Tess Monaghan

Laura Lippman

Downsized Baltimore reporter Tess Monaghan is struggling to make ends meet while working part-time at her aunt’s bookstore and wondering what comes next. When a wealthy attorney from a powerful law firm is murdered, Tess is drawn into an investigation involving hidden secrets, ambitious journalists, and the city’s influential elite. Using her instincts, reporting skills, and intimate knowledge of Baltimore, she begins uncovering clues that make the case increasingly personal and dangerous. This sharp, atmospheric mystery introduces a compelling detective whose wit, independence, and restless curiosity anchor the series.

Laura Lippman

In Baltimore, ambitious businessman Wink Wynkowski is determined to bring professional basketball back to the city—and he has public enthusiasm firmly on his side. When violence threatens his vision, private investigator Tess Monaghan is drawn into a case that reaches from the city’s business elite to its deeply rooted political and social divisions. Against a vivid urban backdrop, the novel explores ambition, corruption, loyalty, and Baltimore’s struggle to reinvent itself. Combining sharp characterizations with an atmospheric sense of place, it offers a compelling mystery from one of contemporary crime fiction’s distinctive voices.

Laura Lippman

Private investigator Tess Monaghan is drawn into a dangerous case when Ruthie asks her to uncover the truth behind her brother’s stabbing death in prison. Her search leads to Gwen Schiller, a teenage heiress who has recently fled the Sugar House, a private institution for young women struggling with eating disorders. As Tess navigates Baltimore’s hidden networks of privilege, exploitation, and violence, she confronts secrets that connect the prison killing to the troubled world Gwen left behind. Sharp, atmospheric, and psychologically astute, the novel combines a compelling mystery with an intimate portrait of damaged families, complicated loyalties, and one investigator’s determined pursuit of justice.

Laura Lippman

Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan is drawn into a dangerous mystery when a newspaper’s suppressed exposé is mysteriously published, triggering an apparent suicide and raising questions about who manipulated the paper’s computer system. Her investigation leads toward ambitious businessman Wink Wynkowski, whose plans to bring professional basketball to Baltimore conceal a troubling past, while Tess is also pulled into the seedy dealings of her Uncle Spike. As threats multiply and the city’s powerful interests close ranks, Tess must navigate corruption, betrayal, and competing agendas before more lives are endangered. Set against a vividly realized Baltimore, this sharp mystery combines intricate plotting with an insightful look at loyalty, ambition, media ethics, and the hidden connections within an urban community.

Laura Lippman

Private investigator Tess Monaghan takes on a dangerous assignment: investigate five unsolved homicides that appear to be cases of domestic violence and expose the failures that allowed them to go unpunished. As she digs into the victims’ lives and the city’s hidden connections, what begins as a focused inquiry grows increasingly volatile and personal. Set against vividly rendered Baltimore neighborhoods, the novel explores violence, justice, institutional neglect, and the resilience of those determined to uncover the truth. Sharp, atmospheric, and propelled by an out-of-control investigation, it showcases Laura Lippman’s talent for combining compelling mystery with richly drawn social observation.

Laura Lippman

When wealthy furrier and Orthodox Jew Mark Rubin turns to private investigator Tess Monaghan, he brings an unsettling mystery: his wife and three children have vanished without a trace. As Tess investigates the Rubin family’s secrets, she confronts questions of loyalty, faith, marriage, and the hidden tensions beneath an affluent Baltimore household. For the first time, she also draws on SnoopSisters, an internet-driven network of female investigators, expanding her reach while complicating the case. Laura Lippman combines sharp character insight, atmospheric suspense, and an intricately unfolding investigation in this compelling Tess Monaghan mystery.

Laura Lippman

Private investigator Tess Monaghan becomes entangled in the unsolved murder of a young federal prosecutor, a case that draws her into Baltimore’s dangerous underworld of secrets, corruption, and calculated deception. Meanwhile, a chance encounter at an inner-city soup kitchen introduces Ransome to the charismatic con man Lloyd Jupiter, setting in motion a chain of events with far-reaching consequences. As Tess pursues the truth and considers bringing a vulnerable young witness into the public eye, she finds herself—and her family—caught in the crosshairs of powerful federal agencies and ruthless adversaries. Blending sharp suspense, richly drawn characters, and moral questions about justice and good intentions, the novel delivers a gripping portrait of how easily a good deed can become a dangerous one.

Laura Lippman

When a Hollywood film crew descends on Baltimore, the city’s glitz and glamour quickly give way to suspicion and scandal. Private investigator Tess Monaghan is drawn into the case after a local man is found dead amid photographs of a beautiful, difficult aspiring actress connected to the production. As Tess investigates the uneasy intersection of celebrity, ambition, and betrayal, she must navigate a world where everyone has a secret—and where the line between scripted drama and real danger is dangerously thin.