In a Strange City

Laura Lippman took me by surprise, I have to admit. I saw an interview with her on CBS' Sunday Morning a couple of years ago and bought her most recent book for my dad. He's a mystery fan who likes his crime novels on the lighter side than me. I like Lehane, Connelly, Rankin - the noir stuff. How could this woman from Baltimore be writing stuff as good as the guys above? Not being sexist, here - I just couldn't see it. I should have thought of Laurie R. King who's Kate Martinelli series is as dark and good as the guys above. But, I didn't. I'm a moron! I just plowed through a litany of other books to read until I came upon this book. I asked my dad if he liked her and he replied, "Yes. A lot!" It dealt with Edgar Allen Poe and the Poe Visitor. Seemed interesting. So I gave it a try. Man, was I wrong! Laura is great! Strange City is witty and dark and quick-paced and has characters that are real and fantastic. Tess is one hell of a woman and I'm okay to admit that I'm a little in love with her. She's smart and sexy and tough but still vulnerable. I totally underestimated Laura and I promise that I will never to do that again. Keep at it Laura - Spenser ain't got nothing on you!

"These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air..." (from Shakespeare's "The Tempest"). This is one of the best mysteries I have read in recent years. It is an intriguing tale that revolves around the mysterious Visitor to Poe's grave who, every year, leaves three red roses and a half bottle of cognac. It is January 19. Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan and her boyfriend, Crow, are among the spectators keeping watch at Poe's grave. A cloaked figure appears, and then another. A shot is fired and a cloaked figure falls, mortally wounded. The second cloaked figure escapes in the commotion, fading into the shadows.The case becomes complicated. There are people trying to identify and find the visitor for personal agendas. There are charges that the murder was a hate crime - the victim identified as a ... waiter. Tess is drawn into the case, willing or not, because other players think she may have information. Mysterious notes appear, along with roses or rose petals, from an unknown individual attempting to enlist her aid. There are questions about thefts of rare books and memorabilia. And there is collateral damage.Along the way there are tidbits of information about Baltimore, and about Edgar Allan Poe including a pertinent poem ("From childhood's hour I have not been As others were; I have not seen As others saw; I could not bring My passions from a common spring." - from Poe's "Alone"). The case gradually unfolds as information develops about various players. Some people become unlikely allies, and relationships between people are revealed as the case is solved. Tess becomes the guardian of another dog, a friendly doberman named Miata.But that is not the end of the story because the Visitor is still involved, a mysterious cloaked figure of many faces, and there must be a meeting before the visitor fades into thin air. And will the Visitor be back next year? You might have to go to Baltimore next January 19, if you are willing to spend a cold night at a graveyard.

Just when one thinks that Laura Lippman has hit her peak (as in "Sugar House"), she surprises the reader by going up a couple of more notches and she started out on a very high level with her first Tess Monaghan book, "Baltimore Blues."In this fascinating novel, centered around the Baltimore tradition of the Poe Toaster who visits the author's grave each year on the anniversary of his death, Lippman has created a marvelous story.Her characters, especially her protagonist Tess, continue to grow while her secondary characters are three dimensional. It's true that some of them would not be people you'd care to meet in a dark alley or even in a crowded room, but they fill the pages of the story and leave a lasting impression.This is a fast paced mystery with Tess in the middle of collectors, Poe experts and police as she attempts to solve the murder as well as they mystery of Poe's anonymous visitor.Highly recommended.

As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I genuinely enjoyed Laura Lippman's toast to our genre's founder, Edgar Allan Poe. In her latest novel, IN A STRANGE CITY, Ms. Lippman plants her protagonist, Tess Monaghan, in the middle of a contemporary mystery story that is a pure tribute to Poe. A murder occurs during the observance of Poe's birthday at the great author's tomb when two cloaked Visitors show up with roses and cognac to serve as the Poe Toaster. A shot is fired. One toaster dies. The other flees. Tess witnesses the homicide and soon finds herself involved in other Poe-esque plot elements. The story includes multiple murders, a woman buried alive, and still unanswered questions involving Poe's life. As usual, Lippman's writing is first-rate and her beloved Baltimore is rendered perfectly. IN A STRANGE CITY is Lippman's best book yet. Read it. You won't be disappointed.

From the start Laura Lippman tries to trip up her readers by flicking a little Kennedy dust in their eyes. However, mystery fans who are also devoted rail road buffs and especially Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road buffs instinctively and adroitly fend off her efforts by instant recognition of the name JOHN PENDLETON KENNEDY. She even tries to steer one by mentioning the more fabled name John F. Kennedy. Nice try, Laura, but no sale here. Just who was John Pendleton Kennedy? Was he just another obscure 19th century lawyer, politician with hankering for literary fame? In addition to being intimately associated with Edgar Allen Poe he was also the member of Congress from Baltimore who sponsored the 1843 legislation to gain a hefty Federal subsidy for the first Morse telegraph line. He was also involved up to his ear lobes in rail road legislation, especially for the B & O R.R. He wrote a couple of not-so-notable novels of the period. He was well-to-do and helped Poe out with money and jobs many more times than once, but Poe could not stay away from the bottle.E.A. Poe or his remains anyway, are center stage for a good deal of the time in this fascinating mystery. Lippman's chief PI, Tess Monaghan, and her six years junior beau, Crow are busy as beavers with the reluctant help of Pigtown native Gretchen O'Brien, a recently cashiered Baltimore cop turned PI. They have more than one crime to solve. Picayune and Byzantine lore of the old "Patapsico" town is littered all over the place. We learn about the light bulb museum, the Maryland Mu-sheum and of all things a feminine hygiene museum in Prince George's County near the U of Maryland main campus at College Park. It gets weird and weirder.Get this book and all the other Laura Lippman titles. She takes you through a tale "In a Strange City" that is well worth the easy, face-paced effort. I met and chatted with herself at a "meet the author" session last year when she was promoting her last book "Sugar Shack". She is a real charmer and an authentic product of America's most authentic city, Charm City --- Baltimore, Maryland. If she is going to appear in a city near you or on the TV, do not miss seeing and hearing Laura Lippman. This is a really good read and I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.