Throwback Thursday: Butchers HIll by Laura Lippman

Author: Laura Lippman
First published in 1998 by Avon

Tess Monaghan has finally made the move and hung out her shingle as a p.i.-for-hire, complete with an office in Butchers Hill. Maybe it's not the best address in Baltimore, but you gotta start somewhere, and Tess's greyhound Esskay has no trouble taking marathon naps anywhere there's a roof. Then in walks Luther Beale, the notorious vigilante who five years ago shot a boy for vandalizing his car. Just out of prison, he says he wants to make reparations to the kids who witnessed his crime, so he needs Tess to find them. But once she starts snooping, the witnesses start dying. Is the "Butcher of Butchers Hill" at it again? Like it or not, Tess is embroiled in a case that encompasses the powers that-be, a heartless system that has destroyed the lives of children, and a nasty trail of money and lies leading all the way back to Butchers Hill.

Butchers Hill is the third book featuring reporter turned detective Tess Monaghan.  In this one she is hired to solve two separate cases. Both ended up with some big surprises in the end.  I thought this was a good solid addition to the series.  I liked it slightly more than the first two. Tess really begins to find her stride in the detective business.  While a little slow at times, I thought both mysteries were very well planned out.  I definitely didn't see any of the solutions coming so that is a major bonus.  I'm looking forward to continuing with the series. 

Blog Tour: Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman

Author: Laura Lippman
Publisher: William Morrow
Date of publication: May 2016

Luisa “Lu” Brant is the newly elected state’s attorney of Howard County, Maryland, a job in which her widower father famously served. Fiercely intelligent and ambitious, she sees an opportunity to burnish her reputation by trying a homeless man accused of beating a woman to death in her home. It’s not the kind of case that makes national headlines, but peaceful Howard County doesn’t see many homicides.

As Lu prepares for the trial, the case dredges up painful memories, reminding her small but tight-knit family of the night when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another man’s life. Only eighteen at the time, AJ was found to have acted in self-defense. Now Lu wonders if the events of 1980 happened as she remembers them. Long discrete memories begin to fit together, revealing connections and secrets that Lu never suspected.

The more she learns about her new case, the more questions arise about the past. Why was her brother’s friend attacked? Who was the true victim? Lu discovers that the legal system, the bedrock of her entire life, can no longer provide comfort or even reliable answers. If there is such a thing as the whole truth, Lu realizes—possibly too late—that she would be better off not knowing what it is.

Wilde Lake is is the latest stand alone by Laura Lippman.   Lu has just been elected as state's attorney for her county.  As she prepares for her first murder case while in office, she reflects back on her time growing up with her father and brother in Columbia, Maryland.  I have read other books by Ms. Lippman and have really enjoyed them, so I was eager to read this latest stand alone.  While I liked the overall story, it also ended up being a bit disappointing for me as well. I think I was expecting more of a thriller and that isn't really what I got.  The story is told in dual time-lines: the past told by Lu and the present told in present third person.  I'm not too sure that the constant change in tenses worked for me.  The changes seemed awkward and didn't flow well.

I ended up connecting most with the parts about Lu's childhood and the things that she remembered about growing up. I really enjoyed those passages in the book.  The present murder case she was working on was not very interesting. Ultimately, the two story-lines converge to make sense, but it just took too long to get there.  Once it became clear what was going on, I was bored with it and really didn't care. I also found the reveal at the end just kind of so-so for the amount of time it took to get to the point.  There were a few twists in the end, but not spectacular enough for me to love the book.

The story definitely make you think about how the stories we retell about our childhood are actually true or not.  Are we telling the truth or just the truth that we have told ourselves over and over? While not my favorite book by this author, I do recommend giving it a try.

About Laura Lippman

Since Laura Lippman’s debut, she has won multiple awards and critical acclaim for provocative, timely crime novels set in her beloved hometown of Baltimore. Now a perennial New York Times bestselling author, she lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her family.

Connect with Laura on her website, Facebook, or Twitter.

Tour Stops

Tuesday, May 3rd: Reading Reality

Wednesday, May 4rd: she treads softly

Friday, May 6th: A Bookworm’s World

Monday, May 9th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Tuesday, May 10th: Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World

Wednesday, May 11th: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Thursday, May 12th: bookchickdi

Friday, May 13th: 5 Minutes For Books

Monday, May 16th: Back Porchervations

Tuesday, May 17th: From the TBR Pile

Thursday, May 19th: Luxury Reading

Throwback Thursday: Charm City by Laura Lippman

Author: Laura Lippman
First published in 1997 by Avon

As a practiced reporter until her newspaper went to that great pressroom in the sky, P.I. Tess Monaghan knows and loves every inch of her native Baltimore, even the parts being slobbered on by the sad-sack greyhound she's minding for her uncle. It's a quirky city where baseball reigns, but lately homicide seems to be the second most popular local sport. Business tycoon "Wink" Wynkowski is trying to change all that by bringing pro basketball back to town, and everybody's rooting for him; until a devastating, muckraking expose of his lurid past appears on the front page of the Baltimore Beacon-Light. It's a surprise even to theBlight's editors, who thought they'd killed the piece. Instead, the piece killed Wink, who's found in his garage with the car running.

