Butchers Hill

Description

Tess Monaghan has finally made the move and hung out her sign as a private investigator for hire, complete with an office in Butchers Hill. Maybe it's not the greatest address in Baltimore, but you've got to start somewhere. Then in walks Luther Beale, the notorious vigilante who five years ago shot a boy for vandalising his car. Just out of prison, 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.

Laura Lippman is a reporter and lives in Baltimore. Her Tess Monaghan novels have won numerous awards, including the Shamus, the Edgar, the Anthony and the Agatha awards.

As in Baltimore Blues and Charm City, dialogue is on the mark, accompanied by lively observations about female entrepreneurship, adoption, foster home rackets, and quirky Baltimore natives and neighborhoods. A bittersweet, perfectly plausible ending winds things up * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * One of America's most important literary voices * IRISH TIMES * Laura Lippman continues to push the envelope of modern crime-writing -- Harlan Coben Lippman is a writing powerhouse * USA TODAY * Every time Laura Lippman comes out with a new book, I get chills because I know I am back in the hands of the master. She is simply a brilliant novelist, an unflinching chronicler of life in America right now -- Gillian Flynn One of the best novelists around, period * WASHINGTON POST * Lippman has enriched literature as a whole * CHICAGO SUN-TIMES * Lippman is the closest writer America has to Ruth Rendell -- Stephen King Laura Lippman is among the select group of novelists who have invigorated the crime fiction arena with smart, innovative, and exciting work -- George Pelecanos Ably demonstrates why Lippman has been sweeping up the American crime awards. A gripping sense of place and a great new sleuthette make this a page-turner * GUARDIAN *