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4.3 • 144 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Chicago’s V. I. Warshawski confronts crooked politicians and buried family secrets in this gritty mystery from New York Times bestselling author Sara Paretsky.
No one would accuse V. I. Warshawski of backing down from a fight, but she’d happily avoid tangling with Chicago political bosses. Yet that’s what she ends up doing when she responds to a plea for help from an old high school flame, Frank Guzzo.
Frank’s mother Stella was convicted of killing his kid sister, but now that she’s out of prison, she’s looking for exoneration. Even though the Warshawskis and Stella never got along, V. I. agrees to make a few inquiries after she sees how hard life has been on Frank and her other childhood friends.
Only, that small favor leads her straight into the vipers’ nest of Illinois politics—and soon her main question isn’t about Stella’s case but whether or not she’ll make it out of this investigation alive...
A Washington Post Best Mystery of 2015
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
South Chicago provides the setting for MWA Grand Master Paretsky's electrifying 18th novel featuring PI V.I. "Vic" Warshawski (after 2013's Critical Mass). Vic thought she had left her old neighborhood and her former teenage flame, Frank Guzzo years ago, until he approaches her with a sensitive issue: his mother, Stella, just finished 25 years in prison for murdering Frank's younger sister, Annie, and she's now proclaiming her innocence. Reluctant to get involved Stella always hated the Warshawski family Vic agrees to look into the matter, but is floored when Stella accuses the detective's beloved late cousin and Chicago hockey legend Boom-Boom (who was murdered in 1984's Deadlock) of having a hand in Annie's murder. Determined to clear Boom-Boom's name, Vic throws herself into the investigation, which takes her into the murky political waters of her former stomping ground, with its back channels leading to the state's highest echelons of power. Paretsky never shies from tackling social issues, and in this installment she targets political corruption without ever losing sight of her dogged sleuth's very personal stake in the story. Author tour.
Customer Reviews
The Boring Chase Scene
It seems every murder mystery now comes with a chase scene. Do editors now require this because chase scenes make popular movies? They don't impress me. I skipped a major portion of the ending because of the worthless addition. Didn't VI get beat up enough?
The whole under the bleachers hunt could have been omitted. I figured out where to look for the diary so could VI without her godchild being kidnapped. Even so, this was a good read.
Vintage Paretsky!
The complexity of the characters and all the twists and turns in the plot make for entertaining reading.
The Reader Is Right Over Her Shoulder
My main standard for a good book is how close to the action I feel. In this novel, Sara Paretsky made me feel as if I were right next to Vic Warshawski every moment. Ms. Paretsky's writing style is so intimate and seductive that you live and breathe every moment of the story. Many of this author's books are good. This is excellent!