OVERBOARD

4 stars out of 5

I've been reading about detective V.I. Warshawski for so long that she feels like an old friend I don't see often enough. This is the 21st book in the series, and yes, I was very happy to bump into her again.

This one takes place during the Covid pandemic, and I'll give kudos up front for the author's handling of the masking issue (i.e., making the importance thereof up close and personal throughout the book). Victoria not only wears one herself on just about every out-of-home venture, but she insists that others around her do the same.

Following an all-night job for a client, Vic's two boisterous dogs go nuts on the banks of Lake Michigan - leading her to a crevice where a seriously injured young girl is (presumably) hiding out. The girl manages to utter a single word - something with no meaning to Vic or later the police - before she's taken to a hospital. She's treated and put in a room, but before anyone can talk to her or determine her identity, she disappears. One of the investigating police officers in particular seems unusually upset that she's gone missing - a long-time officer who has a history of unchecked violent behavior that's been overlooked by his higher-ups. Thwarted, he turns his full wrath toward Vic - to the point of trying to make her life miserable (often with more than a modicum of success).

As this is happening, a very old local synagogue is defaced, upsetting the elderly congregation, several of whom are Vic's friends. At this point, the corruption for which Chicago's political elite are known rears its ugly head; someone seems to be intent on getting ownership of the synagogue for unknown reasons. More investigation turns up more political corruption (a revolting development, so to speak), but not before hitting close to home with a nod and wink to some of Vic's family members that she's almost forgotten she had and almost certainly can do without. Along the way, she got support when she needed it most from old friends Lottie Herschel and her helpful elderly neighbor Mr. Contreras. Notably missing - off on assignment - is her significant other, archaeologist Peter Sansen, who is thousands of miles away. 

By this time, the sheer number of characters grew far beyond the number of my brain cells; I finally gave up trying to keep them all straight and decided it all would work out in the end. It does, of course, but not without more than one nail-biting chapter in which Vic's own life is put on the line. All in all, very satisfying - and a big thank you goes to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to meet up one of my fictional BFFs once again. Can't wait till she comes for a visit again (soon, please)?

Overboard by Sara Paretsky (William Morrow, May 2022); 400 pp.