Started: Tuesday April 24
Finished: Saturday April 28
Pages: 431
Disappointing. I'm fond of V.I. Warshawski, but the ending on this one was lame. It reminded me of classic 1920s English detective fiction, where the detective calls everyone into the library to review the investigation, complete with a few revelations, in hopes of startling the prime suspect into a public confession. The "solution" was almost as convoluted and implausible too, even if Paretsky didn't quite resort to making the murderer the least likely suspect.
The problems don't end there. It would have been much more satisfying and topical to have her bad guys brought low by a Chicago version of the British phone hacking scandal of 2011. And appropriate too, given that V.I. is facing down members of a right wing media empire who seem suspiciously well-informed of her movements and seem likely to be hacking into her cell phone.
But overall I think the main issue is that the series is getting tired. V.I.'s sidekicks are a little old to be performing their normal supporting roles in her investigations. Would a Holocaust survivor like Lotty still really be doing surgery into her....at a rough guess, late 70s or 80s? Is it likely that anyone on the police force would still remember V.I.'s father given that V.I. is herself in her 50s? And let's not start in on her dogs, Peppy and Mitch, who at a conservative estimate are 22. I"m all for willing suspension of disbelief, but...author, baby, you've got to work with me.
Sara Paretsky: you've still got it. The story was gripping, the characters and situations interesting. But please, as much as we've all loved her, you have to stop writing about V.I. before all of the good memories are gone.
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