• Charm City

  • Tess Monaghan, Book 2
  • By: Laura Lippman
  • Narrated by: Deborah Hazlett
  • Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (785 ratings)

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Charm City  By  cover art

Charm City

By: Laura Lippman
Narrated by: Deborah Hazlett
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Publisher's summary

PI Tess Monaghan knows and loves every inch of her native Baltimore. It's a quirky city where baseball reigns, but lately homicide seems to be the second most popular sport. Business tycoon Wink Wynkowski is trying to change all that by bringing pro basketball to town - until a devastating expose appears in the Baltimore Beacon Light. The newspaper's editors thought they'd killed the piece. Instead, the piece killed Wink, who's found dead in his garage. Tess is hired to find the unknown hacker who planted the lethal story.

©1997 Laura Lippman (P)2010 BBC Audio

What listeners say about Charm City

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    287
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    21
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

On of my favorites

Probably my favorite Tess Monaghan audio book so far. (My favorite print book is Sugar House). This book has Tess looking into a news paper story about a new basketball team that wasn't supposed to be printed but was. She also tries to figure out why her Uncle Spike was beaten into a coma over a dog. Both plots are juggled well. My only complaint is that one of the big suprises wasn't very suprising. It was well-paced with a very natural tone. By that I mean not artificially glib and not too grim and gory. A well balanced mystery all around.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Better than expected, Better than Book 1

I read the first Tess Monaghan mystery a while ago and was in no rush to read the next. My main problem with Tess was just not feeling any connection to her. In book one she spends most of her time working out and rowing, which didn't interest me. In this installment she actually doesn't do any rowing, and only a little working out. She seems to have traded that hobby for the hobby of eating junk food. I read a lot of cozy mysteries, and Tess is not a cozy character. She likes to drink bourbon, smoke pot, and she is having an uncommitted relationship with a guy who is obviously in love with her. I felt sorry for the guy. The Tess character starts out being very much like a stereotypical male character and I was expecting to stop the series after this one. However, I have to say, that as the book goes on we see another side of Tess and I liked her much better. As the mystery developed I thought it was going in a very predictable way and was starting to feel disappointed and then an unexpected twist changed things. All in all, it was actually a pretty good book and I expect I will continue on to the next one.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing; didn't finish it

I really wanted to like this book, with its Baltimore setting and newspaper theme, but it is, simply, dull. The performance is fine; there just isn't enough story to make a reader care what happens.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Easy Listening

I like the narrator, the stories are involved without being complex. A nice easy, entertaining listen.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Learn pronunciation, then record!

I like the Tess Monaghan series, but the performance irritated me. There were so many words mispronounced, especially French. To make matters worse, mispronunciation because of having only read them, not heard them, is a key characteristic of the newspaper computer geek. Her performance of the characters was fine other than that.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great series

I am enjoying working my way through all of the books in the Tess Monaghan series. The characters are well developed and leaves you wanting to know what the next adventure is.
An unorthodox mystery series for sure, but very entertaining.

I recommend these books.

I reserve 4 and 5 stars for the can't put them down, edge of my seat books. This series is more of a box of chocolates, enjoyable but at a slower pace. Well worth the credit.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fun, suspense, and love in a good mix.

Really enjoyed this book. Liked it much better than the previous "Baltimore Blues," the first of this series. Deborah Hazlett, the narrator, seems to have settled-in to the characters and made it easy to follow which character was speaking. The story had a lot of understated humor, a little romance, and a really interesting and intriguing mystery all rolled up in a very enjoyable listen. Would highly recommend this Audible book. Tess Monoghan has become an interesting and likable character I want to know more about. If there is a sequel, I will be purchasing it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

lippman's a master

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

gripping read

What did you like best about this story?

believable characters, plot that grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go until the last words, fine reader

Have you listened to any of Deborah Hazlett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

as good as I've grown to expect and appreciate

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

First of the series.

I enjoyed listening to this book. It was the first of a series and I will listen to others.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not my cup of tea

Unnecessarily crude. I’m not opposed to profanity, but it felt completely unnecessary in this case. Ya, too many reasons I didn’t like this.

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