduces Ms Lippman's Regular series heroine ,ex journalist Tess Monaghan,who since her former newspaper closed down has found herself scratching a precarious existence working for her Aunt Kitty,a bookstore owner,and doing some supernumery work on behalf of her Uncle Donald,work that unknown to her is not really required and is paid for by her uncle from his own pocket. She is close friends with The Rock,with whom she shares a passion for rowing,he being nationally ranked and she an enthusiastic amateur.They train together and enjoy a relaxed cameraderie.
He is engaged to a young lawyer,Ava,and is afraid that she is seeing another man.He asks Tess to follow her and report on her movements.She accepts reluctantly,being unable to refuse the money on offer.She finds that the poised and unlikeable Ava is a shoplifter and is seeing Michael Abromowitz,once a prominent public defender now a partner in the firm which employs her.
Abromowitz is murdered and suspicion falls upon The Rock .His lawyer ,another rowing fanatic,named Tyner, engages Tess to dig around in the case trying to uncover facts useful to his defence.She finds that Ava has spun a yarn to the Rock about being forced to sleep with Abramowitz and thus the Rock has motive enough
Aide by her socialite friend Whitney she delves into the case uncovering information about the personalities involved.She finds herself mired in the worlds of teenage sexual abuse and murder,and industrial compensation cases both involving Abramowitz .Others have valid motives for wishing him dead.
The case is unravelled smoothly and in addition to Tess there are likeable characters in plenty--Crow ,a bookstore clerk and wannabe musician,smitten by Tess,and Whitney,flambouyant and opinionated but with personality to spare.Tess is feisty ,in the regulation female PI mode,but has a tendency to underachieve ,[professionally and personally)Her new ,accidental career as a private investigator is one that seems to suit her abilities and one that will give her more self repect and sense of integrity.She is a commitment phobe who has never quite followed through on anything in her life but withal an engaging woman
The background -Baltimore-makes a change from the NYC/LA/SF/Chicago axis and the author clearly knows and loves the place albeit in a clear eyed and unsentimental way,pointing out its racial divide and the economic decline following the collapse of manufacturing industry
The plot is a bit rushed towards the end -a common problem with tyro authors -but a major medium boiled series got underway with this enjoyable book.Lovers of Paretsky,Grafton and Barnes,take note-you will probably like this series as well