Another Thing to Fall, by Laura Lippman, b-plus narrated by Linda Emond, produced by Harper Audio, downloaded from audible.com. A.This is the latest in the Baltimore PI, Tess Monaghan series. Publisher’s note:The California dream weavers have invaded Charm City with their cameras, their stars, and their controversy.When private investigator Tess Monaghan literallyruns into the crew of the fledgling TV series Mann of Steel while sculling, she expects sharp words and evil looks, not an assignment. But the companyhas been plagued by a series of disturbing incidents since its arrival on location in Baltimore: bad press, union threats, and small, costly on-set "accidents"that have wreaked havoc with its shooting schedule. As a result, Mann's creator, Flip Tumulty, the son of a Hollywood legend, is worried for the safetyof his young female lead, Selene Waites, and asks Tess to serve as her bodyguard/babysitter. Tumulty's concern may be well founded. Not long ago, a Baltimoreman was discovered dead in his own home, surrounded by photos of the beautiful, difficult superstar-in-the-making.In the past, Tess has had enough troubleguarding her own body. Keeping a spoiled movie princess under wraps may be more than she can handle - even with the help of Tess' icily unflappable friendWhitney - since Selene is not as naive as everyone seems to think and is far more devious than she initially appears to be.This is not Tess' world. Andthese are not her kind of people, with their vanities, their self-serving agendas and invented personas, and their remarkably skewed visions of reality- from the series' aging, shallow, former pretty-boy leading man to its resentful, always-on-the-make co-writer, to the officious young assistant who maybe too hungry for her own good.But the fish-out-of-water P.I. is abruptly pulled back in by an occurrence she's all too familiar with: murder. Suddenly,the wall of secrets around Mann of Steel is in danger of toppling, leaving shattered dreams, careers, and lives scattered among the ruins - a catastrophethat threatens the people Tess cares about...and the city she loves.
With three critically-acclaimed standalones ( To the Power of Three, Every Secret Thing and What the Dead Know) now behind her, Laura Lippman returns to the Tess Monaghan series with Another Thing to Fall. Those of us who have been following Tess's adventures for years should be grateful, and I am, but I wish I could have liked this book more.In it, Tess is brought into the world of television production (with which Lippman is familiar because of her husband's involvement with The Wire). It's a world where no one is quite what s/he seems, and one where most people are so focused on their own concerns as to be fairly clueless outside them. Problems are dogging the set of a Baltimore-location TV series in production, and Tess is hired as a bodyguard for its lead ingenue. This is one of those books with multiple points of view, including perpetrator(s), victims, and not-so-innocent bystanders as well as that of the detective. These are useful in explaining motivations, but can be a little confusing.At the end of the book, it seemed to me, Tess hadn't done all that much detecting, rather she learned much of the truth by having it flung at her,and probably that's why I found the book a little disappointing.On the other hand, although we didn't get to see much of Crow, both his teenage protege Lloyd and Tess's awesome friend Whitney Talbot featured largely in the plot, and that was enjoyable. Even a so-so Laura Lippman book is much better than average, and I also liked her insights into the ambivalence of a troubled city being "invaded" by television and movie crews with their promises of money and fame.
What do You think about Another Thing To Fall (2008)?
The tenth entry in Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series finds the Baltimore-native reporter-turned-private-eye rowing her way into the production of the television mini-series Mann of Steel. Tess is hired to provide security for young starlet Selene Waites (think Paris Hilton only with acting ability) due to a series of disturbing incidents plaguing the fledgling series.At first Tess chalks Selene up to a ditzy Hollywood type, but events quickly show that Selene is cleverer than she lets on. When the series of incidents escalates into the death of one of the writing assistants, Tess’ natural curiosity is piqued and she begins to investigate what’s really happening with the Mann of Steel production.As the story unfolds, a number of likely suspects enter into the picture with Lippman laying out a foundation and motive for each person to be part of the plot to disrupt the production of the show. As always with Lippman’s books, the pages turn easily and the narrative shifts between several characters while staying firmly grounded with Tess. The first half of the book lays out all the characters and their potential motivations and the second half puts the pieces into place, leading up to a satisfying denouncement to multiple mysteries taking place within the novel.Yet despite having several threads running, the novel never loses focus or the reader.Along with Elizabeth George, Lippman writes the most satisfying, character-driven mystery novels on the market today. As with George’s Lynley and Havers series, part of the pleasure in Lippman’s Monaghan novels is the chance to “catch up” with Tess. Of course, the mystery is compelling as well or else the novels wouldn’t be worth the time or effort. But the balance of character and mystery is well navigated here. And Lippman does the near impossible task of allowing new readers into the Tess universe while satisfying long-time readers of Tess’ adventures.
—Michael
I can tell you I am really not a fan of this book and that it took me almost half of the book to actually be able to get into it. One of the reasons I had so much problems with this book is since the author uses a lot of movie trivia - some of which I have heard, most that I haven't heard about. And yes the book is about taping a show for the television but really did you have to forget your audience may not come from that group? The other reason why this book is so hard to get into is there is
—Julia Brumfield
(2.5) This book is proof positive that baby boomers just shouldn't write dialogue for people between the ages of 15-30. It was tough wading through the bad dialogue surrounding the Selene Waits character. And even when there was a payoff for it...no. Just no. Lotta meh feelings in this book, including a dull mystery. I usually rate Lippman's books at least a 3 or above. Baltimore folk need to stick together. But I just can't do that in good conscience. Fortunately, as someone who has read the rest of the Tess Monaghan series (including her recent as of 2015 novel Hush Hush) I can say with confidence that her writing has matured.
—Jake
