Customer Reviews

Another Thing to Fall: A Novel (Tess Monaghan Mysteries)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

Last year when I "found" Lippman's books I read all of them in a 5 day time period. Was ready to get a visible "I Love Laura Lippman Books!" tattoo.

When I saw she had released a new book I was the first in line at the store.

While it read quickly, it just did not have the usual flair Lippman's books usually exude for fast-paced action, great dialogue, and Tess' moments of sef-realization and compassion. Several times character descriptions/actions were inconsistent.

Will still say Lippman is in my top three - however, this newest book is not up to Lippman's previous writings. No offense Laura - you have taught us thru experience to expect only the best!

I enjoyed this latest in the series, although it was less of a page turner.
It had more development of new characters and less about those who have been featured in other books. I missed hearing about her romance with Crow, although he is briefly in the book. I also missed hearing about her Aunt.
Her plot is rich and well layered and more than makes up for the loss of info on what is going on with her personal life. The denouement scene was more interesting and complex than the typical one wrought with danger. I liked the way she used empathy.

Not sure why others seem so tepid to this book, as it is a hugely enjoyable read. Tess is solo for most of the adventure, with minimal participation by boyfriend Crow, Detective Tull, bff Whitney or Aunt Kitty--but hey, the Baltimore private eye we ALL secretly would love to hang out with easily holds her own. Lippman has opened a door to the behind-the-scenes world of TV series drama, with accurate renditions of the people, the process and the places, both physical and personal. Her swift word sketches of the activity and the emotions, as well as the lightly comic touches, provide a pure escape with a nice dose of suspense. A new minor player adds a light note that also pays homage to a character familar to readers of Lenora Mattingly Weber's novels, which longtime fan Lippman salutes in all of her Tess stories. Not as dark or 'serious' as some of the Tess series, ATTF is also a counterbalance to Lippman's brilliant standalone "What the Dead Know," published last year. Take a breath, laugh a little, it's ok to simply groove along with Tess in a satisfying story that entertains every page of the way.

I've always been a fan of Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series (and a bigger fan of her darker standalone novels). I lived in and around Baltimore for over 20 years and the world of the Baltimore-based private investigator Monaghan leaps off the page for me and provides a happy return to the city I loved so much. In this book, I believe Laura Lippman is making good use of the world she observed in the filming of "The Wire", the acclaimed HBO series created and produced by her husband, David Simon.

The story is involved with the day-to-day rigors of filming a fanciful time-travel TV drama and the varied people who inhabit the film set. There are the usual driven production staff, the overly-devoted underlings, the difficult cast, and the creepy hangers on. And Tess has been hired to literally babysit the show's fractious young female lead.

It was a good story but not one that engaged me very well. I thought the characters were well-written but not that interesting to me. Oddly, what redeemed the book for me was one of Tess's student private investigators, a delightful woman named Mrs. Blossom. I hope see makes another appearance - or maybe gets her own series? She's really a delight.

So, if this book didn't quite do "it" for me, what Tess Monaghan book does? That would be "In a Strange City" where Laura Lippman uses the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe and the mysterious stranger who appears at Poe's grave in the middle of the night every year on Poe's birthday (true story!) as the centerpiece for a fine mystery.

I'm a huge fan of Laura Lippman, especially the Tess Monaghan books. I found this book to be a slow starter. In the beginning, there are a lot of chapters from the point of view of the minor characters in the book and little about Tess. Once Tess is brought into the story more, the book starts to have a better flow because Tess is the one we really care about. I would have liked to have seen more of the supporting characters in the series. Tess's aunt is completely absent and Crow is barely in the story at all. Even though it doesn't have the suspense of the other books, the plot kept me interested in the outcome and I will eagerly await the next book in the Tess series.

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!"

