Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan
A single book led me to a series, and this is the rest. Broke the train halfway through, can’t live on a steady diet of just one genre for too long. Noted, however, the books were good, enjoyable. Pleasurable reading. Just a side note, the series reads a little different for me, as a typical novel like these, from other authors? I can devour a book in a day whereas this series? Takes two-three days, at least, to finish one. In part, it’s the references, allusions, and asides, but in part, it’s the delightful cadence of the text, the texture of the story itself.
Arrayed, as it were, in some semblance of order.
- The Last Place
The Last Place: A Tess Monaghan Novel
“Local drivers were not so much aggressive as absentminded, seemingly indifferent to reaching a destination. The average Baltimore driver gave the impression of a sleepwalker who had regained consciousness behind the wheel, baffled and disoriented.” Page 256.
As they say…
- By A Spider’s Thread
By a Spider’s Thread: A Tess Monaghan Novel
“A legacy, she had always assumed, from its Catholic founders. Marry in haste, live in purgatory.” Page 23.
Wise words, I’d echo.
“How else to explain the small bookshelf that held nothing but Robert B. Parker novels?” Page 33.
This one strung me along, longer, and more mysterious, with echo of voice I’ve heard before, and not sure what it was.
“At some point rituals cannot be deconstructed. The acceptance of ritual is part of faith.” Page 198.
Got to steal that. A line from a character in a piece of fiction that rings more true than most of my holy books. A special nod for a Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys allusion.
- No Good Deeds
No Good Deeds: A Tess Monaghan Novel (Tess Monaghan Novel, 9)
No good deed ever goes unpunished.
- Another Thing to Fall
Another Thing to Fall: A Tess Monaghan Novel
Measure for Measure quote. Hat tip, Brave Combo mention.
“These relatively normal mouths were as shocking as a Shane McGowan convention.” Page 115.
Another nice punk nod. “Alt” when it meant “alternative.”
- The Girl in the Green Raincoat
The Girl in the Green Raincoat: A Tess Monaghan Novel
“Cherchez la femme,” I believe, is the correct expression. Turns out it was short read, and more compact form, a novella, by the author’s afterward’s admission. Still every bit as delightful as the previous novels, loaded with twists galore.
- Hush Hush
Hush Hush: A Tess Monaghan Novel
“Being a mother was like being trapped in the first fifteen minutes of a horror film.” Page 111.
Sounds right, in and out of context.
Nice twist. Really have enjoyed these so far.
Support your local public library.
Mercury’s Retrograde
I started on the list of books by Laura Lippman when Mercury was retrograde, as a filler, but as I got engaged with the texts themselves? I kept going.
The Portable Mercury Retrograde
Portable Mercury Retrograde: astrofish.net’s Mercury in Retrograde
