Synopses & Reviews
Reporter-turned-PI Tess Monaghan loves every inch of her native Baltimore—a quirky city where baseball reigns and homicide seems to be the second most popular sport. Business tycoon "Wink" Wynkowski wants to change all that by bringing pro basketball back to town—a laudable mission that's greeted with widespread cheers . . . until a muckraking front-page exposé of his past appears in the Beacon-Light. The Blight's surprised editors are sure they killed the piece. Instead, the piece kills Wynkowski, who's discovered asphyxiated in his garage with his car's engine running. Now the paper wants former newshound Tess to track down the rogue computer hacker whose prank took a human life. But there's more than cyber-crime involved here—and Tess is about to discover firsthand that trying to stay alive in Charm City is murder these days.
Review
“Both entertaining and unexpectedly touching. More Please.” Baltimore Sun
Review
Mystery fans can anticipate an engrosising series. Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Former reporter and current private investigator Tess Monaghan knows and loves every inch of her native Baltimore, even the parts being slobbered on by the sad-sack grey-hound 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 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 newspaper 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.
About the Author
Laura Lippman is the author of eleven novels featuring Baltimore private detective Tess Monaghan, seven stand-alone novels, and a short story collection. Her six most recent books have all been New York Times bestsellers. Lippman has won numerous literary prizes for her work, including the Edgar®, Anthony, Nero Wolfe, Agatha, Gumshoe, Barry, and Macavity Awards. A recent recipient of the first-ever Mayor's Prize, she lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband, David Simon; their daughter; and her stepson.