PAY DIRT

4 stars out of 5

In the early years of this series - this is the 22nd book therein - I never missed an installment. The author was a favorite, and edgy V.I. Warshawski was a private eye after my own heart. But then life intervened - my kids needed both parents and I'd returned to work and finishing the college education I'd put on the back burner for too long - and we lost touch. Happily, we've reconnected in recent years, this one being the most recent - and it seems both of us have grown, well, older.

But Victoria still has it, although maybe not quite together at this point. main squeeze, archeologist Peter, has dropped off the face of her earth following a particularly traumatic event - maybe never to return. Vic herself was psychologically impacted by said event and is still struggling to get her own head back on straight while dealing with Peter's disappearance from her life. When the roommate of one of Vic's college basketball "stars" goes missing, she agrees (albeit reluctantly) to hang around and track her down. Vic finds her - in what appears to be some kind of party house where drugs are the main attraction - and the girl's mother freaks out and suspects Vic of aiding, abetting and lying. The local police and FBI seem to be of the same opinion - with possible murderer thrown in, and they put up roadblocks to her investigation in the fervent hope that she'll go back where she came from (which, for the record, is Chicago).

Things go from bad to worse when Vic discovers the dead body of another young woman in the same house - but now Vic is determined to see it through. Complicating matters is the potential start-up of a nearby coal-fired power plant at the very historical site of a proposed resort that raises all kinds of questions - most notably, why would a resort need that much power? Even more to the point, why would someone put so much effort into keeping Vic from looking for the answers?

From that point on, it's pretty much nonstop action all the way to the end. If I have a criticism, it's that my aging brain struggled to keep the plethora of characters - some from long-ago days - straight in my head. But the plot won out, "forcing" me to stay up past my bedtime to get 'er done. Now that I did, I must say thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy. Well done!

Pay Dirt by Sara Paretsky (William Morrow, April 2024); 391 pp.

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.

FALLOUT

4 stars out of 5


Victoria (V.I.) Warshawski has long been a favorite of mine; she was a successful Chicago-based private detective and one of the first to be (gasp!) a woman. Over the years, I've always looked forward to a new adventure - and this, I believe, is the 18th. 

This time, though, a new case takes her from her familiar, comfortable home city to the "wilds" of Kansas - accompanied only by her dog Peppy and expecting that her stay in the Sunflower State will be relatively brief. The reason for the trip? A young Chicago filmmaker wannabe is thought to be accompanying an aging former film star who wants to return to her Kansas roots to film her life story, and both have disappeared. To keep the peace with family and friends, Vic reluctantly agrees to track them down.

What she finds is a close-knit community (make that two communities - one white and one black) that is far less than welcoming. The local residents' unwillingness to help is echoed by the local police and representatives of the U.S. Army, who clearly resent her presence. Apparently, the community has lots of secrets they believe should stay that way, all seemingly related to an old Cold War-era missile site in the middle of their otherwise rural nowhere. 

Tensions build up quickly, as does the body count. Complicating matters is that even if Vic can convince someone to share information with her, can he or she be trusted? What really went on at the missile site all those years ago, and could it possibly be going on yet today? Other complications intervene as well: Her musician love interest left for a can't-miss opportunity overseas, leaving her behind when she refused to accompany him. Will he come back to her, or find fulfillment and romance elsewhere? And will Peppy become so attached to his Kansas doggy day-care helpers that she won't want to go back home to Chicago with Vic?

It all adds up to a merry, and sometimes scary, chase that I enjoyed from start to finish. Admittedly, it's not the best I've read in the series, but that was mostly because there were so many characters that I finally gave up trying to keep them straight, figuring they'd all be sorted out in the end (they were). And, while the story line was very interesting to someone like me, who remembers hiding under a desk at school so I'd stay safe during a nuclear attack (I know, I know, but we believed it at the time), the complexity of the "cover-ups" here was a little hard to swallow.

All in all, it's another solid installment in a series that's been (and still is) special to me.

Fallout by Sara Paretsky (William Morrow, April 2017); 448 pp.

BODY WORK

4 stars out of 5

When I read that one of my favorite authors, Sara Paretsky, had a new installment of her series featuring private investigator V.I. Warshawski (Brush Back, released in July), I rushed over to Amazon.com to learn more. When I got there, a more unpleasant reality hit: How the bleep did I miss reading not just one, but the previous three?

No satisfactory answer turned up, but not wanting to tackle the most recent entry without reading what came before sent me hustling to get my hands on those, starting with this one (the 14th). I was a little worried that I wouldn't remember much, but almost immediately a couple of characters from past books -- notably Warshawski's elderly and very protective neighbor Mr. Contreras -- made an appearance and eased my mind. 

One I don't recall is her niece, Petra - and quite honestly, she turned out to be so annoying that I'm hoping she'll find something to occupy her time halfway around the world and never be heard from again. The argumentative, petulant young wench added nothing of substance to the story that I could find. That, and a few more errors that I'd expect from a writer of this caliber (a woman frightened out of her wits described as having "blenched," for instance) are the primary reasons for knocking my expected 5-star rating down by one.

Do not, however, take that to mean I didn't enjoy this book; as long as I skimmed over Petra's parts (thus keeping in check my intense desire to smack her upside the head), I found it really hard to put down and finished it in record time.

Actually, it was Petra who got the whole thing rolling (though not in a good way); her aunt was trying to keep tabs on her after she took a job at an artsy, sleezy club in Chicago. A woman known as the Body Artist was performing; totally unclothed except for a tiny G-string and layers of paint, her "art" is inviting audience members to paint her body. After watching a young woman paint a winged design, Iraq war vet Chad Vishneski goes ballistic. A couple of days later, the young woman is murdered, dying in Warshawski's arms, in fact - and the vet, who is suffering from PTSD, is the prime suspect.

His parents believe he's innocent, as parents are wont to believe, and they ask Warshawski to clear his name. Since there are a number of inconsistencies and unanswered questions (what, for instance, do the strings of numbers mean that one rather nasty audience member regularly paints on the Body Artist's back?), Warshawski agrees to take the case.  Almost immediately, the plot thickens; the Body Artist pulls a disappearing act, it comes to light that the young vet brought back secrets with him from Iraq that some very bad people don't want revealed and Warshawski finds her own life in danger.

Body Work by Sara Paretsky (Putnam Adult, August 2010); 464 pp.