Synopses & Reviews
In hot legal water—and court-ordered therapy—private investigator Tess Monaghan accepts an assignment with a local nonprofit organization to review police documents for inconsistencies and investigative blunders surrounding five unsolved Baltimore homicides. The cases seem unconnected except for the suspicion that each brutal death was the result of domestic violence.
But curiosity is soon pulling Tess off the paper trail and into dangerously unfamiliar territory, as she joins forces with a police officer obsessed with bringing a murderer down. Scant leads and intuitions are pointing the disgraced p.i. toward the most remote corners of Maryland, where a psychopath can hide as easily in the fabric of a tiny fishing community as in the alleys and shadows of Charm City. And a single, shocking common thread seems to be tying all the loose ends together into one bloody knot: Tess Monaghan herself.
Review
Lippman, reporter for the Baltimore Sun, excels at vivid portraits of her town's offbeat neighborhoods, hangouts and inhabitants. Seen through the eyes of her protagonist--a smart, funny P.I. named Tess Monaghan--Baltimore is never dull Seattle Times
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“Laura Lippman in her series featuring Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan just keeps getting better and better” Houston Chronicle
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“The Last Place is the first place readers should turn to for a superior story.” Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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“Spectacular. . . . A fast, cleverly ellusive story.” New York Times Book Review
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“A major work of suspense.” Cleveland Plain Dealer
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Lippmans “usual deft precision”...The Last Place “shouldnt be missed” ! Washington Post Book World
Synopsis
When New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman s Tess Monaghan investigates five cold case murders, she doesn t expect the investigation tobecome personal
Tess Monaghan agrees to look into a series of unsolved homicides that date back over the past six years despite the fact that the assignment originates from a troubling source: wealthy Baltimore benefactor Luisa O Neal, who was both instrumental in launching Tess s present career and intimately connected with the murder of Tess s former boyfriend.
Apart from the suspicion that each death was the result of domestic violence, nothing else seems to connect them. Five lives four women, one man ended in various ways. The only thing the five cases seem to have is that they are now ice cold. Tess search for the connecting threads takes her beyond the Charm City limits and into dangerously unfamiliar territory. With the help of a police officer obsessed with bringing a murderer down, she follows scant leads into the remotest corners of Maryland, where a psychopath can hide as easily in the fabric of a tiny, rough-hewn fishing community as in the alleys and shadows of bustling Baltimore.
As she strays far from everything that s familiar and safe in her life, Tess is suddenly cast into a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with an ingenious slayer who changes identities as often and effortlessly as clothing. But at last, a single link to the murders emerges. Unfortunately, it's Tess.
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Synopsis
Award-winning and
New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippmans Tess Monaghan—first introduced in the classic
Baltimore Blues—returns in an investigation that will test the PI like never before and take her down a harrowing path of suspense and danger.Five lives in Maryland have been brutally destroyed over the past six years—five unsolved homicides, seemingly unconnected except for the suspicion that each death was the result of domestic violence. In hot water—and court-ordered therapy—Tess Monaghan accepts an assignment from a local nonprofit organization, agreeing to review police documents on each case for inconsistencies and investigative blunders.
But it turns out that a psychopath can hide as easily in the fabric of a tiny fishing community as in the alleys and shadows of Charm City. Because another common thread to five senseless murders is beginning to emerge—and its Tess Monaghan herself.
About the Author
Since Laura Lippman's debut in 1997, she has been heralded for thoughtful, timely crime novels set in her beloved hometown of Baltimore. Now a perennial New York Times bestseller, she lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her family.