I'm not always the most enthusiastic audio book listener, but to this day I remember listening to Laura Lippman's What the Dead Know and being floored by the experience. I am very picky about my audio books. I try not to set aside books I am reading, but will do so hesitatingly. I have no qualms whatsoever when it comes to audio books that are not working for me, however. There are rarely second chances for them. I listened to the Lippman novel years ago and remember getting so wrapped up in the story that the world would fall away and then being completely surprised by the twist at the end. A perfect reading (or in this case listening) experience.
I think I have been afraid to pick up another book by Lippman for fear of the story not being able to live up to the comparison. Of course we're talking about a solid, traditional amateur detective-style story here which I always enjoy, though I had no idea what I would be in store for. So, first things first. Baltimore Blues is the first Tess Monaghan story in what is now about a dozen mysteries. It was Lippman's first book published in 1997. I'll be honest that the experience did pale a little in comparison, but I like Tess so much I am more than willing to give this early novel a little leeway. First books in a series always have that tinge of newness to them, of getting things going and of scene setting. Characters and setting have to be established. The mystery was good, but the draw for me is Tess.
So, a little bit about Tess Monaghan first.
"At twenty-nine Tess had made her peace with her face and body. She wasn't beautiful, but her looks served her well. She kept things simple: long brown hair in a single plait down her back, no makeup on her pale face or hazel eyes, clothes designed for comfort and speed, One thing was certain, she had the wardrobe to be a spy--drawers full of old, baggy things in dark colors. She knew how to be invisible."
She reminds me a little of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, who I get quite a kick out of. Stephanie is a little zany, resourceful but zany. Tess is similar in that she's out of a job. She's got an unusual family, too, and she also ends up solving crimes by default, her need to pay bills that initial prompt into detective work. But Tess can be very driven and is very skillful in how she tackles things. She is also fairly fearless. Of course it is through her initial "sleuthing" that the resulting investigation becomes so complicated, so there is going to be a learning curve there I suspect.
Although Tess tells a friend (a friend of the male persuasion who is in a relationship but still stays with Tess overnight on occasion) that she is nothing, not even an Atheist and certainly not a Catholic-Jew, her parents are of mixed heritage. A Jewish mother and an Irish Catholic father, which I find fascinating and hope Lippman will expand upon over the course of the series. She is refreshingly guilt-free about many things.
"She existed on an intricate system of favors and freeloading, which had made her cheap and a little spoiled."
Although 'chronically underemployed' she had been working as a reporter at a local newspaper until they folded. Her contacts will come in handy later, but now her goals range from bench pressing 120 pounds to reading Don Quixote and finding a job. (She likes making lists like me!). Finding a job, curiously, was the last item on the list (though the first one she accomplished in the book). She may be out of a job, but she is driven by routines and rituals ("she never met a rut she didn't like"), which means early mornings out to the boat house to row with her friend Rock. A medical researcher by day, Rock eats, sleeps and breathes rowing. If anyone is driven, it's Rock.
And it's Rock's uncertainties about his girlfriend, Ava, that sets the story on course for disaster. Ava, a soon-to-be lawyer (how many times now has she failed the bar exam?) has been acting funny. Funny in a 'she's in some kind of trouble' funny. But she won't talk to Rock about it. Seeing as Tess has extra time on her hands being unemployed, she could easily follow Ava and check up on her. When the smarmy lawyer that Ava has been working for turns up dead, and Rock is known to have visited his office only moments before, he's taken into custody as the only suspect. And Tess's run-ins with Ava, who has a fondness for really nice things that can't afford, show Ava to be behaving in an unscrupulous manner.
Tess's initial fumblings may have helped Rock get dug in deeper at first, but her careful piecing together of clues and her tenacity are going to help solve the crime. Did I mention she lives upstairs from her aunt's bookstore (fittingly a feminist bookstore called Women and Children First)? Kitty is quite the voluptuary, who's most recent significant other is a younger policeman. Kitty is older, shorter and very fond of Tess.
Tess is a likable character, smart and independent, a little irreverent. The mystery aspect of the story is good and solid, though no tricky twists like her standalone I read and loved years ago. I expect that the Tess Monaghan stories will be dependably good and I already have Charm City waiting for me when the mood to visit Baltimore strikes once again. (I say this every time I discover a new detective I want to follow--hopefully not too much time will pass before I read the next book!).