Helpful Score: 7
I liked the characters; the plot was decent, but not great; but the writing felt very choppy in places. I'm from Baltimore, so I knew the places she was describing, but it still felt like there were some unwritten assumptions being made for us to fill in.
Helpful Score: 4
Lippman is a very good writer and her Tess is a colorful and self sufficient woman. She's well rounded and has an interesting love life. On a par with Sue Grafton.
Helpful Score: 4
Lippman's books (Baltimore Blues, Butcher's Hill, The Sugar House) are well-written and entertaining. There are a lot of local references to Baltimore, and a lot of, apparently, local dialect that I had trouble understanding. Usually I like stories where the locale is part of the story, but did not enjoy these as much as some others.
Beverly B. (SmoothCollieLover) reviewed Baltimore Blues (Tess Monaghan, Bk 1) on + 35 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
No spoilers. Being from Baltimore, the works of Ms. Lippman appeal to me (I recall reading her father's articles in the Baltimore Sun years back). The mystery here is average, but the local color puzzled me. Ms. Lippman is supposed to show how much she loves Baltimore in her Tess Monaghan books; the impression I get is not love, but a neutral (at best) feeling.
Helpful Score: 3
If you've never read a Tess Monaghan book, you have no idea what you are missing. This is a first rate hard-boiled mystery series.
