Dead Land, by Sara Paretsky

Dead Land by Sara Paretsky

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How is it that trouble always manages to find certain people? Fortunately for those of us who love Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski books, trouble doesn't so much find Vic as much as trips her up, sending her in an unexpected direction.

Dead Land starts off with a mysterious man, Coop, leaving his dog tied up outside V.I.'s apartment, with a note to "Look after Bear until I come back for him."

Just what Vic needs: another dog to watch after.

Vic's goddaughter, Bernie Fouchard, is spending the summer in Chicago, coaching a girls' soccer team. Bernie has also discovered that singer-songwriter Lydia Zamir in now living on the streets of Chicago, playing her music on a toy piano, and protected by the mysterious Coop. While Bernie wants to rescue Lydia, Vic finds herself protecting Bernie.

At one point, Vic accompanies Bernie to a community meeting. Unfortunately, tempers flare up during the meeting; it doesn't take long for people to begin dying because of the flare-ups, including Bernie's boyfriend.

Between trying to find the killer(s), locating Lydia (who disappears to Kansas, along with Coop), and keeping Bernie and her friends safe, V.I. must also try to stay alive. She is shot at numerous times, ending up in the hospital.

On top of that, Vic's ex-lover, Murray Ryerson, is shot and left for dead. Will he make it? (Yes, he does, but you'll have to read the book to find out the details.)

All in all, Dead Land is another fine example of Sara Paretsky's writing, and well worth the read.
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Shell Game, by Sara Paretsky

Shell Game by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every time I think that Sara Paretsky can't outdo herself with her next V.I. Warshawski novel, she proves me wrong.

In Shell Game, V.I. Warshawski's mentor Lotty Herschel's nephew is a murder suspect. When Vic sets out to save Felix Herschel, she suddenly finds herself in the middle of an international ring of thieves trying to steal Mid Eastern artifacts.

On top of this, Vic's niece (by way of ex-husband Dick Yarborough), Reno, goes missing, presumably because of problems with the higher-ups at Rest EZ, where she works. Now Vic has to prove Felix is innocent, while trying to find Reno, protect Harmony (Reno's younger sister), tangle with her ex-husband, outrun international thugs, find missing artifacts, keeping her neighbor Mr. Contreras up to speed (and letting him "help" by keeping an eye out for Harmony), all while trying to stay alive. In other words, another exciting V.I. Warshawski novel set in Chicago.

In the end, Vic finds Reno (barely alive), fights her way out of the shack where Reno was placed by thugs, proves Felix is, indeed, innocent, and protects both nieces, while showing up her ex- and sending thugs packing. (Oh, and she also finds a new love interest, because, of course, even a strong feminist P.I. needs someone to occasionally lean on, right?)

If you haven't read Shell Game by Sara Paretsky, it's high time that you do. Definitely a great read.

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Fallout, by Sara Paretsky

Fallout by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For years, my favorite V.I. Warshawski mystery was Hardball. However, Fallout, by Sara Paretsky is right up there, either a close second, or even my favorite V.I. Warshawski mystery.

(Full disclosure: I have yet to find any part of Sara Paretsky's series that I didn't like.)

V.I. is at loose ends: her neighbor, Mr. Contreras, is in the Caribbean with family, her lover is out of town for a month. But those loose ends don't last long: Enter Bernadine Fouchard. The daughter of Vic's one of late-cousin Boom Boom's Blackhawk teammates, Bernadine and a co-worker ask Vic to try finding an African-American coworker/film student, who has gone missing.

Vic's search leads her from Chicago to Lawrence, Kansas, way out of her comfort zone. Accompanied with her dog, Peppy, V.I. searches through a university town, decommissioned missile-silos, fields, all while uncovering long-standing racial tensions.

During V.I.'s search, the body-count starts adding up, which leads the local police department to question Vic's reason for being in Lawrence. Every time Vic gets close, another mystery sneaks in.

How does Fallout end? Will Vic solve all the mysteries involved with the case? (Of course she does, but not without putting herself in jeopardy.) How does she solve it? Will her lover be back in Chicago when she gets back? Will Mr. C. help out, even from a distance? Read this absolutely fantastic addition to Sara Paretsky's series.

