ANOTHER THING TO FALL

ANOTHER THING TO FALL
By Laura Lippman
Harper Collins
ISBN 978-0-06-112888-2
Paperback $7.99
Reprint paperback edition
March 2009
Pages 352
Mystery/ Chic-lit

Tess Monaghan is now working as a bodyguard for the lead female, Selene Waites, on a new television series, Mann of Steel which is filming in her home town of Baltimore, Maryland. There have been too many accidents, vandalisms, deaths, and grudges relating to the show that have the cast and crew uneasy. Too much has been invested in this series to risk failure, so Tess has been hired to hopefully save the program by keeping Selene protected and out of trouble. On the first day with Selene, Tess finds out that this might be more challenging a job than she had intended. Selene and her date for the night managed to drug Tess so they could have more private time. Unfortunately for Tess, the more she investigates and discovers, the more endangered you can become.

ANOTHER THING TO FALL is the tenth book in the Tess Monaghan series by Laura Lippman. Personally, this book loses some of the passion for Tess that was in the previous books. The book is good, just not the excellent writing that most of us are accustomed to from Ms. Lippman.

The main strength of ANOTHER THING TO FALL is the humanness of Tess. She is criticized for her size which is either a 12 or a 14. She is bluntly told that she is too fat for television and the even being a size 6 is too large for a leading lady. This character is real in that she also teaches a night school about becoming a private investigator. One of her students is a delightfully colorful character of Mrs. Blossom, who actually assists in Tess’s present situation. She adds a comic relief to the stressful situations of Tess’s life with Selene.

The characters are realistic. The pacing is slow and uneven at times, especially near the beginning. The organization is well-done. The main thing lacking is the passion for Tess that has been in the previous novels.

Lippman was raised in Baltimore, Maryland and still lives there. For her previous novels she has won the Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, Nero, Gumshoe, and Shamus awards for her writing of the Tess Monaghan novels.