A television drama production company is on location in Baltimore, making episodes for a new series. The project has been plagued by mishaps, and producer Flip Tumulty suspects sabotage. Fearing for the safety of the series star, the young and stunning Selene Waites, Tumulty hires Tess Monaghan to monitor her safety. But when Tumulty's assistant is murdered, it becomes clear that Tess will have to do some serious investigating.

Another Thing to Fall is entertaining, with its takeoffs on Hollywood types and insights on movie making, and Ms. Lippman is a solid writer. Her characters are spirited and believable, and the inclusion of familiar players, such as street kid Lloyd and best friend Whitney, adds color and interest. The introduction of the eccentric, PI wannabe Mrs. Blossom, a student in a class Tess is teaching, is welcome as well. But this outing never develops the urgency or suspense inherent in the earlier entries in the series, and the motive of the perpetrator seems a weak one. If you enjoy well written mysteries, however, don't let these shortcomings keep you from picking up this one.

Have been a Laura Lippman fan from the beginning and while this latest release may not be the page-turner the others are, I greatly enjoyed the texture and the journey. Almost every page had some grammatical delight or thoughtful insight. Some of my favorites are: "the doubly stern man" when we first meet Flip; "old camera store smell"; "getting into trouble, one small rationalization at a time"; "who owed whom"; "weathered weather"; "restless at rest"; "people reveal more when they think their audience ignorant". I can fall into the habit of flying through books, not unlike those who "must always be sucking on something, literally and figuratively" (~from memory), but this book will reward those who can slow down and appreciate the little gems shared from Laura's collection of daily observations.

Private investigator Tess Monaghan rows for pleasure and exercise on Baltimore's Patapsco River. One day, while paddling down the river and paying more attention to the music pouring through her headphones than to her surroundings, she encounters a police boat zipping toward her. The boat's wake topples her own, sending her into the river. Her rescuers inform her that she has ruined a scene being shot by "Mann of Steel," the television series that is filming locally. When she tries to apologize, she is met with hostility by Flip Tumulty, the show's executive producer, and by Greer, his assistant.

But when Flip discovers that Tess is a private investigator, he insists on hiring her as a security guard for the program's temperamental and not-too-bright young star, Selene Waites. Tess knows there have been problems with the show's filming; locals are protesting and activists are up in arms. However, she is surprised to learn that there has been a suicide that just might be linked to the series. The victim, a local man who had no known connection to "Mann of Steel," had many photographs of Selene in his home when he died.

Flip confides that he worries about the young actor's vulnerability. He states that without Selene, there would be no show, catching Tess by surprise since she thought the lead actor was the now middle-aged and portly has-been teen star Johnny Tampa. (Tess doesn't admit to Flip that, in her adolescent years, she had a major crush on Tampa.) In a desperate attempt to avoid getting the job, Tess jacks up her fee and demands that her boyfriend's teen protégé, Lloyd Jupiter, be hired as well. But the next thing she knows, she and Lloyd are both signed on.

The reader is privy to tantalizing bits of information from the point of view of various characters, gaining knowledge that Tess herself doesn't have, even as the incidents on the set escalate. Laura Lippman skillfully teases us with puzzle pieces that don't quite fit together to give us the complete picture, while describing the fascinating world of television series production, making ANOTHER THING TO FALL another Tess Monaghan page-turner.

Tess herself is an endearing character, matter-of-fact that she's no size zero wisp (instead, she's a comfortable size 12 or 14) and that she likes to eat, especially foods that have been banned by health authorities. She also reveals a truly kind heart, finding interesting possibilities in an individual who could easily be a stock comic character --- a large, older woman named Mrs. Blossom who wears flowery dresses and desires to work as a private investigator. Lippman's characters are nicely complex; many show surprising aspects to their personalities. Although it may feel that the actual mystery plot takes just a bit of a backseat to quirky people and to television show production politics, readers are bound to enjoy the leisurely ride.

ANOTHER THING TO FALL is the 10th Tess Monaghan book. It works well as a stand-alone, but newcomers are sure to find themselves with a sudden urge to read the previous installments in the series ASAP.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)