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kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
Second in the Tess Monaghan mystery series set in Baltimore, Maryland and revolving around a former journalist turned private detective.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
mcayers316's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Tess Monaghan is back. The plotting was too ambitious in this second novel, in my opinion. It would be better to stick with one plot line than two. But I will keep reading the series.
mfox1015's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I just love this series and it’s been long enough to where I remember nothing.
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
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.
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.
dianametzger's review against another edition
2.0
Hasn't hit her stride yet. This book has far too many storylines. It felt like one of those long movies that had 6 different places it could have ended. The dialogue felt a bit too cheesy and clever. It's fun to read these early Tess books after reading the later books first; you can tell how much Lippman has honed her craft.
bl0ndekitten's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0