Another Thing to Fall

Deceit, murder, baby-sitting a bratty starlet: It’s just another day in the life of Tess Monaghan, private investigator and protagonist of Laura Lippman’s Edgar Award–winning mystery series. In this installment, television crews come to Baltimore to film Mann of Steel, a semi-historic sci-fi drama, and trouble, of course, ensues. The set is vandalized, and the show’s 20-year-old star, Seline Watts, is the object of a local’s stalkerish affections. After Tess reluctantly agrees to be Seline’s paid handler, the problems get worse. Soon, our wisecracking PI is caught in a quagmire of lies about Seline and the producers, and must figure out just why conspirators are hell-bent on derailing the show.

Lippman has always been excellent at building her mystery plots, but she’s equally good at capturing the idiosyncrasies of Baltimore. And while her renderings of Charm City come with the requisite patina of grit, her books also offer up droll portraits of noncriminals—big-personality characters such as Tyner, Tess’s irascible uncle, legal adviser and rowing coach. Sadly, little of this recurring cast makes an appearance in Another Thing to Fall. It’s as if the TV show’s star power crowded out the regulars—and a good deal of the fun.

What the story lacks in personality is partially made up for by Lippman’s smart-aleck commentary and detective-worthy attention to detail. She alludes to everything from obscure legal precedents to Gawker, and it’s clear that she has done her research on the entertainment biz (perhaps borrowing some knowledge from her husband, The Wire scribe David Simon). Though the tight focus on the besieged set can be a drawback, Tess’s latest case builds up a thrilling momentum, and packs a surprise you won’t easily find on TV.

—Amy Plitt

Lippman reads Wed 12.