Tag / Tess Monaghan

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52 Books in 52 Weeks – 2025 Edition

A new year is upon us, and it is time to once again set a goal of reading a book a week for the entire year, totaling 52 books in 52 weeks.

Last year, for the fourth straight year, I completed my goal, finishing the year with 61 books read.  Prior to that, I’d had a low point of 8 books back in 2010 and a high point of 59 books.

Since I have nothing but time again this year and am still a remote worker, I’m going to give it another go.  I’ve got plenty of new books stocked up, both in the Kindle app on my iPad and actual physical books, not to mention my handy dandy library card, so I’ve got a good pile to start with.  As a reminder, the rules I am using are:

  • You can count a book as read as long as you have completed the book in 2025 and at least 50% of that reading takes place in 2025.
  • Any book counts as long as you’re not embarrassed to count it.
  • Poetry collections do indeed count.
  • Re-reading a book is okay as long as it isn’t done this year. (Reading Twilight twice in 2025 only counts as 1 read).
  • Audiobooks also count.

My first book of the year looks like it will be In a Strange City by Laura Lippman, the sixth entry in her Tess Monaghan series.  Here’s hoping 2024 is another good year when it comes to books.

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Book 45 (of 52) – The Sugar House

The Sugar House – Laura Lippman

When her father introduces her to an old friend who needs help, Tess Monaghan takes on the case to try and identify the dead young woman her brother was accused of murdering.  She quickly finds out that the case is more than she bargained for, as she inadvertently puts herself and her loved ones in harm’s way.  When she tries to bow out, she accidentally starts putting the pieces together that wouldn’t fit previously and upsets the political landscape in Baltimore.

In The Sugar House, the fifth entry in Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series, the action moves back to Baltimore, taking on the inner workings of political favors and how deep those ties may go.  The ending sets Tess up for a new status quo to continue her adventures, which I’m sure I will be reading about soon.

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Book 27 (of 52) – In Big Trouble

In Big Trouble – Laura Lippman

Tess Monaghan heads to Texas to find her ex-boyfriend Crow, who has stopped calling his parents.  She quickly finds out that the job is harden than she expected, as she stumbles across two dead bodies and finds herself in the middle of a decade’s old investigation, one that looks to put Crow away for years.  Can she find Crow and prove his innocence before the deadline of the big All Souls festival?

In Big Trouble, the fourth entry in Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series, moves the action out of Baltimore and heads to Texas, specifically Austin and San Antonio.  Being out of her element sets Tess on edge, which knocks her down a peg or two as she becomes a successful private investigator.  I assume this is a one-time thing, as Tess and Crow were heading back to the East Coast at the end of the book, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.

 

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Book 12 (of 52) – Butchers Hill

Butchers Hill – Laura Lippman

Tess Monaghan, who has just struck out on her own as a private investigator, gets her first two clients: a man convicted of murder who claims to be looking for the other kids who witnessed his crime and a woman looking for the daughter she put up for adoption years earlier.  When her leads on the first case start ending up murdered, she starts to doubt the intentions of her client.  Meanwhile, she finds that she has a surprising connection to the young girl she has been charged with locating.

Butchers Hill, the third entry in Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series, finally addresses one of the biggest issues facing its setting of Baltimore: race.  Tess is forced to face some of her privilege as she takes on black clients who, while they share the same city, live in a different world.  Lippman does a good job of dealing with the issue, especially considering this book was originally published in 1998.  I certainly don’t remember much in the way of discussion about white privilege at the time.  I’m now a quarter of the way through the series, which I’m sure I’ll pick up again later this year.

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Book 55 (of 52) – Charm City

Charm City – Laura Lippman

When a spiked story about a local mogul gets printed on page one anyway, Tess Monaghan is hired to figure out who is responsible for hacking the paper’s nascent computer system.  When said mogul apparently kills himself after a second story of his alleged malfeasance, Tess is able to poke some holes in the reporting, if not outright nail the culprit.  However, when the now out-of-work reporter also is found dead by suicide, Tess starts to think that everything is not adding up.  She picks up the investigation, trying to figure out who the killer is before the killer can find her.

The second entry in Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series, Charm City, picks up nearly six months following the previous book. Reading a series in order is a new experience for me, so it’ll be a fun experience to see where this one goes.

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Book 28 (of 52) – Baltimore Blues

Baltimore Blues – Laura Lippman

When an out-of-work reporter picks up a side gig tracking the movements of a friend’s fiancé, she thinks it will be an easy way to earn a couple of bucks.  Instead, her friend winds up arrested for murder.  Working for his lawyer, the former reporter digs in to the case, following leads and tracking down witnesses, looking to clear her friend and find the real murderer.

Baltimore Blues is the first entry in Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series.  I first came across Lippman’s work back in 2018 during my trip to Rome, but, despite enjoying that standalone work, I never returned for more until now.  While this wasn’t as good a read as I remember from before, it does give me an entryway into a new series.  Assuming the library cooperates, I assume I will start working through this series over time.