Tess Monaghan sure knows how to make an entrance. While innocently rowing in the middle of the Patapsco River one early October morning, she literally smacks right into her latest case. Of course, that's one way to drum up business, but even for Tess, it does seem a tad bit on the dramatic side.
When some mysterious mishaps start occurring on the set of a television series filming in Baltimore, Tess is hired to keep a watchful eye on a young and rather conniving actress. While rubbing elbows with the Hollywood set, she is rather stumped by the colorful cast of characters who are vying for fame and fortune. From a washed-up actor wishful for a comeback to a writing staff that has more hidden secrets than a magician, Tess is pulled in all directions as she tries to do her job under the scrutiny of the somewhat suspicious and mysterious cast. What she doesn't expect are so many twists and turns when it comes to the simple task of playing the role of a bodyguard.
As if right on cue, a dead body gets added to the unofficial script and now Tess is faced with the task of finding a brutal killer. With the home turf advantage, Tess unearths some long-forgotten secrets that have the potential to re-write the careers of some of Hollywood's heaviest-hitters. At what lengths will she go to in order to bring the killer to justice? And, at what cost to her safety and to the futures of her new-found friends and colleagues will she risk to fulfill her obligation to her client?
ANOTHER THING TO FALL delivers what Lippman fans have come to expect... the right blend of mystery and intrigue from her hometown of Baltimore that put the charm into her story as well as lend a sense of authenticity to the plot. Lippman's latest installment of her highly popular Tess Monaghan Series is a fine example of crime writing at its best.
When private investigator Tess Monaghan literally runs into
the crew of the fledgling TV series Mann of Steel
while sculling, she expects sharp words and evil looks,
not
an assignment. But the company has been plagued by a series of
disturbing incidents since its arrival on location in
Baltimore: bad
press, union threats, and small, costly on-set "accidents"
that have
wreaked havoc with its shooting schedule. As a result,
Mann's
creator, Flip Tumulty, the son of a Hollywood legend, is
worried for
the safety of his young female lead, Selene Waites, and asks
Tess to
serve as her bodyguard/babysitter. Tumulty's concern may be well
founded. Not long ago a Baltimore man was discovered dead in
his own
home, surrounded by photos of the beautiful, difficult
superstar-in-the-making.
In the past, Tess has had enough trouble guarding her own
body. Keeping a spoiled movie princess under wraps may be
more than she
can handleβeven with the help of Tess's icily unflappable friend
Whitneyβsince Selene is not as naive as everyone seems to
think, and
far more devious than she initially appears to be. This is
not Tess's
world. And these are not her kind of people, with their
vanities, their
self-serving agendas and invented personas, and their
remarkably skewed
visions of realityβfrom the series' aging, shallow, former
pretty-boy
leading man to its resentful, always-on-the-make cowriter to the
officious young assistant who may be too hungry for her own
good.
But the fish-out-of-water P.I. is abruptly pulled back in
by an
occurrence she's all too familiar withβmurder. Suddenly the
wall of
secrets around Mann of Steel
is in danger of toppling, leaving shattered dreams, careers,
and lives
scattered among the ruinsβa catastrophe that threatens the
people Tess
cares about . . . and the city she loves.
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