The first Tess Monaghan novel was inspired by my own job insecurity -- Maryland was deep in a recession at the time I began writing it -- and my fleeting desire to kill someone. Tess, a former newspaper reporter who hasn't figured out what to do with her life, conducts a low-stakes investigation for a fellow rower. The friend ends up being charged with murder and Tess is pressed into service by his attorney. This novel infuriated some readers because Tess was a mopey incompetent as a private investigator. But it was her first case. She got better...