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Brush Back, by Sara Paretsky

Brush Back by Sara Paretsky

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Live long enough, you're bound to have a person or two from the past you'd rather keep there. In Sara Paretsky's latest V.I. Warshawski mystery, Brush Back, that person is the difficult Stella Guzzo, a woman who spent twenty-five years in prison for the murder of her daughter, Annie.

When Frank Guzzo arrives at V.I.'s office with a favor to ask, Vic almost turns him down. Frank wants Vic's help in exonerating his mother, an angry woman who hated Vic's beloved parents - especially her mother, Gabriella - and who has recently gotten out of prison for the murder of her daughter. Against her better judgement, V.I. agrees to go back to the old neighborhood to ask questions.

Meanwhile, Vic also has company - Bernie, the daughter of one of her late cousin Boom-Boom's team mates, a likable and high-spirited teen who occasionally tags along while Vic checks out a few leads from Frank and Stella's past.

Before long, the questioning has Vic in trouble with several of the local corrupt politicos, some with ties to the Russian mob, as well as several of Chicago's gangs. The run-ins nearly cost Vic her life, as well as getting Bernie injured.

Will Vic get Stella exonerated? Will she manage to get Bernie back to her parents alive? How does Vic escape more gang and mob violence with her life? Will her latest love-interest, Jake, stick around? All these, and more, make this one of the best books in Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series - all of which are well-written nail-biting page-turners.

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Critical Mass, by Sara Paretsky

Critical Mass by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

V.I. Warshawski's friend Lotty Herschel came to the U.S. via London while escaping the Holocaust. When Lotty hears from Judy, the daughter of Kitty - who escaped to London, then the U.S. with Lotty - saying that her life is in danger, Lotty asks Vic to help Judy in Critical Mass by Sara Paretsky.

Critical Mass begins with a flashback to Lotty's childhood, bringing in bits of her escape from Vienna as a child; these flashbacks throughout the book give substance to Lotty's life and how Kitty, Judy, and Judy's son Martin fit into the story.

Vic is pulled in several directions: First, she treks to an old farmhouse where Judy - a drug addict with a past - had been hiding out, and where she'd since left when someone started shooting up the drug addicts in the house, which is where we first find Vic. She then must find Kitty in order to get a little more background, and to try getting a lead on where Judy might be. Judy's son Martin has also disappeared, leaving a good job where he used his skills as a software designer.

As Vic struggles to find Judy and Martin, Kitty is killed by those wanting to kill her daughter and grandson. It becomes a race as to who will find the two first, Vic or those wanting to silence the two.

For anyone wanting a fast-paced book, especially but not exclusively fans of Sara Paretsky V.I. Warshawski series, Critical Mass is sure to please.

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Breakdown, by Sara Paretsky

Breakdown by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A group of tween girls, a ritual, an abandoned cemetery at night, and an actual corpse...what could possibly go wrong?

When V.I. Warshawski's cousin Petra contacts V.I. about several missing girls from a book group that Petra helps with, Vic finds the girls performing a ritual inside an abandoned cemetery, where a man has just been murdered in Breakdown, Sara Paretsky's 15th V.I. Warshawski mystery.

Several of the girls are members of powerful families, including someone running for Congress, and one of the world's richest men. The murdered man - another solo private investigator - was working for someone trying to keep secrets under wraps.

As Vic follows leads, she runs into an old law school friend, who ends up hospitalized before revealing info to Vic. Several deaths occur, including the friend; one of the girls from the book group almost dies, too, saved only because V.I. finds her.

As V.I. gets closer to finding the multiple layers of truth, she comes close to dying, saved only by someone looking for his stolen fishing boat. Murray Ryerson helps Vic out the person responsible for many of the deaths and near deaths.

If you're looking for a fast-pace read with a strong female lead, this is sure to please.

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Body Work, by Sara Paretsky

Body Work by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When V.I. "Vic" Warshawski decides to take an evening off to go clubbing, a woman is shot and dies in Vic's arms in a back alley in Sara Paretsky's Body Work.

V.I. has decided that if "Doctors take days off, why not PIs?" Her cousin Petra (introduced in Hardball) has started working at Club Gouge, an edgy new nightclub. A new act at the club, the Body Artist, a woman who allows people to paint on her naked body, has created quite a stir, increasing the crowd at Club Gouge. When one painter's drawings on the Body Artist cause anger in an Iraqi war vet with PTSD, and the painter is subsequently murdered, the police figure it's an open-and-shut case. The vet's parents, however, don't think their son did it, and hire Vic to prove his innocence.

