The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman

Title: The Most Dangerous Thing
Author: Laura Lippman
ISBN: 9780061706516
Publisher: William Morrow, 2011
Hardcover, 352 pages
Genre: Suspense
Rating: A-
Source: Publicist

First Line: They throw him out when he falls off the barstool.

Something happened one summer in Baltimore that made five best friends go their separate ways throughout the rest of school and on into their adult lives. When one of them dies and the rest slowly come together for the funeral, they begin to learn that the past never stays buried. It must be dealt with or there will be unwelcome consequences.

Once again Lippman does an excellent job at building suspense (just what happened that summer???) and diving into character and motivation. Those remembered days of childhood are every bit as clearly delineated as the present day trials the characters all have as grownups.

This book is a bit of a rarity for me-- and it's all due to Laura Lippman's skill as a writer. You see, I really didn't give a rap for any of the characters. There's not one single person in that book that I liked. If this leads to you believe that I hated this book, I wouldn't be surprised. But I did like it. Lippman makes that mysterious thing that happened on that long ago summer so compelling that I couldn't stop reading. I had to find out what happened and which of the characters were responsible.

Normally this character-driven reader prefers to have at least one character to like, respect, or admire.  In the case of The Most Dangerous Thing, I kept thinking to myself, "You're all one big batch of messed-up people. What did you do to get that way?" Lippman answered my question in one beautifully written page after another.

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The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman

Title: The Girl in the Green Raincoat
Author: Laura Lippman
ISBN: 9780061938368
Publisher: William Morrow, 2011
Paperback, 176 pages
Genre: Private Investigator, #11 Tess Monaghan mystery
Rating: A
Source: Publicist

First Line: "I am being held hostage," Tess Monaghan whispered into her iPhone.

In this eleventh outing for Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan, she is in the third trimester of her pregnancy and forced to endure bed rest. During the day she is ensconced on a chaise longue on her sun porch, and in homage to one of my favorite books (The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey) and one of my favorite movies (Hitchcock's Rear Window), Tess finds herself paying more attention to the people in the park across the street than she does the books, magazines and DVDs she has at hand.

In particular she pays attention to one pretty woman and her dog, both of whom are dressed alike in green raincoats. One day the woman and her dog arrive for their walk and only the dog comes back. The woman has disappeared. Tess knows something's wrong, but since she can't investigate she must enlist the aide of friends and employees like Dorie and Mrs. Blossom. It's a good thing Tess is lying down because she's just opened a big can of worms.

I only made Tess's acquaintance in December, reading the first book in the series, Baltimore Blues. Even though I'm usually a stickler for reading series books in order, I couldn't resist this one. Was I confused by the nine unread books in between? Not really, because Lippman is a pro at giving the reader enough information not to feel lost. It's obvious to me that plenty has happened in Tess's life in those nine books, and reading The Girl in the Green Raincoat has whetted my appetite to go back and fill in the blanks.

This is short and fast and thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the conversations Tess would have with her unborn child (whom she usually referred to as "Fifi"):

Don't ever settle, Fifi. Don't get married just because it's still marketed as the ultimate achievement for women.

On the other hand, learn to value men for something other than their paychecks.

Very wise words, Fifi. You'd do well to listen to them. If you're a fan of Tess's-- or even if you're not-- The Girl in the Green Raincoat is one fine mystery.

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Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman

Title: Baltimore Blues
Author: Laura Lippman
ISBN: 9780380788750
Publisher: Avon, 1997
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth, #1 Tess Monaghan mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: On the last night of August, Tess Monaghan went to the drugstore and bought a composition book-- one with a black-and-white marble cover.

After her paper, The Baltimore Star, folded, reporter Tess Monaghan endures jobless months by putting in hours of rowing on the river and by putting her faith in the comfort of routine. When her rowing buddy "Rock" Paxton wonders about the change in his fiancee and hires Tess to follow Ava, Tess needs the money so she agrees. Eva is having noontime trysts with another lawyer, Michael Abramowitz, and when Abramowitz turns up dead, all fingers point right to Tess's friend.

After reading and enjoying Lippman's standalone hits such as I'd Know You Anywhere and What the Dead Know, reading the first book in her Tess Monaghan series was only natural. After reading Baltimore Blues, I think Lippman could probably find her way around Baltimore blindfolded, and she wrote of the city in a way that made it interesting and intriguing-- and without an over-dependence on street names which can pull me right out of a story.

Tess is a multi-faceted character, and not all of the facets are likable. She's bright, she's talented, she's capable, but when she lost her job as a reporter, it seems to have knocked the wind-- and the desire-- right out of her. If she can't have what she wants, she's willing to settle for whatever happens.

She has a strong cast of characters around her who truly care for her, and they've been watching her, wondering when in the world she's going to snap out of her funk. To their credit-- and Lippman's-- when they reach the point of no return, they tell Tess a few home truths, but it's done with love. Characterization like that can be tricky, but Lippman does it perfectly.

Good plot, good pacing, good setting, good characters? I now know that, whatever Lippman writes, it's Good!

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