Charm City

Tess Monaghan #2

by Laura Lippman

As a practiced reporter until her newspaper went to that great pressroom in the sky, P.I. Tess Monaghan knows and loves every inch of her native Baltimore, even the parts being slobbered on by the sad-sack greyhound she's minding for her uncle. It's a quirky city where baseball reigns, but lately homicide seems to be the second most popular local sport. Business tycoon "Wink" Wynkowski is trying to change all that by bringing pro basketball back to town, and everybody's rooting for him; until a devastating, muckraking expose of his lurid past appears on the front page of the Baltimore Beacon-Light. It's a surprise even to the Blight's editors, who thought they'd killed the piece. Instead, the piece killed Wink, who's found in his garage with the car running.

Now the Blight wants to nail the unknown computer hacker who planted the lethal story, and the assignment is right up the alley of a former newshound like Tess. But it doesn't take long for her to discover deeper, darker secrets, and to realize that this situation is really more about whacking than hacking. It's just murder in Baltimore these days, and Tess Monaghan herself might be next on the list.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Crime, Detective, Mystery Thriller, Thriller

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

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.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When someone at the Beacon-Light leaks an unfavorable story about the millionaire planning on bringing an NBA team to Baltimore, Tess Monaghan is hired to figure how who spilled the beans. At the same time, she's trying to figure out who put her uncle in the hospital and if it has anything to do with the greyhound in her possession.

Laura Lippman comes highly recommended but two books into her Tess Monaghan series, I'm just not feeling it.

First off, astute readers will notice my teaser differs from the official teaser on the back cover of the book. That's because the back cover gives away the first 30% of the book. Secondly, while the overall plot engaged me, the love triangle subplot annoyed me to no end. It seemed like a step back after the first book in the series where Tess showed no signs of thinking with her genitalia.

All that aside, I did like the book for the most part. Tess ran down leads like a champ and didn't do anything really stupid to advance the plot. The supporting cast was pretty well done and I didn't see the twist at the end coming. I liked Laura Lippman's depiction of Baltimore but it's not up to the level of George Pelecanos' DC or Lawrence Block's New York.

I'm trying to reveal less than the back cover on my edition so this is turning out to be a short review. I did find the revelations into Wink, the millionaire,'s background very interesting and much cleverer than I originally thought. Wink's wife and ex both seemed realistic despite their short time in the forefront.

While I liked Charm City overall, I didn't like it enough to rush out and get the next book in the series and I'm not sure Lippman and I will have a third outing. Three stars.

[Jonas · Rating 5 out of 5]

My preferred method of travel is by book. It is not often that I jump from one book in the series immediately into the second, but I missed the city of Baltimore. Plus it took a while for me to warm up to Tess in the first book, she just started to get her life together and I wanted to see where things were going.

I loved the kick off to the book with the history of professional sports teams in Baltimore. I found it very interesting. It made me want to do more research. I loved the introduction of a greyhound. I love books with dogs. Of course I continue to love Tess’s Aunt Kitty and her independent bookstore, Women and Children First. Her scenes and love life lighten the story and add to the entertainment factor. And Tess’s “love” interest Crow is quite interesting.

There is an entire new cast of characters, including Tess’s cousin/uncle Spike (owner of a local dive bar), Durban Knox owner of a boxing gym in East Baltimore, and Wink Wynkowski (local business man with his hand in everything-including bringing an NBA team to Baltimore).

I loved the book and the evolution of the characters. I saw the first twist coming. I suspected the second, but by the time I did, it was just before the reveal. Lippman is meticulous and so detail oriented. Every detail is there and comes back later as everything comes together. I’m hooked and will read the entire series.

[Obsidian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dealing with the fallout of the death of her ex in book #1, Tess is finally pushing to become a private investigator. Seeing someone new (Crow) she feels a bit more centered, but not by much. Her family still drives her up the wall, her boss (sort of) who is pushing her to get off her butt and set up her own office. We get to see Tess pounding the pavement to figure out the mystery behind two cases and come to a decision about her love life.

When her uncle ends up in the hospital, Tess is left caring for a dog he recently got and trying to figure out why mysterious men in cars are following her and her family. On top of that, Whitney talks her up to the editors at the Beacon Blight to hire Tess to figure out who is behind a story going to press that was killed.

Tess having a background in newspapers definitely helps her out here. She manages to use what she knows to go back and look at the sources/writers of the newspaper story that was supposed to get killed. Tess also manages to piece together what her uncle was up to and why people are looking for something he hid. Tess we find out in this book used to have an eating disorder and we get why she's so focused on working out every day if she can. I already knew she rowed in college, but finding out there's a reason why she was into working out and having bulimia made me feel for her.

