In Big Trouble

Tess Monaghan receives a postcard regarding her ex-boyfriend, Crow, who has moved to Texas, implying that he’s In Big Trouble. With a generous retainer from his parents, she heads down to investigate, coming across a dead body in the process. Finding him may be easier than keeping him out of jail once she does.
This little road trip with Tess was a good choice for the fourth volume in the series. Tess’ private investigation firm is still growing, so she’s able to take off for a few days on this errand. The change of scenery, from dreary Baltimore to sunny San Antonio, in November no less, was pleasant for Tess and the reader. Tess proves just as resourceful in an unfamiliar town than one in which she’s got the local newspaper’s show more IT support on speed dial. As always, she makes mistakes and puts her foot in it sometimes, and her personal choices are a mess, but that makes her a more genuine heroine to whom the reader can relate.
Bonus points to Lippman, as well, for crafting a mystery with plenty of clues, giving the reader a feeling of having figured out ‘whodunit’ and then pulling the rug out. I never saw it coming. Good show. show less

Audio book performed by Deborah Hazlett

Tess Monaghan – former reporter, current private detective – leaves the comforts of her Baltimore home to track down an old flame whose parents’ last letter was returned “moved – no forwarding address.” Tess agrees to go to Texas to find Crow, her only clues his last known address and a cryptic note she received that included a clipping with the headline “In Big Trouble.” She tracks him to Austin’s music scene and then to San Antonio, but she also discovers a dead body and a decades-old murder mystery. And she discovers some very colorful characters – rich, “old” money Texas family, a Mexican-American attorney who frequently speaks like a redneck, a Vietnamese landlady, and show more a Wisconsin transplant who loves milagros.

I like this series. Tess is an intelligent woman who keeps herself in shape and uses her wits and her strengths to get herself out of any difficult situation in which she lands. I’m not too keen on her tendency to want to bed half the men she encounters, but mostly she avoids these temptations. I loved all the literary references – from Don Quixote to James Joyce’s Ulysses, with a smattering of Tolstoy and Larry McMurtry for color. The final reveal was a surprise, but with plenty of supporting information / clues on retrospect. I was happy to find a book set in my home town. However … when she asks for an all-night eatery for a breakfast she cannot get in Baltimore, why go to Earl Abel’s for German chocolate cake? She should have been taken to the 24-hour Mi Tierra Café for menudo! But that’s a minor irritation that only a native would notice.

The audio, narrated by Deborah Hazlett, has some problems. Hazlett doesn’t know how to pronounce half the proper names associated with San Antonio, nor is she particularly adept at Spanish. Finally, she doesn’t have enough acting ability to significantly distinguish the voices of the many characters. However, I didn’t feel I should mark this down farther for the audio performer’s faults. It’s still a good, solid mystery read. show less

This is the fourth installment in the Tess Monaghan series, and it finds Tess traveling to Texas. Tess receives a picture in the mail of her ex-boyfriend Crow. Over the picture it reads "In Big Trouble." At first Tess discards the picture and doesn't think much of it. Crow is a big boy, and he can take care of himself. But when she contacts his parents and learns he has cut himself off from them and they haven't heard from him in several weeks, she begins to grow suspicious. And when his parents offer to hire her to find him, she sets off with Esskay for the Alamo - hmmm, a girl and her dog on an adventure in a strange land. Sound like anything you know?

With each Tess Monaghan book I add to my "read" list, I like Tess more and more. show more She's spunky, quirky and she definitely does NOT have it altogether! A characteristic I find especially annoying is a young person who always knows the right thing to do or say and WHEN to do or say it. How many young people do YOU know like that? It takes time, experience and maturity to master that, and yet a lot of people NEVER master it. Tess's mistakes and poor judgement make her more real to me.

Then on the flip side, Tess isn't a "silly" female character. Does she do some silly things at times? Yes, but not so that her whole personality is "silly." There are a few female detectives I've read (written by female authors) whose complete personalities are silly. That factor usually deters me from wanting to read any more of the series. I believe Tess would be irritated by "silly" females, actually. And that characteristic is appealing to me.

The plot of IN BIG TROUBLE brings Crow back into the fold and gives some background to his character. I didn't find this plot to be predictable at all. At one point I remember thinking "oh Laura, PLEASE don't tell me you're going to have this happen!" And almost as if she was listening to me think that, a character asks if that scenario is true - it's not. Whew! Saved!

Probably the element I liked the most in IN BIG TROUBLE is the theme of context. I think that theme is underlying in a lot of crime fiction, a lot of mystery, but Lippman really brings it to the forefront in this novel. As the reader I was constantly questioning events and evidence because of that theme. Still didn't help me unfold the mystery early, but it DID have me thinking the whole time.

