Fallout

February 27, 2017
In MWA Grand Master Paretsky’s intriguing, if flawed, 19th V.I. Warshawski novel (after 2015’s Brushback), the Chicago PI looks into the disappearance of August Veriden, a quiet young man with dreams of working behind the camera. She learns that August became enamored of Emerald Ferring, a black actress well known in her community but little known to white people. With some cajoling, Warshawski persuades Emerald’s close friends to let her follow August and Emerald’s path to the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where Emerald was once a student and August was planning to film a documentary about her. On arrival in Lawrence, the detective is welcomed with less-than-open arms. Unfortunately, Paretsky loses the Emerald thread midway as Warshawski becomes entangled in small-town politics, particularly those involving the mentally ill daughter of an eminent scientist and the town’s history as a spot for anti-nuke protests in the 1980s. Sharply drawn characters partly compensate for a plot that’s fascinating when it stays on track but too often meanders. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Agency.

November 15, 2016

Famed investigator V.I. Warshawski is back, and--surprise!--for the first time ever she's not in Chicago. Accompanied by her dog, she's in Kansas, crossing prairies dotted with Cold War-era missile silos as she hunts for a young film student and a waning film star. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2017
Hard to believe anything could drive V. I. Warshawski out of Chicago, but here she is, in this eighteenth series entry, in Lawrence, Kansas. The case starts in Chicago, where she's hired to track down a missing film student and a black actress popular in the 1980s. The pair have headed to Kansas, the actress' childhood home, to film her life story, so V. I., along with her dog, Peppy, hits the road. In Lawrence, V. I.'s search pulls her into conflicts with the military at nearby Fort Riley, with the county sheriff, and with a suspicious agribusiness with government connections. Racial tensions still simmer in this outwardly liberal bastion that was founded by abolitionists, and V. I., the outsider from Chicago who makes no adjustment to her brash style, is not viewed positively by anyone. She learns of secrets, murders, and unsolved disappearances related to 1980s protests against a missile silo, and, since these turn out to be critical to her current case, she persists, putting her life in jeopardy. The result is addictive storytelling with Paretsky in fine form. Vic may not know the country, but Paretsky, who grew up near Lawrence, is on home turf. She describes the landscape and its denizens with the same affection and sharp eye with which she depicts Chicago neighborhoods. Paretsky is at the top of her game here, evidenced by the satisfying, layered puzzle peopled by a vividly described and intriguing cast.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)