At first, Vic isn't sure what to make of the murder; she had seen the vet's anger. But she agrees to sort out the facts of the case.

As she gets closer to finding out who really shot Nadia Guaman, and the threads connecting the vet, Ukrainian mobsters, an angry off-duty cop, and others, V.I.'s life is in jeopardy.

While this 14th book in the Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawsky series might be a little difficult to get into, it is well worth the reader's time, and won't disappoint.

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Hardball, by Sara Paretsky

Hardball by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Several years ago, I made a concerted effort to start reading Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series in the order that they were written. I'd already read quite a few books in the series, but really wanted more of a sense of time-flow: When someone is mentioned in one book as an ex-lover, or a reference is made from an earlier book, I wanted to be able to relate.

In Hardball, by Sara Paretsky, V.I. reluctantly takes a case to find Lamont Gadsden, an African-American man who's been missing for 40 years, a case that unearths the seamy side of Chicago politics.

In 1966, a nail-studded baseball kills Harmony Newsome as she attends a civil rights gathering. Gang member Steve Sawyer is wrongly convicted, after being tortured to confess.

During his trial, Sawyer states that Lamont Gadsden has photos of who really killed Harmony. However, Gadsden has disappeared.

Fast forward to the present: Vic's cousin Petra, a recent college grad, is in town to help with a local political campaign. However, the campaign involves people who were instrumental in the death of Harmony Newsome, in the torture of Steve Sawyer, and the death and disappearance of Lamont Gadsden, and the death of a nun who marched with Harmony. Vic must unravel the threads in this case before both she and her cousin are killed in an effort to keep the truth secret.

While I've been a fan of Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series for years, I am partial to Hardball, and feel that is is one of Paretsky's best that I have read thus far. This is definitely worth reading (and rereading). I highly recommend it.

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HardBall, by Sara Paretsky

I've been a fan of Sara Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski series for years. Recently, I decided to read them all in order (or, rather, all of the ones I own; I'm missing Indemnity Only).

Hardball is one of Paretsky's best, up to this point. In this fast-paced novel, V. I. (Vic) Warshawski is hired by two elderly African-American sisters to find missing Lamont Gadsden. The son of one of the sisters, he has been missing for forty years.

Vic also meets her young cousin Petra, a recent college grad who has come to Chicago to work on the campaign of one of her father's friends' son. The likeable Petra wants to connect with Vic, and learn about the Warshawski family.

Several problems arise when it is discovered that Lamont may have been murdered, and that it somehow has connections with local gangs, a murder of a civil rights volunteer, police, politicos, and a nun. At every turn, as Vic struggles to find the truth all the connections, Petra also disappears, and Vic's life almost ends.

Will Vic survive? Will she find Petra, Lamont, and who has left a trail of dead bodies while trying to silence Vic? Read it and find out.

Burn Marks, by Sara Paretsky

Burn Marks by Sara Paretsky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Most of us who love reading have favorite authors we gravitate towards, writers whose works leave us wanting more. For me, Sara Paretsky is one of those writers, especially with her V.I. Warshawski series.

I'd bought most of the series, reading books out of order. But a while back (maybe a year or two ago), I decided to start at the beginning and read each V.I. Warshawski book in order. (Unfortunately, I'm still missing the very first in the series, Indemnity Only. I'll eventually have to pick up a copy.)

Burn Marks is memorable is its intensity, as well as pure V.I. When Vic's aunt Elena arrives at Vic's doorstep at 3 A.M. after a fire at the SRO where Elena stayed, V.I. is less than happy. To say that aunt Elena is not the easiest person to get along with is an understatement. But family is family.

Reluctantly, V.I. goes about trying to uncover the arsonist, while trying to find another place for her aunt. Of course, this puts V.I.'s life in danger while trying to tie up all the loose ends.

While Burn Marks is a book that can stand on its own, it's also one that any V.I. Warshawski fan should read.