Now the Blight wants to nail the unknown computer hacker who planted the lethal story, and the assignment is right up the alley of a former newshound like Tess. But it doesn't take long for her to discover deeper, darker secrets, and to realize that this situation is really more about whacking than hacking. It's just murder in Baltimore these days, and Tess Monaghan herself might be next on the list

Charm City is the second on the Tess Monaghan series.  This time around, Tess is working for her lawyer friend as an investigator.  She is hired by the Baltimore Beacon Light to investigate who ran a story that was not supposed to run.  When the subject of that story dies, the investigation gets more dangerous.

I can't say that I liked this one better than the first.  In fact, I thought it was a little slow.  I was surprised at the solution to the whole thing, so there is that.  I started like Tess a bit more.  I think she is smart and her reporter skills definitely give her an edge.  On a personal level though, I can't say I like her any more than in the last book.  I felt really bad for Crow!  I'll probably give the third book a shot to see if I want to continue with the series.

Blog tour: Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman

Author: Luara Lippman
Publisher Harper
Date of publication: First published in 1997, reissued in 2011

Discover the first novel in New York Timesbestselling author Laura Lippman’s outstanding Tess Monaghan series! When a former Baltimore reporter must solve the murder of a notorious attorney, she discovers Charm City is rife with dark, sordid, and dangerous secrets.

In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz’s death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer’s notoriety—and his taste for illicit midday trysts—make the case front-page news in every local paper except the Star, which crashed and burned before Abramowitz did.

A former Star reporter who knows every inch of this town—from historic Fort McHenry to the crumbling projects of Cherry Hill—now-unemployed journalist Tess Monaghan also knows the guy the cops like for the killing: cuckolded fiancé Darryl “Rock” Paxton. The time is ripe for a career move, so when rowing buddy Rock wants to hire her to do some unorthodox snooping to help clear his name, Tess agrees.

But there are lethal secrets hiding in the Charm City shadows. And Tess’s own name could end up on that ever-expanding list of Baltimore dead.

In anticipation of the 12th Tess Monaghan book coming out this summer, Harper is promoting the first book in the series, Baltimore Blues.  I have had this book on my TBR list for a long time, so this blog tour was great incentive to read it.  I enjoyed the mystery part of the book.  It definitely kept me guessing as whether or not Rock was guilty.  

I really didn't care for Tess in the beginning.  I thought she was kind of a slacker.  I have little respect for someone who just floats by.  But, as she began to use her reporter skills to start taking apart the case, I began to like her more and more.  She is definitely a character I could come to love.  I  have the next book, Charm City on my MP3 player, so keep an eye out for it in a Throwback Thursday post soon!  

About the author:

Since her debut in 1997, Laura Lippman has been heralded for her thoughtful, timely crime novels set in her beloved hometown of Baltimore. She is the author of twenty works of fiction, including eleven Tess Monaghan mysteries. She lives in Baltimore, New Orleans, and New York City with her family.

Connect with Laura on her website, Facebook, or Twitter.

Purchase Links

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Laura’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, January 20th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Wednesday, January 21st: she treads softly

Thursday, January 22nd: Kritters Rambling

Monday, January 26th: Reading Reality

Tuesday, January 27th: Drey’s Library

Wednesday, January 28th: 5 Minutes For Books

Thursday, January 29th: FictionZeal

Tuesday, February 3rd: Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Wednesday, February 4th: From the TBR Pile

Thursday, February 5th: Colloquium

TBD: BoundbyWords

After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman

Author: Laura Lippman
Publisher: William Morrow
Date of publication: January 2014

When Felix Brewer meets nineteen-year-old Bernadette "Bambi" Gottschalk at a Valentine's Dance in 1959, he charms her with wild promises, some of which he actually keeps. Thanks to his lucrative-if not all legal-businesses, she and their three little girls live in luxury. But on the Fourth of July, 1976, Bambi's comfortable world implodes when Felix, newly convicted and facing prison, mysteriously vanishes.

Though Bambi has no idea where her husband-or all of his money-might be, she suspects one woman does: his devoted young mistress, Julie. When Julie disappears ten years to the day that Felix went on the lam, everyone assumes she's left to join her old lover-until her remains are eventually found in a secluded wooded park.

Now, twenty-six years after Julie went missing, Roberto "Sandy" Sanchez, a retired Baltimore detective working cold cases for some extra cash, is investigating her murder.  Somewhere between the secrets and lies connecting past and present, Sandy will find the truth. And when he does, no one will ever be the same.

