Rambling reader

Tess Monaghan is teaching a seminar at the local paper about investigative techniques. One of the cases she is using is the high profile, unsolved murder of a federal prosecutor. When her boyfriend brings home a street kid who seems to unknowingly hold a clue in the case, Tess tries to do a good deed and gets the newspaper to print the information anonymously setting off a chain of events that puts everyone she cares about in danger.

Laura Lippman's series has been strong throughout, as are her standalones. Tess started as a Baltimore reporter, then left the paper to become a licensed private investigator. She is extremely likable, intuitive, intelligent, and thinks quick on her feet. Occasionally she manages to put her foot in her mouth, though. The secondary characters are equally wonderful and add fullness to the community Lippman has created. Tess' lawyer, Tyner, gets her through the legal situations while her best friend, posh Whitney Talbot, gets her out of, or sometimes into, some of the more questionable ones.

I like the way Tess remains idealistic and tries to always do the right thing. She tries to uphold her beliefs despite what she's been through. So many other protagonists come off as cynical and hard. Tess is truly one of a kind and definitely a favorite of mine.