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Brush Back, by Sara Paretsky

Brush Back by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Live long enough, you're bound to have a person or two from the past you'd rather keep there. In Sara Paretsky's latest V.I. Warshawski mystery, Brush Back, that person is the difficult Stella Guzzo, a woman who spent twenty-five years in prison for the murder of her daughter, Annie.

When Frank Guzzo arrives at V.I.'s office with a favor to ask, Vic almost turns him down. Frank wants Vic's help in exonerating his mother, an angry woman who hated Vic's beloved parents - especially her mother, Gabriella - and who has recently gotten out of prison for the murder of her daughter. Against her better judgement, V.I. agrees to go back to the old neighborhood to ask questions.

Meanwhile, Vic also has company - Bernie, the daughter of one of her late cousin Boom-Boom's team mates, a likable and high-spirited teen who occasionally tags along while Vic checks out a few leads from Frank and Stella's past.

Before long, the questioning has Vic in trouble with several of the local corrupt politicos, some with ties to the Russian mob, as well as several of Chicago's gangs. The run-ins nearly cost Vic her life, as well as getting Bernie injured.

Will Vic get Stella exonerated? Will she manage to get Bernie back to her parents alive? How does Vic escape more gang and mob violence with her life? Will her latest love-interest, Jake, stick around? All these, and more, make this one of the best books in Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series - all of which are well-written nail-biting page-turners.

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Critical Mass, by Sara Paretsky

I love a good mystery. There, I said it. Give me a mystery with believable characters, believable plot that winds its way through the story rather than taking a short-cut from point A to point B, add crisp dialogue and clean writing, and there's a good chance I'll read straight through to the last line. Add a strong female character, and I'm hooked enough to want more. For these reasons, I love Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski mysteries.

If, like me, you've read through from the first novel (Indemnity Only) through to the latest offerings, you know that Ms. Paretsky has not kept Vic as a static person: Vic ages, has relationships that last through several books, updates her cars as needed, as happens in real life. She also works for herself as a Private Investigator; the mysteries deal with these.

Critical Mass deals with Vic's friend and mentor Lottie Hershel's past.

When Lottie calls to say a childhood playmate's daughter is in trouble, V.I. springs into action. Lottie and Kitty escaped the Holocaust together as children; however, the two have drifted apart. When Kitty's daughter calls Lottie, fearing for her life, she trusts that Lottie will try to save her; the doctor responds by sending Vic. The trail leads Vic to a remote area, and nearly costs her her life as she deals with drug dealers, crooked cops, and people paranoid over industrial theft.

Interspersed are flashbacks to Lottie and Kitty's past, first in Nazi Germany, then to the U.S., giving the reader probably one of the best glimpses to Lottie's past of any of the V.I. Warshawski books.

When Vic finds Judy - Kitty's daughter - she realizes that what looks like paranoia may be caused by someone trying to kill Judy - someone who does kill Kitty. The group responsible for Kitty's death is also trying to find Judy's son Martin, a science whiz who is trying desperately trying to uncover his family's past.

This is not the first V.I. Warshawski book to bring up Lottie's escape from Nazi Germany; Total Recall also touched on this back-story. However, Critical Mass dives deeper into the past while tackling a current problem. While it becomes obvious that answers won't fall into place until Kitty's grandson, Martin, is found, Vic isn't able to find him until the last few chapters.

While Vic still lives in Chicago, much of the action takes place away from the city; in fact, the book opens away from the city, with Vic looking through a drug den in the middle of nowhere, which felt a little disconcerting. Considering the story-line, though, it fit in perfectly.

In the end, though, Critical Mass is a thoroughly good read. For those who have followed and enjoyed Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski, this is a must read. For anyone who has yet to dive into the series, this is a good book to try.

A Woman's Eye, by Sara Paretsky

A Woman's Eye by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What is better than reading a short mystery? How about a book-ful of mystery shorts?

Sara Paretsky, of V.I. Warshawski fame, edited A Woman's Eye, a book of short mysteries; she also wrote the introduction. It is not the only book Paretsky has edited; she followed it with Women On The Case (1996) and Sisters On The Case (2007).

In A Woman's Eye, the reader finds stories by Faye Kellerman, Sue Grafton,Sara Paretsky, Dorothy B. Hughes, and others. While many readers may find one or two stories not to their liking, most of these are well written and satisfying.

Definitely worth reading!


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