Charm City

Tess Monaghan, Book 2

By: Laura Lippman

Narrated by: Deborah Hazlett

PI Tess Monaghan knows and loves every inch of her native Baltimore. It's a quirky city where baseball reigns, but lately homicide seems to be the second most popular sport. Business tycoon Wink Wynkowski is trying to change all that by bringing pro basketball to town - until a devastating expose appears in the Baltimore Beacon Light. The newspaper's editors thought they'd killed the piece. Instead, the piece killed Wink, who's found dead in his garage. Tess is hired to find the unknown hacker who planted the lethal story.

©1997 Laura Lippman (P)2010 BBC Audio

Probably okay

This is probably an okay book, but I do not like the narration. So I'm not going to finish it. I might come back to it later since it's included in the Plus catalog.

Why is everyone Southern?

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Nope, I really enjoyed this book! It was a good mystery with an interesting twist. I didn't see it coming.

What other book might you compare Charm City to and why?

The first book in the series, Baltimore Blues.

Would you be willing to try another one of Deborah Hazlett’s performances?

Probably not -- unless it was the only performance of a book I want to listen to. The accents she gave everyone were so bad! They all had slight southern accents though it takes place in Baltimore. I almost wanted to stop listening.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably

Easy entertaining listen

Good characters, interesting plot, not so detailed that you get lost but enough to feel like you know everyone great audio book series.

Tell the reader to get a dictionary

This is a good story about a highly literate woman. People who read-like one of Charm City's minor characters-often mispronounce words they've never heard. That's fine, even admirable. But these readers get PAID to read aloud. They shouldn't mangle pronunciations by the dozen as this woman does. If she doesn't have a dictionary, I bet she has a smart phone and could google unfamiliar words. And let me note that these are not arcane vocabulary examples: high school words, not grad school. It's deeply annoying.

Nice addition to this series.

What made the experience of listening to Charm City the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the introduction of a dog.

Any additional comments?

This is a good book, but it did take me a bit to really get into it. Once it was past the second chapter I enjoyed it.

Private Detection 101

If you could sum up Charm City in three words, what would they be?

good beginning to series and the character of Tess Monaghan.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tess, of course, the newbie detective trying to learn to swim in the big pond.Tess takes us along for the ride & It doesn't hurt that she knows people who know stuff. when she it stepped out of that comfort zone it was fun to watch her flounder back to her feet. I liked her prickly and flawed clients as well. and esky the dog!

What does Deborah Hazlett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I don't know the Baltimore accent - think I would like a bit more of that. the voice did match the text.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

a couple of sittings is good. time to chew over and digest the information. I listen to books at work 5-6 hour intervals. this was a light meal that could have used a bit more substance but satisfied.

Any additional comments?

a bit more of the local color and sense of place, I loved the mention of the series Homocide: life on the streets which was also set in Baltimore. it was what drew me to a mystery series set in Baltimore. I wouldn't start blowing credits on Tess but might get another book in the series if it were on sale.

lippman's a master

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

gripping read

What did you like best about this story?

believable characters, plot that grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go until the last words, fine reader

Have you listened to any of Deborah Hazlett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

as good as I've grown to expect and appreciate

First of the series.

I enjoyed listening to this book. It was the first of a series and I will listen to others.

recommended

really enjoyed this second book of the series. wanted to jump to the next right away.

Excellent 2nd Book to this Series

When Tess is hired by the newspaper to find out who put a spiked story on the front page, it leads to more than a few problems. The twists of this story are many, and the ending totally unexpected. Lippman is good with the turn of a phrase, and her “weaving” ability amazing. From the newspaper to illegal dog racing to things dredged up from the past better left hidden, at least for some, this masterfully written tale will keep you going. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 5 stars.