Unfortunately, a "fall" from Lippman's previous work

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	• Another Thing to Fall: A Novel (Tess Monaghan Mysteries) Laura Lippman William Morrow, 2008 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 20 reviews view larger image
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Hmm, not my favorite

I am a huge fan of Laura Lippman's work, both the Tess series and the stand alone novels, but this book was hard for me to get into. I always love Tess's interaction with Whitney, Crow, Kitty and Tyner- and this book has very few of these moments. Plus, it was hard for me to imagine level headed Tess getting involved with the whole Hollywood scene, albeit in Baltimore. The plot seemed a little thin to me too. I also felt like there were a couple of loose ends.

Overall, not my favorite book, but I was certainly glad to have another Tess book to read. Nothing is more irritating than an author abandoning a beloved character.

Read it if you are a fan, but if you are a beginner- go back and start with "Baltimore Blues!"

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Unfortunately, a "fall" from Lippman's previous work

I probably would have given a higher rating to this latest Tess Monaghan mystery if Lippman's previous novels hadn't set such a high standard. I just couldn't get into the whole "Hollywood thing," maybe because I didn't really care about the self-absorbed, bratty characters acting badly (no pun intended.) And the insider TV-show production details aren't all that intriguing in this overly-hyped day and age of "Access Hollywood" and "TMZ," when you can get this sort of stuff every time you turn on the television (or surf the Web.) But the book does have Monaghan, engaging as always, and a tightly plotted mystery to keep you turning pages.
Also recommended: A Stranger Lies There - winner of the Malice Domestic Award for best first mystery.

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A different track for Tess Monaghan

For a woman who was fired from a job as a spear carrier in an opera (absolutely no acting talent), Tess surprisingly ends up working for a TV production company shooting scenes in Baltimore for a new series. Tess stumbles into the job by accident, or maybe I should saw rows in, when she blunders into a scene while rowing on the river.

The production company is having problems, including a problem with the wild child they have playing the female lead - someone that they think needs a bodyguard/babysitter. There are also lurkers and acts of sabotage on the sets. Eventually there is a murder, actually a couple. I did not really like the novel when I started out, mainly because it was hard to draw characters together. As the novel progressed, I became more drawn into the story (this is one you have to stick with).

Some regular characters are used in the story, including Tess' friend Whitney whom she has known since college, and Tull from the police homicide division. There is also Lloyd (whom you might remember from the previous novel "No Good Deeds") who stumbles into an important clue in the case, and a new character, Mrs. Blossom, whom I would hope to see in future novels (a student from a class Tess teaches on Monday evenings, who turns out to be a prodigy).

Laura Lippman draws on some of her real life as background for the novel -she is married to a TV producer - so the story is well researched. While I did not consider it an outstanding five star novel, I do consider it a solid four stars. I think some reviewers have tried to rate it too much based on past novels by the author. Hey, every novel by an author will not be her best novel (only one can lay claim to that). Novels should be rated based on their own merits - it may not be the best but it is still good.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4

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