Baltimore Blues

I may have a slight obsession with reading series.  I hate when you read a good book and it is over.  No more.  The character you've cried with, laughed with, felt for is no longer a part of your life.  I hate that feeling.  With a series, you keep getting more and more of your favorite people!

I first heard of the Tess Monaghan series probably in November/December of last year when I read my first book by Lippman and decided that I must try out this series.  Now another pet peeve, when the local library has PARTS of a series but not the whole series.  Yeah, they had the second-whatever but not the first book in the series.. Umm what?? So one day I just ordered it off Amazon because dangit, I wanted to start the series!

I finally got around to it, and I must say Baltimore Blues did not disappoint! It was a good mystery, with a bit of humor and introduced likable enjoyable characters.

Tess Monaghan is an out of work reporter who has been an out of work reporter for 2 years, when the newspaper she worked for went under.  Since then she has worked at a bookstore her aunt owns and does some freelance work for her uncle.  Besides that, she rows every morning.  A pretty low key life.  Oh and she randomly sleeps with an ex boyfriend. ;)

When her best rowing buddy, Rock, comes to her with a proposition (30 dollars an hour!!) she of course jumps at it.  Even though, it entails trailing Rock's girlfriend, Ava to see if she is cheating on him.  This starts the beginning of the drama, where she follows Ava to a hotel, catches her shoplifting and ultimately leads to a dead body, with Rock to blame.

Tess is thrown into a new 'career' of private investigator and finds that she really likes it.

I really liked that there were lots of pieces thrown around but all neatly connected to the main mystery and not too over done.  I would say out of the 2 other Lippman books this was my favorite.  I am definitely starting the next in the series, Charm City, after I finish typing this.

Have you ever been to Baltimore? (Another reason I liked this is because of all the details of the Baltimore area.. Lippman worked in Baltimore and it makes me want to visit!)