In full:
Another Thing to Fall
Laura Lippman. Morrow, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-0611-2887-5
Hollywood comes to Baltimore in bestseller Lippman’s assured 10th PI Tess Monaghan caper (after 2006′s No Good Deeds). When Tess literally stumbles onto the set of Mann of Steel, a big-budget TV miniseries shooting in her neighborhood, she finds herself hired as a bodyguard for Selene Waites, the show’s 20-year-old hard-partying star. Flip Tumulty-the show’s writer and son of a Baltimore-born Hollywood mogul-tells Tess the set has been plagued by vandalism and he fears for Selene’s safety. Tess soon uncovers unsettling photos of Selene and learns they were taken by Wilbur Grace, a stalker who later hanged himself. When one of the crew members is murdered, Tess suspects someone may be trying to shut down more than the TV production. While the excitement level may not match that of other recent entries in the series, fans will appreciate the author’s usual authentic local color and intricate plotting. 15-city author tour. (Mar.)
I’m very happy with this. ATTF was concocted as a lighthearted novel (well, as lighthearted as any novel can be when it has so much death in it). Tess and I both needed a break, for different reasons.
We return you to your regular programming.
I love the name FLIP TUMULTY. Does the surname have any Old Line State origins, or did it just get made up?
I have my advance order placed on Amazon for Tess’s Tenth.
Great question. Flip is short for Phillip; Tumulty was taken, as a great many of my names are taken, from a byline: Karen Tumulty was a reporter at the San Antonio Light before she hit the big time and the name just sounded right in this case.
The Tess novels are funny as all get out even when the plot is dark. Still on ”In Big Trouble” and woke my husband up snickering at Tess’s indignation at being described as ”a drifter” in the local paper and Emmie’s foot in mouth disease, a la ”Ed said you could pack the food away”
I was surprised Tess was creeped out by the macabre Mexican kitsch/folkart. I would have thought she’d have been all over the retablos, sugar skulls, nichos and stuff.
Congratulations on another good review.
March? Are they rushing you?
This sounds delicious.
And was that you back on the Sun staff in a recent City Paper?
Can’t wait!
That’s wonderful — congratulations!
And it was seriously cool that Nancy Porter got a cameo on last night’s episode of “The Wire.” She didn’t look exactly the way I imagined — I thought she’d have glasses, and I thought she’d be shorter — but she wasn’t far off.
Your cameo was cool! I did a triple take!
Yes that was Nancy (and Infante), a cameo I enjoyed far more than my own. The exec producer cast those day players with particular care. I also laughed at the scrapple line.
“the author’s usual authentic local color”
I can’t wait! Although I think that I’m starting to like visiting Tess’s Baltimore better than visiting the actual thing.