Butchers Hill

I recently discovered Laura Lippman and am reading this series it order. The first and second were good, but this one is the best so far. This series reminds me of Marcia Muller's books.....they keep getting better and better. Bravo!! It is so wonderful to discover a great new author.

I wasn't as impressed by the book before this one, Charm City, so I hoped this one would be more like the first one in the series (Baltimore Blues), and I'm delighted to say it was. In this, book three of the Tess Monaghan series, Tess opens her own PI agency with the help of her mentor/friend Tyner and a retired PI who lends her his name and status while he dashes off to enjoy his golden years. What makes this book so good are the following things: 1) the two basic intertwined stories (Tess' search for children who'd witnessed a shooting some years before, and her search for the daughter a client gave up for adoption); 2) the extra glimpses we get into Tess' family life (that is, the way that her grandmother, et.al., are interwoven into the story; the whole concept of family is important throughout the entire novel); 3) the new detail we get about Tess herself (her previous battle with bulimia, etc.); 4) the way Baltimore continues to be a character in Ms. Monaghan's novels; and 5) the way this book sets up what will come in the next one [(In Big Trouble)by this, I mean that Tess personal life gets a LOT more attention here, and that leads directly into what becomes her most personal "case" in book four]. Some characters cross over from book two, and some you likely loved are missing. I particularly missed Crow because he seemed such a good balance for Tess in book two. However, the clients Tess takes on are strong enough characters to fill this novel with energy and make you want to know more about them. Excellent!

This is the novel where Tess Monaghan opens her PI office (using a little scam to get the license) and takes on her first clients. The two cases run together a little because they deal with the foster care system. They involve things that happened in the past. When Tess looks for the children who had been witnesses to a shooting, it stirs up a lot of trouble and eventually reveals related crimes. The novel covers her family (possibly as interesting as Plum's) including the uncle that neither side seems to claim, and an unexpected addition. There are social issues, and the underside of Baltimore, including black vs. white issues. A lot of the plot is based on the foster care system. Some readers may not be able to deal with some of the sticky issues covered in the novel. I don't think the author ever had the Klan burn a cross on her lawn, but that is probably because the novel was writen in the closing years of the 20th century (that did happen to another author at an earlier point in time). There is some coarse language in the novel. It seems to digress at points, but as you finish the novel it becomes apparent how some of the digressions fit into the plot. There is also a lot of background color on present day Baltimore.

This is number 3 in the Tess Monahan series. Every time I pick up one of these books and read the back it doesn't sound all that great to me, but once I start reading I can't put her books down. This one is about some children that witnessed a murder and the man accused of the murder hires Tess to find them when they are older so he can help them financially. Then the witnesses start turning up dead. A new character is added to this series. Tess takes over the care of Esskay, her uncle's greyhound, while he recovers from a beating in the hospital. The plot is well developed and tight. Although the setting is Baltimore, you can imagine the story happening anywhere. Lippman seems to deal with social issues in her stories. In this book some issues mentioned include adoption and foster homes. I can't wait to get my hands on number 4 in this series.

This is the third of the Tess Monaghan books. Mysteries are often filled with cardboard characters and one or two well developed characters. Laura Lippman doesn't work that way. All her characters are imperfect, but then, so are real people. The characters in this, and the other two novels in this series are interesting and have twists and turns in their characteristics that are as amusing as are the twists and turns of the plots. Normally, I don't identify with female protagonists, but Tess is such an interesting person that even a straight guy such as myself enjoys her point of view. I recently had the opportunity to meet Laura Lippman when she came around to the local library to talk to her fans. She's also an interesting character.