Baltimore Blues

Tess Monaghan, Book 1

De: Laura Lippman

Narrado por: Deborah Hazlett

Unemployed at 29, Tess Monaghan is willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent—including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl "Rock" Paxton. In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety—and his noontime trysts with Rock's fiancée—make the case front page news...and point to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend's innocence could prove costly to Tess.

©1997 Laura Lippman (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks

ENGAGING STOREY

Would you listen to Baltimore Blues again? Why?

NO, I JUST DON'T DO THAT EVER

Who was your favorite character and why?

TESS GREAT FLAWED HEROINE

What about Deborah Hazlett’s performance did you like?

THE VOICES SHE USES FOR THE VARIOUS CHARACTORS

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NO IN CAR, TOOK ABOUT A WEEK TO COMPLETE

A true gem!

I wish I had discovered this talented author years ago! Lippman is an outstanding writer, with plenty of "literary gems" gently sprinkled within the prose of the mystery. The characters feel real and the scene setting rings true, setting the reader smack dab in the city of Baltimore - superb local color. In addition, the dialog is very natural-sounding.

The only issue I had was with the narrator, who seemed to rush her words so much that I had a hard time listening at the normal speed. I solved the problem by reducing the speed to 75%, which imparted a lovely, soft, luxurious feel to her voice. I will continue to do this as I go forward through the series now.

I've already started to listen to book #2 and am loving it!

Excellence!

in a vast wasteland of crappy writing and even crappier narration, this book was a stellar 100% fresh, well written story with quirky, realistic characters who could live next door to you. Tess is real, imperfect, cute but not beautiful like so many heroines. I've loved this series for years but now I'm listening to the audio, and I LOVE this narrator. She has perfect pitch for both sexes without being over the top or irritating like so many female readers. In the audiobook world, it's all about NARRATION NARRATION NARRATION and she nails it.

Very interesting; couldn't stop listening

It pulled me in immediately with descriptive writing and effective narration that allowed me to see and feel the story unfolding. It left me with a very vivid picture and a desire to hear more about Tess and the other characters which are likely to appear in subsequent books. I'm not sure why I initially chose this, but my next picks will be others in this series.

Excellent

Great book with many twists and turns. I almost didn't buy this book because of the negative reviews. So glad I didn't listen to them.