I thought Tess and Crow were pretty meh. There was foreshadowing all along how that was going to end up. He just seems to be there for her to stomp all over. I would have gotten fed up too. I also would have gotten fed up with him wanting more than I wanted to give, so they both cancel each other out. Tess's second love interest didn't do a lot for more either. Never a fan of love triangles in books, but this one didn't really bother me so much since Tess at least did the right thing by not jerking two guys around at the same time.

The setting of Baltimore is played up here a lot and you hear all about Charm City in this second book. It's funny that I live so close and I have been to Baltimore just once. Tess via Lippman talks a lot of crap about those who came in and tried to gentrify Baltimore and the white and black flight from certain areas.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for Charm City: Tess Monaghan, Book 2 (audiobook) by Laura Lippman read by Deborah Hazlett.

Tess Monaghan is back working in the newspaper business but this time she is investigating it. She has to find out who planted the story that got Wink killed and why is she dog sitting this Greyhound. Some nasty goons seem to be looking for it but she can’t figure out why someone would want this washed up race dog.

[Elvan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don't understand how this book could have won a mystery award. Tess Monaghan is a less than average PI and does very little detective work. Instead we learn about the newspaper business in Baltimore which combined with the first person narration makes the book read like an autobiography of the author more than a murder mystery.
For me the only bright light in the novel was the introduction of the less than bright rescue greyhound Esskay. It says a lot about a book when the only memorable scene involves teaching a retired racing dog how to use the stairs.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story quite a bit. The greyhound and Tess’s uncle, betrayals and mistakes, bad choices and friendships all made this a fascinating story. I liked Tess better in this second book of the series. I think she may have learned a few things along the way. It was a little bittersweet but the dog made everything ok. 😊

[Bonnie G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy spending time with Tess Monoghan, and this book, though very dated, was quite enjoyable. There is a lot of talk about the use of computers in 1997, and there is a central plot point that includes a VHS tape. It feels like they are discussing butter churns or the mechanical sewing machine. Also, the whole thing centers on the goings on in a newsroom, and there is much talk about the printing and layout of newspapers. It's funny, the historical details in Raymond Chandler make it feel period, while these things just make the whole seem kind of old. I guess because all of this still bears some connection to life today, but an old-fashioned version, while the details in the early 20th century are disconnected from life today. That is not a fault of the book, though, and I had real fun with this. A great palate cleanser.

Note, I had an old mass market paperback of this, and I was reminded that I really hate mass market paperbacks with their crooked typesetting, cheap ink, and godawful fonts. I like reading a nicely made book, but I will take Kindle over this any day of the week!

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are like Lays potato chips - not my favorite but I can't seem to stop at just one.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Narrated by Deborah Hazelett.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

love when a murder mystery has a secret second greyhound racing mystery

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

2nd in the series but…

Worse than the first. Really didn’t care for Tess as a “human being” in this installment. The story was alright though part of it was given away by the blurb. Took awhile for anything to happen. Not sure I will continue this series.

[Justine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't imagine anyone who is not from Baltimore would like this book - everyone that I know in Baltimore (and I grew up here) loves it (the series in general), and I think it's because of the frequent local references. Editor slept on the job with 2 simple grammar mistakes (one 3 times, one only once) - suppose/supposed drives me crazy - saw that 3 times. And "Tess would never get use to..." at the end was the final nail down a chalkboard for me. There are much better books to choose from.

[Juniper · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is proving to be a good series - it's not outstanding literature, but it's entertainingly escapist. the case in this instalment is more interesting than in the first book, and the characters develop a bit further. baltimore continues to shine through lippman's clear love for the city.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this! I was reading this on my Nook Simple Touch E-ink reader, which I have had for about 10 years. It is still a solid way to read a book, as it can be read in direct sunlight and has a battery life of days and days. But I misplaced it for the longest time and only recently found it, so I dove back into the second Tess Monaghan book.

She still hasn't started her career as an official PI, just helping out a friend at the newspaper she wanted to work at. Her Uncle gets involved too, as does an abandoned Greyhound, 2 boyfriends and her aunt Kitty. She does what private investigators do best - get her nose dirty, riles up the water and sees just what comes slinking out. She takes a beating a few times, and has her heartbroken twice, but of course comes out on top in the end.

