Laura Lippman was a reporter for 20 years, including 12 years at The ( Baltimore ) Sun. She began writing novels while working full time and published seven books about “accidental PI” Tess Monaghan before leaving daily journalism in 2001. Her work has been awarded the Edgar®, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Nero Wolfe, Gumshoe and Barry awards. She also has been nominated for other prizes in the crime fiction field, including the Hammett and the Macavity. She was the first-ever recipient of the Mayor's Prize for Literary Excellence and the first genre writer recognized as Author of the Year by the Maryland Library Association.

Ms. Lippman grew up in Baltimore and attended city schools through ninth grade. After graduating from Wilde Lake High School in Columbia , Md., Ms. Lippman attended Northwestern University 's Medill School of Journalism. Her other newspaper jobs included the Waco Tribune-Herald and the San Antonio Light.

Ms. Lippman returned to Baltimore in 1989 and has lived there since. She is the daughter of Theo Lippman Jr., a Sun editorial writer who retired in 1995 but continues to freelance for several newspapers, and Madeline Mabry Lippman, a former Baltimore City school librarian. Her sister, Susan, is a local bookseller.

Laura Lippman Novels

“Baltimore Blues”* (1997, nominated for the Shamus Award for best first PI novel.)

“ Charm City”* (1997, winner of the Edgar ® and Shamus awards for best paperback original, nominated for the Anthony Award.)

“Butchers Hill”* (1998, winner of the Agatha Award for best novel, winner of the Anthony Award for best paperback original, nominated for the Edgar ®, Shamus and Macavity awards.)

“In Big Trouble”* (1999, winner of the Anthony and Shamus awards, nominated for an Edgar ® and Agatha.)

“The Sugar House”* (2000, winner of the Nero Wolfe Award.)

“In a Strange City”* (2001, a New York Times Notable Book.)

“The Last Place”* (2002, nominated for the Shamus Award.)

“Every Secret Thing” (2003, winner of the Anthony and Barry Awards, nominated for the Hammett.)

“By a Spider's Thread”* (2004, nominated for the Edgar, Agatha and Anthony awards, winner of the Romantic Times Award for Best PI Novel.)

“To the Power of Three” (2005, winner of the Gumshoe Award for Best Novel.)

“No Good Deeds”* (2006.)

*Denotes a Tess Monaghan title.

What does Nancy Pearl have to say about "No Good Deeds?" Read on...

Who is Nancy Pearl?
The New York Times calls her “the talk of librarian circles.” Readers can’t get enough of her recommendations while bookstores and libraries offer standing room only whenever she visits. Since the release of the best-selling "Book Lust" in 2003 and the Librarian Action Figure modeled in her likeness, Nancy Pearl has become a rock star among readers and the tastemaker people turn to when deciding what to read next.

Having worked as a librarian and bookseller in Detroit, Tulsa, and Seattle, Pearl's knowledge of and love for books is unmatched.

In 2004, Pearl retired as executive director of the Washington Center for the Book at The Seattle Public Library, a position she held since 1993. The Washington Center for the Book is a state affiliate of the national Center for the Book at the Library of Congress.

She is a regular commentator about books on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" and NPR affiliate stations KUOW in Seattle and KWGS in Tulsa. www.nancypearl.com

"No Good Deeds" - Reviewed by Nancy Pearl

When Tess Monaghan's do-goodnik boyfriend Crow invites a homeless African-American sixteen year old to spend the night at their Baltimore house, all three become involved in the case of a murdered federal prosecutor. Former reporter, now private investigator Monaghan, realizes that Lloyd Jupiter knows something about the death of Greg Youssef, but what information does he have? And why are a disgraced and demoted FBI agent, a young Drug Enforcement Agency employee, and a gung-ho government attorney all so interested in questioning Floyd and implicating Tess in the murder that they'll go to any lengths to do so? Laura Lippman's No Good Deeds (Morrow, 2006) is a mystery, of course, so all questions do get answered in the end, but not before readers will have a good time trying to put the pieces together before Tess does. Fans of the multi-award-winning Lippman will welcome Tess's ninth outing; others will be delighted to make the acquaintance of a detective who's smart, tough, ironic, and attractive. You don't absolutely need to start at the beginning of the series with Baltimore Blues, but I predict you'll want to go back to find out more about Tess's life and times. Reading Lippman, there's always a strong temptation to pick up and move to – or, at the very least, go visit - her (and Tess's) beloved Baltimore, which, when you come right down to it, is really the main character in all these books.