What do You think about The Sugar House (2015)?
OK, when life gets in the way of my reading enjoyment, I turn to series mysteries. It all started with the Trixie Belden series back in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan satisfies while I wait/hope for the next installment of Kinsey Milhone or V.I. Warshawski. Tess gets smarter with each installment, and Lippman provides many little details about her home city of Baltimore.Lippman reveals how widely she reads with the little literary tidbits that season her text. I've smiled at frequent references from children's and young adult books that I also enjoyed to some of the books I've tracked in Goodreads. Smart writers are smart readers!
—Martha
In this fifth mystery of the Tess Monaghan detective series, Tess is now thirty, with plenty of business in her private detective agency, and back together with her boyfriend “Crow.” She takes on a case as a favor to her father, who is friends with the client, Ruthie Dembrow. Ruthie wants to know what really happened a year before when her brother Henry allegedly killed a nameless girl and went to prison. Henry himself was killed just a month after going to prison in somewhat suspicious circumstances. Ruthie is convinced there is more to the story than just coincidence.Tess, with detective help from Crow and her best friend Whitney, gets plunged into the dangerous world of politics, prostitution rings, corruption, blackmail, and murder. Evaluation: Tess is getting better as a detective, but otherwise her flaws remain legion: she is much too outspoken, quick to jump to conclusions, somewhat self-absorbed, and defensive all the time. She is also funny, loyal, loving, and smart. Tess Monaghan, her friends, and her family, are very likeable characters, and Lippman is a very likeable writer.Rating: 3.5/5
—Jill
This review actually applies to the audio version--I can't find the correct one listed.#5 Tess Monaghan mystery set in Baltimore, MD. Having returned from Texas with boyfriend Crow in tow, Tess is beginning to settle into somewhat of a routine with her PI business and her personal life. She is asked by her father to take on a case for an old friend. Ruthie wants her to find out the identity of the Jane Doe her glue-sniffing, addict brother was sent to prison for killing, albeit accidentally in a drug-hazed stupor. Her brother was subsequently knifed to death in prison, and Ruthie is convinced that it wasn't just another prison squabble, but that it's because of who the Jane Doe was. For her own peace of mind and closure, she wants to know why her brother died. Tess doesn't hold much hope of finding the woman's identity after a year has gone by, but she gives it her best shot, linking one clue to another--beginning on Baltimore's mean streets but which eventually leads she and her good friend Whitney Talbot, recently returned from Japan, to a very exclusive private eating disorders clinic on the coast. Having once tangled with her own bulimia demon as a teenager, Tess feels as though she's on familiar ground and does eventually find out who Jane Doe really is--but there's a story behind the story, and once Tess gets hold of a bone, she's like a junkyard dog and won't let go, even when it puts herself in danger. It took me awhile to warm up to the reader of this book; I've encountered her before and she's not my favorite, although many folks just love her. "Something" about her (Barbara Rosenblatt) voice/tone/whatever annoys me, but I like this series enough that I was able to enjoy the book despite it. I guess if I plan to listen on in audio I'd better get used to it anyway. Looking forward to the next adventure!
—Spuddie
