Baltimore suspense writer Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series has thrilled readers for ten years now. Her latest novel, Another Thing to Fall, finds our hero, Tess Monaghan, in a situation somewhat out of her comfort zone...

By: Deanna McFadden

March 24th 2008 

Baltimore suspense writer Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series has thrilled readers for almost ten years now. Her latest novel, Another Thing to Fall, finds our hero, Tess Monaghan, in a situation somewhat out of her comfort zone: solving a mystery on the set of a TV show where all of the actors hide their motives and each one of support players has an angle to play. Lippman talks about writing mystery, and her newest novel...

Deanna McFadden: When you wrote the first Tess Monaghan novel did you imagine that it would turn into a long-running series? Where did the inspiration for the character come from?

Laura Lippman: I began my first novel with a wonderful combination of ignorance and arrogance. I was arrogant enough to think I could write a series, but ignorant enough not to know the odds against me. It's actually a good combination for an aspiring novelist. And Tess was inspired, in fact, by my own very real dilemma. The newspaper industry was going through one of its regular upheavals, papers were closing and people were getting laid off, and I realized I didn't have a clue what I would do if I lost my job. I had no skills whatsoever. Then a co-worker mentioned that he had been offered a chance to work as an investigator with an insurance firm, and something clicked. I never figured out my future beyond newspapers, but I figured out Tess Monaghan's.

DM: How does writing a book in a series differ from writing a stand-alone novel? What are the particular challenges? What were the differences say between the process behind Another Thing to Fall and that of What the Dead Know?

LL: A series requires a delicate touch. People have to change -- but not too much. The series universe has to change -- but not too much. The story has to be fresh, yet the universe has to include certain touchstones that readers expect and desire. And, most important, I can't use the characters up. I've been very careful with Tess, for example, to limit her psychological damage. She has seen death, probably too much, but she herself has killed only one person. Tess's story is open-ended. The characters in What the Dead Know are finished, if you will. Their stories are over. You may see the police officers again, in the background of another story; in fact, Sgt. Harold Lenhardt pops up in the book I'm working on, but he's a very minor character. But, Miriam Toles Bethany is done, as are the others in that book.

DM: How did the story behind Another Thing to Fall germinate?

LL: Years ago, I did a lot of research into a certain lawsuit in Baltimore -- I don't want to give away any details, as that would spoil the story. And then, six years of my life were connected, tangentially, to The Wire, which was shot in Baltimore. I got a crash course in television whether I wanted one or not, because my husband was the executive producer. And the thing is -- writers are sick when it comes to material. We're magpies, stealing whatever we can. I knew things about television that a lot of people don't know. I couldn't bear to waste the material.

DM: Baltimore is so much more than a setting in this novel -- it's a character. Is it as important for you as a storyteller to ensure the setting feels as real and alive as the characters themselves?

LL: I read for setting and it's rare that I don't write with strong, specific settings. (I do have a few short stories set in vague, unnamed places, but even those are vivid to me.) I love Baltimore, but I acknowledge that it can be a difficult, problematic paramour. I write, in part, to understand my connection to this place -- so beloved, so strange, so contradictor.

DM: Will we see more of Mrs. Blossom in the next book? And what's up next for Tess Monaghan (if you don't mind sharing)?

LL: How could I not continue to write about Mrs. Blossom? I have a HUGE crush on this character. The fact is that I'm probably equidistant between Tess and Mrs. Blossom, age-wise, so I'm as interested in Mrs. Blossom, who represents my future, as I am in Tess. Mrs. Blossom, the invisible woman, is in, fact, a P.I. prodigy. Neither Tess nor I would dream of wasting her talents.

As for Tess -- well, I have to be a little veiled, but she will be back much, much sooner than you might expect and she will be in the midst of some enormous changes.

DM: What are you reading right now?

I'm reading Beginner's Greek by James Collins and listening to Garrison Keillor's Pontoon on my iPod.

Buy a copy of Another Thing to Fall from Amazon.ca or Chapters.Indigo.ca.

Laura Lippman talks about her inspiration for What the Dead Know
Visit the author's website. And then buy a book, just as she asks you to. 

Thank You to Harper Collins Canada.