Baltimore Blues

Categories: Award Winners , Mystery & Suspense , Staff Picks

If you're looking for a new mystery series to delve into, I highly recommend Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series.  The Baltimore-based series began in 1997 with Baltimore Blues.  Tess, an ex-reporter-turned-PI, enjoys rowing, food, and arguing with her large extended family.  In this, her first case, a fellow rower asks Tess to investigate his fiancee, whom he believes is having an affair with her boss.  When the boss, a prominent lawyer, ends up dead, Tess must fight to find the real killer and clear her friend's name.  Tess is nothing if not a dogged investigator and has a habit of putting herself into dangerous situations.  A statuesque redhead with a quick temper and fierce loyalty to both her boyfriend and slightly wacky (not to mention slightly corrupt) family, Tess is one PI you won't want to miss.  If you enjoy Baltimore Blues, you'll want to read all of Tess's adventures, including the latest, No Good Deeds.

Lippman has won many awards for her work, including the Edgar, Shamus, Agatha, and Anthony awards.  She is also the author of three stand-alone thrillers:  What the Dead Know, about the disappearance of two sisters; To the Power of Three, about a school shooting; and Every Secret Thing, about the murder of a young child by two adolescents.