Laura Lippman is one of my favorite current authors and, despite this book coming out over 20 years ago, this is still a good one. I enjoy Tess as a person and like her insights. The city of Baltimore also plays a prominent part in the story. Maybe a little too prominent for my tastes, but I suppose that's what someone else would decry about Boston in, say, a Spenser novel, while I just wallow in it.

The wise cracks come hard and fast, and the cast of supporting characters is memorable. There is a very touching scene at the end, as Tess grows up a little bit. And even though she is only 29, she still has some keen insights into aging. Can't wait to read book 3, Butchers Hill. There's even an afterward written by Ms. Lippman in this edition, where she muses about 20 years of writing, mostly about how to come up with the titles of her books. Pretty good insights into writing, I think.

I will have to decide what book to start next on this Nook. It's a solid summertime reader, good for both hammock and pool reading.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I want to fly through a book in a couple days, I turn to the genre of crime, mystery, thriller, whatever you want to call it. I have a set of go to authors whom I follow through all of their books. A recent addition to that set for me is Laura Lippman. After reading Sunburn, one of her stand alones from 2018, I fell in love and went back to the beginning.

The beginning for Laura Lippman was in 1997 when she began a long series featuring Tess Monaghan, a Baltimore newspaper reporter who turned PI. The first in that series is Baltimore Blues. Charm City is the second. I am in love with Tess too. She fills all the requirements for me. Independent, feminist in her own way, mostly fearless, nobody's fool, though of course she has her fragile parts.

No use rehashing the plot, though her plots are fabulous. It is one of my pleasures in reading such a series to see how the main character changes and grows.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second in the Tess Monaghan mystery series set in Baltimore, Maryland and revolving around a former journalist turned private detective.

My Take
The primary theme is one of betrayal. Betrayal of one's ethics and of friends. Using and manipulating friends to help is one thing; doing it to achieve one's personal goals is another.

A preponderance of the latter weighs very heavily in Charm City from a battering of journalistic ethics, making that career leap, destruction of lives to maintain past secrets, and hiding one's primal enjoyment of the kill. Most of which can be traced to one man's pride.

Lippman keeps the action moving forward as Tess tells the story with some of my guesses teetering wildly in the wrong directions, some slowly drilling down in the right ones.

Even with Lippman's improvement in this story, I still find myself cheering Crow's response to Tess at the end.

The Story
Tess isn't exactly burning up the streets hunting down business as a private detective so Whitney and Tyner team up to get her a gig with the Beacon-Light discovering who slipped a not-yet okayed article onto the front page. And in so doing, Tess uncovers a ruthless killer.

Then there's Uncle Spike in his coma with some nasty men after something he has...and think that Tess is keeping for him. One clue with which Crow bonds. Not the only bond that disappoints Crow even as Tess herself is betrayed.

The Characters
Tess Mongahan rows for the fun of it and is a journalist who just can't find a job and instead finds herself utilizing those reporting skills as a detective even more so when Esskay enters her life. She still lives above her Aunt Kitty's bookstore, Women and Children First, but only Crow still works for Kitty even if he's in love with Tess now. Whitney Talbot and Kevin Feeney are both journalists with the former her best friend and the other simply a friend. The last three get a wake-up call in Charm City. Tyner Gray is a wheelchair-bound lawyer who won an Olympic silver in rowing and now provides Tess with encouragement in both her new profession and her training along with office space.

Uncle Spike and Tommy, his bus boy, play to a sub plot in this one when Uncle Spike gets beaten into a coma and entrusts his new dog, a rescued greyhound, with Tess. Durban Knox's boxing gym is where Tess goes to train; as Spike's niece, she's protected, she thought. Rock has a cameo role in this one.

The Beacon Light's editors include Jack Sterling, Colleen Reganhart, Lionel "Lyin' Lionel" C. Mabry, and Randall Pfieffer IV, a.k.a., Five-Four, the publisher. Dorie Starnes is the paper's computer guru with her own agenda. The subject of the article, Gerard "Wink" Wynkowski, had such a promising life until Rosita Ruiz came on scene and used various ways and means to destroy it. Linda Stolley Wynkowski is his first wife who sheds a completely different light on Wink while Lea Wynkowski appears to be the only one with a real handle on him and his history. Paul Tucci is a scion of one of Baltimore's most important families who picks up the NBA cause even as he has his own secrets to hide.

The Cover
The cover has a certain charm to it with its row of identical houses viewed in perspective although I think a color other than mustard yellow would have been more charming. As for the title, Charm City is a nickname for Baltimore around which everything and everyone revolves.