I thoroughly enjoyed After I'm Gone.  It's the second book I have read by this author and I feel like it is the better of the two I read.  I was engaged throughout the entire story.  I liked how the details of Julie's murder and Felix's vanishing were laid out for the reader.    The pacing for the story was perfect.  The story waffles between events in the past ,told  through the eyes of Bambi,  her family, and Julie, and the present as Sandy tries to solve the cold case of Julie's murder.

After I'm Gone is going to be a hard book to review because I don't want to give away anything important.  The book has quite a few surprises and twists and it kept me guessing right up until the end.  I liked the solution and thought it was perfect for the book.  The ending was a bit bittersweet. 

 I loved the characters.  It was interesting to see how Bambi and each of her children were affected by the disappearance of Felix and Julie's murder.  Because the book shows their lives over a span of 50+ years,  you can really see the changes, and in some cases no changes, in all of them.  Out of everyone, I liked Sandy the best.  He was a very likable detective and I would love to see him in future books.    This is an intriguing mystery and I highly recommend it!

Joint Review: Mystery Writers of America Presents The Mystery Box

Edited by:  Brad Meltzer
published by:  Grand Central Publishing
publish date:  April 30, 2013

With this anthology, bestselling author Brad Meltzer introduces twenty-one original stories from today's most prominent mystery writers.  There's nothing more mysterious than a locked box. Whether it's a literal strongbox, an empty coffin, the inner workings of a scientist's mind, or an underground prison cell, there are those who will use any means necessary to unlock the secrets of...THE MYSTERY BOX.

I'm about 50/50 on The Mystery Box.  I thought there were some really good stories in this book.  There were a few that I skipped over though.  Then there were a few that I made it all the way through and just felt cheated by.  The rule was that each story had to have a Mystery Box.  In some stories the mystery box was very literal, but in some it was very subjective.

The stories I liked best out of this collection were "Waco, 1982" by Laura Lippman, "Heirloom" by Joseph Finder, "Mokume Gane" by Tom Rob Smith, "The Very Private Detectress by Catherine Mambretti and "Remmy Rothstein Toes the Line" by Karin Slaughter.

I am also about 50/50.  I didn't listen to all of the stories as I thought some were a bit boring. I think my favorites match Autumn's. I loved Heirloom. I thought it was really well written and creepy.  Waco, 1982 was the best out of them all.  

The thing I found hard to get used to was the different voices for each story.  I think that was what made me not want to listen to a few stories.  I didn't like the narrator.  It is interesting how each author interpreted the use of a box.  But, not interesting enough to make me like all of the stories.

Blog tour: And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman

Author: Laura Lippman
Publisher: William Morrow (Harper Collins)
Date of pubication: April 2012

In the comfortable suburb where she lives, she's just a mom, the youngish widow with a forgettable job who somehow never misses a soccer game or a school play. 

In the state capitol, she's the redheaded lobbyist with a good cause and a mediocre track record. 

But in discreet hotel rooms throughout the area, she's the woman of your dreams—if you can afford her hourly fee. 

My thoughts:

This is the first book by Ms. Lippman that I have read.  I will admit that initially, I had a hard time getting into  And When she Was Good.  But as the book progressed, I was intrigued to find out what makes a woman choose to become a madam.  I liked the way the story alternated between the past and the present.  The author does a great job of showing the reader how Heloise evolves into "the mother" and "the madam".  Heloise keeps her life ordered and compartmentalized.  Few people know what she really does for a living.  She manages to keep it all from her son and has been raising him in a nice, homey environment. The problem is that her normal life and her hidden life are slowly crashing together.

I think this book will be met with mixed feelings.  The book is well written and the characters were very well fleshed out.  I'm just not too sure many of them are likable.  For me, that includes the main character.  I could see how she made her early mistakes.  Many abused, naive girls fall into situations that they can't find a way out of and I can understand that.  What I didn't understand is why Heloise chose to stay in the life.  She had several opportunities to make herself into something different.  Many single mothers manage to go back to school and find jobs with which they can support their family.  When she is making money as a madam, she chooses not to funnel it into an education for herself.  I lost some respect for her because of this.

The subject of prostitution is a very controversial issue.  Heloise feels she is providing a service, but how many families is she helping to tear apart when the husbands come to her?   I had a hard time reconciling that in my mind. Despite all of that, I did enjoy the book and would recommend it.  And When She Was Good is a book that I believe will be talked about for a long while. I did like the ending and I know it is a book that  will stay with me for a long time.  If you are a fan of Laura Lippman, give this new one a shot.

About the author:

Laura Lippman has been awarded every major prize in crime fiction. Since the publication of What the Dead Know, each of her hardcovers has hit the New York Times bestseller list. A recent recipient of the first-ever Mayor’s Prize, she lives in Baltimore, Maryland, and New Orleans with her husband, David Simon, their daughter, and her stepson.

AUTHOR SITES:

  Website:     (http://www.lauralippman.com/)

  Facebook   (https://www.facebook.com/#!/lauralippman)

  Harper Collins:  (www.harpercollins.com)