Customer Reviews

The Last Place

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

From the beginning page you are introduced to the killer and the knowledge that he is watching someone again stays in the front of your mind as you get to know him better. His history and his thoughts are sprinkled throughout the book and lead you to "The Last Place."

Tess is a private investigator with a past that haunts her. Her ex-boyfriend was killed years prior and she continues to suffer from occasional nightmares, reliving his death.

She has issues with anger management, which are portrayed quite well when she gets a little revenge on a potential child molester. She is arrested and sentenced to anger management counseling.

Tess's wealthy friend, Whitney, offers her a private investigator assignment which involves reviewing old, unsolved domestic abuse murder cases in order to help bring about lobbying for funding and training for small town cops handling domestic abuse situations. Whitney is part of a group of several non profit foundations that have joined together and are in search of ways to reduce the number of domestic-violence homicides in their state. Though Tess's old archenemy, Luisa O'Neal, is somewhat involved in the group, Tess accepts the assignment with the understanding that Luisa is not an active member of the board.

There is a list of five unsolved cases for Tess to investigate. She was not hired to search for the killer but rather to check into the specifics of the police investigations on each file.

Initially, the cases do not seem connected but then Tess begins to question whether or not they are in some way. She always begins to wonder if Luisa O'Neal had more involvement in this project than Tess was told about, or anyone was told, for that matter. Soon Tess is questioning everything and everyone looking for the link.

You will find yourself flipping back through the pages you've already read, checking details, looking for confirmation of the places the clues are leading you. Just when you think you're sure you know who the killer is, another clue is added that doesn't quite fit in and you are sent on your search again. You will be guessing until the end.

Laura knows her stuff. I'm not talking about reporting or the ins and outs of a being a working PI but writing novels. Not just novels but damn good novels. Here, Laura knows her stuff. Very, very well.

The Last Place is excellent. If you've never read her before, you are going to be surprised. Actually, if you've never read her before I would say go back to the beginning with Baltimore Blues because you need to read the progression of her character. Tess doesn't start off this tough as nails, sharp as a tack PI but as a reporter looking for work. Not only will you see the progression of the character but also the writer. Laura keeps getting better. With every book she takes what she learned from the last one and builds upon it. Her narration gets stronger, her descriptions more detailed, her plot tighter, and her books keep getting better. Laura knocks me side the head with each new novel and The Last Place is no exception.

Actually, it's better than that. I put this book down with a sense that I had just read something amazing and strong and the tip of an iceberg. I put this book down very pleased and for that I quite indebted to her. Thank you Ms. Lipman.

It started out as a routine investigation for Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan. A nonprofit group hired her to look into several small-town unsolved murders as part of a study to determine whether the police had done a good job, and whether domestic violence was at the root. But soon she discovered something unexpected--a link between two of the cases, which were supposedly chosen at random.

Tess meets up with an unlikely ally--a former Toll Facilities cop, Carl Dewitt, who is obsessed with one of the murders. When they compare notes, they realize they're dealing with an extraordinarily clever serial killer--and that Tess is his real target, but for an unknown reason.

As Tess and Carl investigate, sometimes cooperating with the state police, sometimes defying it, they start to realize that they're following a script only the killer knows, and he's always one step ahead of them. As she struggles with the fear and the mind games, Tess is also battling her own demons, forced on her by a court-ordered anger-management psychiatrist.

Author Laura Lippman's novel has that rare combination of character, action, intellectual puzzle and flashes of humor that blend for a first-rate mystery. This is not a feel-good book, though. It made me a little sad.

This is wonderful PI story, that I couldn't put down. As I started to read it, I recognized many references to Baltimore Blues,the first in the Tess Monaghan series. I immediately went and reread Baltimore Blues, and was glad I did. The Last Place answers many of the questions remaining from the first book.

As a mystery on its own, it is powerful and extremely well written. I do hope Laura Lippman doesn't wait too long for another installment.

Lippman is obviously becoming more skilled at grabbing the reader and holding him or her in suspense. I loved the early Tess novels for their lacksidasical pace. (No one died for the first 100 pages!) Those days are over. Lippman is growing more professional and better at holding us in suspense. This mystery actually had me a bit creeped out and scared-- something she's never managed to do before.

A friend who is a reviewer thought I might like this series, and I started with the most recent. Go figure. I mistakenly thought this would be like all the other series books out there that feature young, single women who in some way or another are investigators. Lippman has a humorous style that makes the read all the more fun. I loved the Carl DeWitt character and his interactions with Tess. Laughed at the discussions Tess has with her court-ordered psychiatrist. Was a little disappointed with the boyfriend, Crow, though. But maybe he's better in the earlier books. All in all, I'm hooked!

I love Laura Lippman's writing style. My introduction to her work was What the Dead Know -- an incredible emotional ride of a mystery novel. The Last Place was the first Tess Monaghan novel I'd read (actually listened to as an audiobook read by Laurence Bouvard).

I thought Ms. Lippman did a great job presenting the personality and deranged thought process of the serial killer, juxtaposed against the inexorable logic of the private eyes determined to find him out. I thought the ending was justifiably exciting and violent, and quite satisfying. The author worked up to it in admirable fashion. I like Tess Monaghan as a protagonist. She's smart, practical, fun-loving, tough, sounds like a real person. Her boyfriend, Crow, however, comes across as a bit of a wimp and an airhead, and not quite up to her caliber. Their relationship seems almost entirely based on sex, which is hard to accept considering what a complex person Tess is.

The issues I had with the book, maybe because I enjoyed it as an audiobook rather than a read, are that I couldn't quite understand why the bad guy serial killer would want to get caught by revealing the list of his murders to Tess and why he would be stalking her in particular as she didn't fit the mold of one of his victims. It was necessary for the story to work but it didn't quite make sense from the point of view of "reality".

Minor issues. This book held my attention from the first page to the last.

With out giving a a synopsis of the story, I'll say this is one of the best series going. I picked up EVERY SECRET THING, really liked it and started to read the series. The stories are excellent. THE LAST PLACE is a real page turner, the writing is above average and the story kept me interested to the point I finally gaveup trying to do anything and finished the book. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.

I've read all but one of the Tess series and think this is the best yet. The story is engrossing; a real page turner. Lippman does an excellent job of weaving together several seemingly unrelated deaths. You have to know more about the killer which leaves you unable to put the book down

This the first book I've read by Ms. Lippman and I came away quite impressed. She does an excellent job of crafting the mystery ( a seemingly unrelated string of homicides). P.I. Tess Monahan is real person - ie. she has flaws and demons. The writing is excellent.