[Reggie Morrisey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the newsroom setting of parts of the 1997 Charm City by Laura Lippman, my first experience with the author. But the book howls a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of introducing too many time-stamped analogies and metaphors about celebrities and fads. They have short shelf lives. They interrupt the flow of storytelling as the reader tries to recall or research trivia. Why Mint Milano cookies when cookies would do.
Ms. Lippman’s crime clues appear with neon arrows and clattering alarms, as, for instance, the dog chain leash later used as a weapon in a farfetched escape and the turkey sausage on a pizza at a crime scene that is key to identifying a villain. Many descriptions of Baltimore are dense with no meaning, also distracting.
Some facts presented are wrong, such as a reporter’s reference to the Spanish Flu of 1908, which occurred in 1918. I also questioned the newspaper tech wizard’s ability to permanently delete data, since nightly backups were common by the late 1990s.
Such things give me pause. I will read another book by the author, since, in fairness, there are 20 more to choose from.

[Carly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, exactly, but not impressive. I haven't read a lot of whodunnits so I can't compare, really, but it seemed a bit messy and unclear. Not the good kind of unclear, mystery and guessing games, but just messy and hectic.

I probably will go ahead with the series at some point because I have already (accidentally) read the eleventh one and loved it, so I know I like the characters and writing, if not now then eventually.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

RATING: 3 STARS
(Review Not on Blog)

A fun sequel to Baltimore Blues. I like Tess and the quirky characters around her. I especially enjoy listening to these on audios. I will be continuing the series.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

The local references are definitely fun to read. But I found this book dragged, and Tess was a bit attitudinal for my taste. Most characters were pretty two-dimensional.

[Marilee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a 3.5 star book… decently written, good characters, but the story line leaves a bit to be desired.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: she once was a reporter, so PI Monaghan gets the call to find out how a computer hacker's muckraking story got into the paper.

[Tom S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this gem for a dollar at the used bookstore. I have read a few in this series, always a fun read.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charm City is the second entry in the Tess Monaghan mystery series. This series reminds me a lot of Sue Grafton’s alphabet series – if Kinsey Millhone had lived in Baltimore during the 1990’s. There is a lot of interaction with the local paper as Tess tries to uncover who hacked into the newspaper computer system and added a story that wasn’t supposed to run. This unauthorized story sets several murders (or are they suicides?) in motion. This was a well-written mystery and the conclusion surprised me. I also liked the secondary plots involving Tess’s relationship with Crow, her boyfriend of six months and her unwilling adoption of a greyhound an elderly relative is unable to care for. As good as the mystery was, I was even more interested in how the boyfriend and dog situation ended up and am looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initially I found this book unimpressive & put it down for a month. Consequently when I picked it up again it was a bit of a slog getting into it but as the odd passage sparked a flicker of interest I persevered rather than giving up.

I found the storyline muddling - but to be fair that could be partly down to my break in reading it - & not very inspiring. Overall things felt a bit flat & humourless with characters who didn't seem strong on personality. It did pick up but not 'til the last 100 pages or so....but that at least has stopped it entering my "waste of my valuable reading time" shelf ;o)

A passable enough read but not a series I'll follow up.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, but I didn’t love it. The plots are interesting enough to keep you engaged, but it’s also fairly mindless, all in all. So these might be good to listen to while driving to work or some such.
I am not sure if I will read further in the series or not. I appreciate the character development of Tess, but I also don’t love the character that she is *becoming*. I want her to grow up and figure out what she’s doing with her personal life, rather than maintain distance from everyone. So, I’m not sure that I’d be pulled in just to find out what she does next (and I would be, for some other cozy sleuths).

[Mélyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters and plots were entertaining enough, but once again, I was especially amused by the 90’s setting. For example, Tess, while discussing with a newspaper editor about news moving from paper to online, makes this comment: “Well, paper is awfully handy for taking on the bus, or sharing at the breakfast table.” I guess every family member reading on their tablet at the breakfast table or half the commuters on a bus checking their phones must have been unconceivable back in 1997!

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars.

The mystery was fine, but I don't like the main character. In the first book, she slept with her ex even knowing that he had a new girlfriend. In this book, she has a boyfriend and yet, still flirts with another man.

She has terrible taste in men and is kinda crappy as a human.

I also wasn't a fan of how the author wrote the women in this book.

[Germaine Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, fun read especially since it’s set in Baltimore!

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid sophomore effort for the series. While it is dated to the Baltimore of the publication date, I'm eager to see how the view of the city unfolds as the series progresses. The themes here are evergreen and the plotting fairly tight.