What I'm Reading Now

I just finished BALTIMORE BLUES, the first in Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series. I had picked it up to read for DetecToday in 2001, but didn't have as good a feel for third-person mysteries as I do now. Where once reading "Joe did this; Bob did that," felt awkward, this time around it fit like a glove.

The story involves a friend of Tess's who was seen visiting a shifty lawyer shortly before said lawyer's murder. A laid-off reporter now working for her friend's defense attorney, Tess tries to clear her friend's name, but the trail of evidence she follows seems to point even more conclusively to him.

Plot details aside, what I liked best about this book was Tess herself. While she is physically imposing, Tess's driving traits (notably her need for structure and routine) and shortcomings are not directly linked but intertwined. Her personality is not so consistent, not robotic, but uniform; I believed both her toughmindedness and vulnerable moments came from the same person, not a cardboard character making the requisite displays.

For the first time in a long time, after reading this book, I wanted to read the whole series.

Until the books come in, though, I'm reading WINTER'S END by John Rickards, to be featured on DetecToday in January 2005.