Baltimore Blues is Laura Lippman's first novel, originally published in mass market paperback in 1997. I guess that the publisher was unsure about the staying power of a crime novel set in the dowdy city of Baltimore, Maryland. The edition that I read is a hardback reprint from 2007. To say that this doesn't often happen in an understatement.

Tess Monaghan, Lippman's Irish Jewish Baltimore native female detective main character, is introduced in this novel. She is already a well rounded character with a family, a history, habits and the ability to engage the reader in her fictional life. Monaghan as a character, and Lippman as an author seem to rise fully formed, like Venus rising from the sea on a shell.


It was a pleasure for me, as an affectionado of all things Lippman, to finally read this first novel and see where Crow, the young musician boyfriend, Kitty the sexy maiden aunt, Tyner the wheelchair bound lawyer, Whitney, the wealthy college roommate and lifelong BFF and many of the other characters, that float in and out of the Tess Monaghan books, came from. I started reading the series in hardback before the reprints of the original paperbacks came out. If you are new to Laura Lippman you might do well to start at the beginning, or maybe not. Working backwards in time to this first novel was a novel experience.

I have a theory about how a mystery novel should be constructed. The author must leave clues scattered throughout the book that the reader will remember as the mystery is solved. Readers are supposed to have an aha moment when the killer is revealed. "Why didn't I see that in chapter four?" you are supposed to ask. Lippman's books don't follow my theory. Nothing is ever neat. In fact there is likely to be more than one killer, as there is likely to be more than one victim. Nothing is neat or orderly. Lippman's books are more like real life. Some obscure character from chapter four that isn't mentioned for pages and pages might show up, very angry, with a gun during the denouement. Yet it always works. I guess that's why "crime novel" and not "mystery story" is the best description of Lippman's work.

Some time I'll tell you about my science fiction theory. Authors often seem to ignore it, too.

I'll Never Forget The Day I Read A Book!

First in the Tess Monaghan series about a Baltimore reporter turned private eye. The book is rather slow to get started, but by the end was quite good. Tess is a rower, and her fellow rower and friend, Rocky, is accused of the murder of a high-priced lawyer with a sleazy past. Tess takes on an investigation to get him cleared. ( )

Tess' rowing buddy wants her to follow his fiance to find out why she's been acting so withdrawn. After following her and seeing her shoplifting and meeting an associate at a hotel, Tess confronts confronts her. The man is murdered and Tess' friend is the prime suspect. The story then goes into the dead man's secrets and the secrets of the fiance. ( )

Baltimore Blues started out as a paperback and then was released later in a hardcover edition. It has something of a choppy feel to it the way a lot of good paperback novels do. The movement between segments is abrupt at times. The plotting of the book is a bit ragged and the way it ends is problematic as well. Since the book started it's life as a paperback one can almost feel that as the author got near the end of the book she felt like she needed more action to end it with than what would have been a more natural ending. As a result, we end up with one of the characters doing something that is totally out of character. It does give the book an action packed finale, but a quiet ending would have suited this book much better.

Tess, the out of work newspaper reporter, is the major plus in this book. She is at loose ends in her life and is having difficulty getting started again. As a character study of Tess the book is at it's best. This is what the ending should have been willing to focus on rather than the completion of the mystery in a guns-a-blazing finish. A quieter ending with Tess confronting the killer would have left the focus on Tess and her development as a detective. The ending does not suck, but it does focus on the action in the book which is not the book's strength. The book's strength is Tess. ( )

Tess Monaghan, an unemployed ex-reporter, starts investigating the fiancée of a rowing friend as a freelance job to pay the rent. Knowing her hometown of Baltimore, she thinks this is going to be a simple "find out what she's up to" tailing, but it turns into a desperate effort to clear her friend of murder charges. The ensuing investigation gets dangerous and nearly deadly.
The characters are entertaining and the story develops into a real page turner
As a Baltimore native, it was fun to hear of the changes that I remember - Friendship Airport becoming Baltimore Washington International, Hutzlers no longer existing and the building becoming the Department of Human Resources, McCormick plant leaving the city and the smell of cinnamon no longer in air- all this while telling a story that could have been set in any big city but is beautiful set in the Author's hometown. Can't wait for more. ( )