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Laura Lippman
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The Sugar House: A Tess Monaghan Mystery Mass Market Paperback – July 31, 2001

by Laura Lippman (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 146 ratings
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New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan must solve one of the most baffling murders in her PI career.

When Tess Monaghan agrees to talk to Ruthie Dembrow, she senses she’ll regret it. If there’s anything Tess has learned in her work both as a newspaper reporter and then as a PI, it’s to trust your instincts. Still, she can’t deny she’s intrigued when Ruthie asks her to investigate the fatal stabbing of her brother, Henry, while he was locked away for murdering a teenage runaway over a bottle of glue. Henry’s death at the hands of fellow convicts doesn’t surprise Tess, but what does is that he was convicted for murdering a “Jane Doe”—something that rarely happens in the judicial system.

No ID was found on the victim’s body, and her fingerprints didn’t match up to any in the national database. How could anyone escape all the identity nets of the modern world? Ruthie is convinced if she learns the identity of her brother’s victim, maybe she can also find out why he was killed.

Tess’s search takes her on a harrowing journey from Baltimore’s exclusive Inner Harbor to the seedy neighborhood of Locust Point. But it’s the shocking discovery of the runaway’s true identity that turns Tess’s hunt deadly. Suddenly, her supposedly solved murder case keeps turning up newer, fresher corpses and scarier versions of the Sugar House—places that look so sweet and safe, but only from the outside.

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  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    William Morrow Paperbacks
  4. Publication date
    July 31, 2001
  5. Dimensions
    4.19 x 0.96 x 6.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0380810220
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0380810222
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan must solve one of the most baffling murders in her PI career.

When Tess Monaghan agrees to talk to Ruthie Dembrow, she senses she’ll regret it. If there’s anything Tess has learned in her work both as a newspaper reporter and then as a PI, it’s to trust your instincts. Still, she can’t deny she’s intrigued when Ruthie asks her to investigate the fatal stabbing of her brother, Henry, while he was locked away for murdering a teenage runaway over a bottle of glue. Henry’s death at the hands of fellow convicts doesn’t surprise Tess, but what does is that he was convicted for murdering a “Jane Doe”—something that rarely happens in the judicial system.

No ID was found on the victim’s body, and her fingerprints didn’t match up to any in the national database. How could anyone escape all the identity nets of the modern world? Ruthie is convinced if she learns the identity of her brother’s victim, maybe she can also find out why he was killed.

Tess’s search takes her on a harrowing journey from Baltimore’s exclusive Inner Harbor to the seedy neighborhood of Locust Point. But it’s the shocking discovery of the runaway’s true identity that turns Tess’s hunt deadly. Suddenly, her supposedly solved murder case keeps turning up newer, fresher corpses and scarier versions of the Sugar House—places that look so sweet and safe, but only from the outside.

About the Author

Since Laura Lippman’s debut, she has been recognized as a distinctive voice in mystery fiction and named one of the “essential” crime writers of the last 100 years. Stephen King called her “special, even extraordinary,” and Gillian Flynn wrote, “She is simply a brilliant novelist.” Her books have won most of the major awards in her field and been translated into more than twenty-five languages. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her teenager.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; unocrrected proof edition (July 31, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0380810220
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0380810222
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.19 x 0.96 x 6.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 146 ratings

About the author

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Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman

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Since her debut in 1997, New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman has been recognized as one of the most gifted and versatile crime novelists working today. Her series novels, stand-alones and short stories have all won major awards, including the Edgar and the Anthony, and her work is published in more than 20 countries. A former Baltimore Sun journalist, she has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Glamour and Longreads. "Simply one of our best novelists, period," the Washington Post said upon the publication of the ground-breaking What the Dead Know. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her family.

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Website: www.lauralippman.com

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Instagram: www.instagram.com/lauramlippman/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LauraMLippman

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
146 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

D. Sturm
4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Tess
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2009
Having read this book way back when and now listening to it anew on audiobook, I can say Laura Lippman has fooled me twice with "The Sugar House." Its plot is so labrynthian (but easy to follow) that it can indeed do that trick.

I've read all of the PI Tess Monaghan novels and this is the best one. In her other novels, Tess' family is the backdrop as she takes on cases involving rich fur dealers, visiting movie stars, African American children and other strangers.

In "The Sugar House," her family is front and center. We've known from other books that the Monaghans (and the Weinsteins on her mother's side) are politically well connected in Baltimore. Tess' father sits on the city liquor licensing board. Her Uncle Spike owns a bar, but also makes book and does "favors" for people. They have entree in both Baltimore City politics and Maryland politics. They also know Baltimoreans of dubious reputation whose last names end in vowels. It is within this network that the events of the novel transpire.

As the book opens, Tess' father asks her for a favor. A young female acquaintance of his, Ruthie, wants someone to investigate the death of her brother. Her brother was stabbed to death in prison. He was in prison for confessing to the murder of a teenage girl who, a year after the murder, still remains unidentified. Ruthie believes her brother was murdered to shut him up. She believes that by uncovering the identity of the dead girl, the motive to her brother's murder will be revealed.

