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Baltimore Blues: A Tess Monaghan Novel (Tess Monaghan Novel, 1) Hardcover – December 26, 2006

by Laura Lippman (Author)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 2,761 ratings
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In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety—and his taste for illicit midday trysts—makes the case front-page news in every local paper except the Star, which crashed and burned before Abramowitz did.

A former Star reporter who knows every inch of this town—from historic Fort McHenry to the crumbling projects of Cherry Hill—now-unemployed journalist Tess Monaghan also knows the primary suspect: cuckolded fiancé Darryl "Rock" Paxton. The time is ripe for a career move, so when rowing buddy Rock wants to hire her to do some unorthodox snooping to help clear his name, Tess agrees. But there are lethal secrets hiding in the Charm City shadows. And Tess's own name could end up on the ever-expanding list of Baltimore dead.

Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 12
    Tess Monaghan
  2. Print length
    336 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    William Morrow
  5. Publication date
    December 26, 2006
  6. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0061210021
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0061210020
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow (December 26, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061210021
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061210020
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 2,761 ratings

About the author

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Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman

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Since her debut in 1997, New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman has been recognized as one of the most gifted and versatile crime novelists working today. Her series novels, stand-alones and short stories have all won major awards, including the Edgar and the Anthony, and her work is published in more than 20 countries. A former Baltimore Sun journalist, she has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Glamour and Longreads. "Simply one of our best novelists, period," the Washington Post said upon the publication of the ground-breaking What the Dead Know. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her family.

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Website: www.lauralippman.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lauralippman/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lauramlippman/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LauraMLippman

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
2,761 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

cosbyfan24
4.0 out of 5 stars Decent
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2023
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For a mystery, not bad. A smidge convoluted but I didn't mind. Read and did keep my interest which is a win.
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SAS
5.0 out of 5 stars The first novel in my favorite series
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2019
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Baltimore Blues introduced me to Teresa Esther Weinstein Monaghan, the fictional PI who almost immediately became my best imaginary friend. Finely drawn characters, believable plotting, and a vivid sense of place kept me coming back to read each Tess Monaghan book as soon as it appeared in a series that never disappointed. Now, more than 20 years later, I've begun the series again - and am enjoying the second reading just as much as the first.
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Frank Donnelly
3.0 out of 5 stars An OK, 3.5 Star, Debut Mystery Novel Set in Baltimore, The Author Merits Further Reading
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2019
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"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...
26 people found this helpful
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David Monroe
4.0 out of 5 stars A new series to devour
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2024
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A friend recommended this book to me. She likes Baltimore and the Orioles and the Ravens. She knows the city is named Charm City but this book was hard to read at times.
The characters were interesting and Tess sometimes bf was one dimensional so good riddance. Let’s hope love actually finds her in book 2. There is some promise in the next book - a full time job and more importantly a reason to exist.
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Texas bookworm46
5.0 out of 5 stars LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE TESS
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2017
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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.
20 people found this helpful
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Shirley Schwartz
3.0 out of 5 stars First in a series set in Baltimore
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2012
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This is the first book in the Tess Monaghan series, and its a series that I've wanted to read for awhile. I liked it, but it has some flaws. I know this is a first book in a series, so I'm sure that the series will get better and stronger with additional books. I really like Tess. She's a 29 year old failed newspaper reporter who finds herself at loose ends career-wise when her rowing buddy gets involved in a murder. Tess wants to help him by finding the real killer so she sets out on a one-woman investigation that gets downright dangerous. I like some of the lesser characters in the book and think that the series holds a lot of promise. I found the book was really slow to start, but about half way through the action and the plot picked up. By the end of the book, I fully believed in Tess and in what she was trying to do and also believed in what she stood for. I look forward to reading my way through the series.
5 people found this helpful
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Whoosie
4.0 out of 5 stars racing through the potholes
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2023
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4 1/2 stars. It isn’t great literature, but it’s close, especially for a mystery.
It helped that I know a lot of the Baltimore neighborhoods - the story is soaked in them. A nice collection of characters. Some character growth and change. Too many red herrings; I didn’t guess the killer. I’ll look forward to reading the rest.
One person found this helpful
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Jan
5.0 out of 5 stars Positive
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2022
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I enjoyed the twists and turns, red herrings, behind the scenes and characters, learning as I was pulled into her story. Clever plotting lead
me towards a surprising conclusion. A good read is worth my time, every time. Thanks!
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Top reviews from other countries

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A. Baker
4.0 out of 5 stars A promising start
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2022
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Laura Lippman is a fantastic writer. This is the first of the Tess Monaghan series, which is new to me: I have read Lippman’s stand-alone novels first. This is a great detective story with lots of atmosphere and plenty of red herrings. Enjoy!
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Client d'Amazon
1.0 out of 5 stars Livre indigne d être vendu ...date de 20 ans, jauni..
Reviewed in France on December 2, 2022
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Pour un amoureux du livre pour moi, achat exécrable...trop jauni ....service à ne
Pas recommandé !! Article invendable pour moi...arnaque absolu pour 5 euro 70!!!
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Jacqueline Chaytor
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on November 22, 2014
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Kept me intrigued to the end
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Chris mac
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Australia on September 24, 2015
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Good read kept you guessing to the end
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さんぺい
4.0 out of 5 stars 女性探偵シリーズの１作目
Reviewed in Japan on October 1, 2010
Verified Purchase
　肉体派の若い女性の探偵シリーズの始まり。
　今回は、ボルティモアの地元紙記者であった主人公が、新聞が廃刊になったために失業中で、趣味のポート仲間の無実を証明するため、弁護士の忠告も聞かずに独自に危険な捜査を始める。
　展開は面白く、飽きさせないが、自分としては結末に若干無理な部分があるように思えた。
　また、何故かは良く分からないが、英文は少し読みにくい。他の探偵小説では見かけないような単語や、１度読んだだけではスーと頭に入っていかないような文章が出てくるように思います。(慣れれば問題ないのかとは思っています。)
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