Butchers Hill (Tess Monaghan Novel, 3)
A Baltimore mystery in which private eye Tess Monaghan is drawn into a string of witness deaths.
Work Information
The city’s atmosphere steadily tightens as the investigation unfolds.
An early Tess Monaghan novel distinguished by sharp city detail and solid mystery plotting.
Book Information
- Publisher
- William Morrow Paperbacks
- Published
- 1998-07-01
- Pages
- 288 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 10.64 x 1.83 x 17.15 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780380798469
- ISBN-10
- 0380798468
- Price
- 8208 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Mystery & Thrillers/Mystery/British Detectives
Tess Monaghan has finally made the move and hung out her shingle as a p.i.-for-hire, complete with an office in Butchers Hill. Maybe it's not the best address in Baltimore, but you gotta start somewhere, and Tess's greyhound Esskay has no trouble taking marathon naps anywhere there's a roof. Then in walks Luther Beale, the notorious vigilante who five years ago shot a boy for vandalizing his car. Just out of prison, he says he wants to make reparations to the kids who witnessed his crime, so he needs Tess to find them. But once she starts snooping, the witnesses start dying. Is the "Butcher of Butchers Hill" at it again? Like it or not, Tess is embroiled in a case that encompasses the powers that-be, a heartless system that has destroyed the lives of children, and a nasty trail of money and lies leading all the way back to Butchers Hill.
Since Laura Lippman’s debut, she has been recognized as a distinctive voice in mystery fiction and named one of the “essential” crime writers of the last 100 years. Stephen King called her “special, even extraordinary,” and Gillian Flynn wrote, “She is simply a brilliant novelist.” Her books have won most of the major awards in her field and been translated into more than twenty-five languages. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her teenager.
Reviews
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女性探偵シリーズの三作目
新聞が廃刊になったために失業し、友人を助けるために事件の調査をすることになった肉体派の若い女性が主人公となる３作目です。 今回は弁護士の勧めで、本格的に探偵事務所を開いたところ、さっそく二人の依頼人が事務所にやってきました。 二人とも依頼の内容は人探しで、主人公Tessの親戚や友人の情報網を駆使すれば容易に探し当てられそうなのですが、なかなか大した裏があって… 展開は面白いし、無理のないストーリーです。 ただし、この作家の英文は、他の探偵小説に比べ、少し読みにくいように思いました。
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Five Stars
Love Laura Lippman and her characters. Always totally absorbing plots, and the setting of Baltimore is perfect
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Good new female detective
Good story - like this character
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Awesome continuation of the series!
I wasn't as impressed by the book before this one, Charm City, so I hoped this one would be more like the first one in the series (Baltimore Blues), and I'm delighted to say it was. In this, book three of the Tess Monaghan series, Tess opens her own PI agency with the help of her mentor/friend Tyner and a retired PI who lends her his name and status while he dashes off to enjoy his golden years. What makes this book so good are the following things: 1) the two basic intertwined stories (Tess' search for children who'd witnessed a shooting some years before, and her search for the daughter a client gave up for adoption); 2) the extra glimpses we get into Tess' family life (that is, the way that her grandmother, et.al., are interwoven into the story; the whole concept of family is important throughout the entire novel); 3) the new detail we get about Tess herself (her previous battle with bulimia, etc.); 4) the way Baltimore continues to be a character in Ms. Monaghan's novels; and 5) the way this book sets up what will come in the next one [(In Big Trouble)by this, I mean that Tess personal life gets a LOT more attention here, and that leads directly into what becomes her most personal "case" in book four]. Some characters cross over from book two, and some you likely loved are missing. I particularly missed Crow because he seemed such a good balance for Tess in book two. However, the clients Tess takes on are strong enough characters to fill this novel with energy and make you want to know more about them. Excellent!
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Lippman's obvious love for the city
Solid writing and interesting, well-developed characters, with the City of Baltimore being another character in the book. Lippman's obvious love for the city, warts and all, shows through. A good mystery without a lot of sensationalism.
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Three Stars
It's OK
Related Literary Awards
- Agatha Awards Edition 11 (1998) ・Excellence Award