That's all the plot you need to know and, believe me, it's just the beginning as Tess begins to uncover information that leads to an ugly political conspiracy.

As Tess plows ahead, she escapes traps, endures threats, dodges bullets and faces her father's wrath. But she WILL get to the bottom of this. And she does.

Lippman is not a particularly deft prose stylist, but she is terrific storyteller. And that's plenty.
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Marcia T. Desrosiers
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2013
Verified Purchase
I love Laura Lipman. This is a really good series. Always great characters. Keeps you on the edge of your seat but not over the top.
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Marlina
4.0 out of 5 stars The Sugar House
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2011
Tess Monaghan, I discovered her after reading one of Laura Lippman's stand alone novels "What the dead know" This novel was a little different from the previous four novels in this series. There is something rotten in the political camp, there is a dead Jane Doe that no one seems to know or care about. Tess is asked by her father's 'friend' to find out what is going on because her brother was convicted of the murder of this girl. Why not ask the brother what happened? Well, he was killed in prison a month after sentencing and then it begins. One thing I love about this series, is that you think you know where it is going to go but then there is this U-turn or abrupt left and everything you think you know about the story, you find that you don't. The usual gang is present and accounted for, including the Great Dane who loves to sleep on the couch in Tess' office.
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Josephine Briggs
5.0 out of 5 stars Another episode in the gritty, grim, dangerous life of a private eye
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2011
This book begins when a young man, a junkie, is murdered in prison. An attack by members of a gang? But is this true? He went to jail for murdering a seventeen year old girl, a girl living on the streets, a nobody, a Jane Doe. The girl was buried in a Potters Field nameless. There were no inquiries, no reports of a missing person. Who was she?

Tesser Monaghan is asked to take this case. Who murdered this young man and for what reason? The person asking Tess to take on this case is her father, Patrick Monaghan, who is active in Baltimore politic as are a couple of his brothers. The reason for this request is that Ruthie Dembrow's brother is the young man murdered in prison. Ruthie feels there was a much different reason for this young man to be killed. Plus Pat owes Ruthie, a Baltimore hon, a favor. He doesn't tell Tess why.

The season of this particular book is the Christmas season. Baltimore is filled with Christmas decorations. The city is cold,gray and darkness comes early. This is a good time for a murder mystery in the blue collar town of Baltimore.

Politics is much involved in this story. One of the men running is Senator Kenny Dahlgren, a family loving, honest man of the people or is he? Plus there are more so called honest politicians such as Arnold Vasso.

Tess is in love with Crow for the time being; Aunt Kitty's man of the month is Tyner Gray. Other characters are Tess's best friend, Whitney,who comes from a wealthy family, Esskay, Tess's dog, Sukey a gossipey teenager who Tess is always cautioning to stay away from trouble, she may be in danger. Along comes a new friend Jackie and toddler daughter,Laylah, who Tess adores.

Tess and Whitney,who is helping with a case, go to a hidden school for girls from wealthy families called Persephone's Place. The school is quite a way out in the country, hard to find and get to and very costly. This is a school for girls with eating problems plus tons of money.

Tess goes to Philadelphia to see a former student of this school Tess has questions to ask Devon. She feels Devon knows much about the case this PI is trying to solve.

This private eye, as usual, goes into dangerous places, meets evil people, people who love money and wouldn't mind killing innocents to get it. There are some who will do anything to gain power. She goes through the blue collar sections of Baltimore plus the wealthier sections.

Laure Lippman is a native of Baltimore who loves her city and takes her readers all through her hometown. A good escapist read.
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Toni-Anne
3.0 out of 5 stars Boring Read
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2014
Verified Purchase
Very Slow Read - Wasn't worth reading until the end. Even skipped pages hoping for some life to this book. Book went overboard with all the restaurants. Seemed like they were always eating breakfast, lunch or dinner rather then getting on with the storyline. Hopefully my next read will be more exciting - but, it will not be a Lippman pick.
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Donal Fagan
4.0 out of 5 stars Half and Half
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2010
I thoroughly enjoyed the first four books about Tesser and her extended family. Lippman develops such great characters that you want to know what happens to them. With The Sugar House, however, I enjoyed everything until the resolution of the situation. I hope this isn't a spoiler, but I just couldn't see that big, everyone-in-one-room scene actually playing out that way. On the positive side, I am encouraged that Lippman refuses to let her characters remain static from book to book. I look forward to reading the next in the series, In a Strange City.
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Top reviews from other countries

Mary Bonavita
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Australia on June 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
Interesting reading
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johnverp
3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty standard fare
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2001
Verified Purchase
There's not a bad story here and the book is fast-moving. However, there's nothing too inspirational in the writing, nor in the reasonably common-place type of plot.
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