I listened to this on audio book from BBC Audiobooks America. The reader is Deborah Hazlett. She also read the previous Tess Monaghan books that I've listened to, so her voice will be forever ingrained in my mind as Tess's voice. I enjoy her readings, but there was an element in this one that bothered me a bit. In this book there were several Mexican characters. And I have to say that Hazlett's Mexican dialect didn't sound like any Hispanic person I've ever heard. That factor ended up being a little distracting to me, but not enough so that I wouldn't recommend the sound recording.

Overall, a great Tess Monaghan adventure and a great audiobook! show less

In Big Trouble is the 4th book in the Tess Monaghan detective series. Tess, a Baltimore private investigator, receives a newspaper clipping in the mail showing a picture of her former boyfriend Crow under the headline “In Big Trouble.” She checks with Crow’s parents, and they affirm he is missing. They hire Tess to go to Texas to find him. In San Antonio, she gets involved in a complicated but interesting web of murder and revenge involving one of Crow’s band members, the ethereal looking Emmie.

In addition to the mystery plot, it is very entertaining to follow Tess’s explorations of San Antonio along with her comparisons to Baltimore. The slipped-in travelogue is one of Lippman’s strengths, as is Tess’s humor and sarcasm. show more Tess is impulsive, emotional, a sort-of-recovering food abuser, doesn’t do “tact” or “chit-chat,” can’t let unsolved mysteries lie, is very funny, and is fiercely loyal to friends and family.

Evaluation: The more I get to know Tess and her family and friends, the more I like them. This is a series I’ll want to keep following. This book won the Anthony and Shamus awards, and was nominated for the Edgar and Agatha awards. show less

I got so behind with my reviews and realized I fell down on keeping up with my reviews of Tess and her many adventures. This one is almost a five star read. I marked it down one star since I thought the whole why behind one of the villains doing this was a reach. And I mean a really big reach. It also doesn't make sense why this person involved Tess in this. I did love the fact the action takes Tess away from Maryland. It allows us to see how she does in another location. Tess is still fast on her feet and not willing to let things go even when she should. This book also brings a resolution to her relationship with her ex, Crow.

Tess is still smarting from being foolish and letting her ex Crow go. Though she thinks she has gotten better show more in the almost year apart they have experienced, she still has pangs. When she gets a cutout from a newspaper saying In Big Trouble, Tess wonders if Crow is alright. When she is asked by his parents to track him down and let them know if he is okay, Tess reluctantly takes the case.

Tess in Texas is funny at times. She misses Baltimore and feels a bit lost while in San Antonio trying to track down Crow. The characters Tess comes across are unique and interesting. I did have a hard time with her taking her dog though. Come on.

The mystery aspect of things kicks into high gear when Tess finds a dead body and all signs points to Crow as the murderer. With bodies dropping, things seem to be looping back to an old case of kidnapping and also a multiple murdering incident that still haunts some of the characters in this story.

I loved seeing Jackie and Tess's Aunt Kitty in this one (only briefly). We have Jackie settling in with her new life raising her adopted daughter. Kitty seems to be moving onto something long-term too which has Tess horrified (I loved who the new love interest is) and pretending it's not happening.

The writing was typical Lippman. I feel like I know Tess and even though I would have told Crow to pound sand after a while, I get why Tess keeps trying to save him.

The flow was pretty good, not too bad until almost the end where it felt like too many coincidences kept happening.

Moving the setting from Baltimore to San Antonio was interesting, but was happy to see Tess back in familiar surroundings in the next book. show less

Love Tess and love Crow. Just good solid writing. And I'm proud of Lippman for doing a good job of getting the flavor of San Antonio. It didn't feel cliche. But I love her Baltimore based books. In any event, it was a well-crafted mystery with compelling, complex characters and a plot that wasn't predictable and formulaic. I really enjoy her books.

This one certainly goes far afield. Those who have been following newly minted private investigator Tess Monaghan will know that in a previous book she became close to Crow, who worked in her aunt Kitty's bookstore. Crow was the one who was always around but nobody noticed. Until they did. Six years younger than Tess, Crow seemed like a wrong choice at first. But the two clicked and things went along nicely until they didn't.

But now, it is later, and Tess gets an odd piece of mail. Which, in time, leads her to wonder about Crow's wellbeing. He had moved away, to Louisiana of all places, and Tess has not heard from him for a while. She thought it was all over, but she has some doubts.

Thus she follows his trail to Louisiana and becomes show more immersed in the story of a young woman who has been singing with Crow's band. And therein lies a tale. Or two. show less