Originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine Lippmans Tess Monaghan novella turns the intrepid Baltimore PIs at-risk late-pregnancy bed rest into a compellingly edgy riff on Hitchcocks Rear Window Lovingly tucked up on her winterized sun porch Tess marshals her forces--doting artist boyfriend Crow best friend Whitney Talbot middle-aged assistant gumshoe Mrs Blossom and researcher Dorie Starnes--to probe the disappearance of a chic blonde green-raincoated dog walker shed been watching from her comfy prison Tess also takes in the missing womans abandoned green-slickered Italian greyhound from hell a miniature canine terrorist whose anti-housebreaking vendetta offers comic relief from Tesss threatened pre-eclampsia her obsessive unraveling of a complex scam and her last-trimester spats with Crow about their future Though postpartum Tess turns alternately weepy and shrill that condition wont last and this entertaining romp leaves plenty of hints of detective-mother exploits to come Jan c Copyright PWxyz LLC All rights reserved.
