Another Thing to Fall

By: Laura Lippman

Narrated by: Linda Emond

The California dream weavers have invaded Charm City with their cameras, their stars, and their controversy.

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 handle - even with the help of Tess' icily unflappable friend Whitney - since Selene is not as naive as everyone seems to think and is far more devious than she initially appears to be.

This is not Tess' 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 reality - from the series' aging, shallow, former pretty-boy leading man to its resentful, always-on-the-make co-writer, 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 with: murder. Suddenly, the wall of secrets around Mann of Steel is in danger of toppling, leaving shattered dreams, careers, and lives scattered among the ruins - a catastrophe that threatens the people Tess cares about...and the city she loves.

©2008 Laura Lippman (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

Enjoyable series, excellent narration.

I like the Tess Monaghan series. Tess is an enjoyable protagonist and the side characters are distinctive. The narration was great. I liked the addition of having certain characters speaking in a Baltimore accent. Very enjoyable audiobook.

The Music

the music playing between the chapters is annoying! I deal because I like the story.

Weakest Tess volume

Not enough of what we all love about the series. This mystery could have been set anywhere with any characters. The least personal of the Tess Monaghan books, it does nothing to move any characters forward except Lloyd, and even then in a surface way. Good mystery. Bad Tess.

I Enjoyed It

I'm not sure if I read the same book as the previous reviewer but I heard a really good mystery. There was nothing religous about it. Mayhem befalls a tv show filming in Baltimore and Tess figures it out. Nothing terribly innovative but it was engrossing and suprising.

Another Thing to Fall

What fell is my confidence in this system. "Another Thing to Fall" is not just a religious mystery book, it's a fundamentalist, around-the-bend, literalist and deeply annoying fairy tale about taking the Bible literally and thinking God and the world revolves around you. Ugh. Next time I'll read the fine print.

Another Thing to Fall

What fell is my confidence in this system. "Another Thing to Fall" is not just a religious mystery book, it's a fundamentalist, around-the-bend, literalist and deeply annoying fairy tale about taking the Bible literally and thinking God and the world revolves around you. Ugh. Next time I'll read the fine print.

good story but poorly put together

its a good story. I have listened to a pile of tess books. this story was so soooo hard to listen half time you will be asking who is telling all this storyline. characters are confusing alot of monolauging, not sure if I will continue the series books have been getting worse as the series goes on.

Great Narrator - Drama Music Needs to Go

This story was a sleeper for me. Literally. I could not for the life of me stay awake as I listened. The dramatic music was so jarring though, it was as if a teacher was slapping a ruler on my desk, telling me to pay attention.