February Book Review: Revisiting an Old Friend in the Windy City

I'm running late, but I think I may be just in time for the monthly meeting of the Book Review Club hosted by Barrie. Check out her latest post for other recommendations for a good book to curl up with on these cold February nights.

The week after the holidays found me in an unlikely spot--at the mall, searching for after-Christmas bargains to update my winter wardrobe. Finding a few new sweaters at clearance prices, however, doesn't give me the thrill it once did. After an hour or two, I was ready to call it quits and drove over to a much more pleasant spot--Barnes and Noble. Gift certificates in hand, I happily wandered up and down the mystery aisles looking for a few of my favorite authors to keep me entertained on these long winter nights. I had a couple of titles in mind when I spotted a display of new bargain hardbacks. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a new book by Sara Paretsky. I've been waiting for what seemed like forever for another in her V.I. Warshawski series--how did I miss this one?? I snatched it up immediately, along with Patricia Cornwell's latest Scarpetta adventure, and forgot all other titles, eager to get home and see what latest mishap V.I. had gotten into this time.

Hardball is the 13th in the V.I. Warshawski series, and it may be the best one yet. Private investigator V.I., known as Vic to her friends, has been hired by two elderly African-American sisters to find their son/nephew who disappeared over 40 years earlier after a young white woman was killed during a civil rights demonstration. V.I. has little hope of solving such an old mystery, but she takes on the case as a favor to a new friend, a kind-hearted hospital chaplain.

Chicago is the setting for all of V.I.'s adventures

As usual, Warshawski encounters obstacles at every turn in her investigation. Friends of the young black man, Lamont Gadsen, are uncooperative and even hostile towards V.I. for reasons she doesn't understand until later. Her best lead is a gang leader incarcerated in Joliet's prison, who V.I. once defended during her days as a Public Defender. She reluctantly visits Johnny Merton, aka "The Hammer," but he's as insulting and frightening as he ever was and refuses to help. Even Lamont's mother lacks confidence in V.I. and treats her with hostility.

Millenium Park

But the biggest hurdle V.I. faces in finding out what happened so many years ago comes from the Chicago Police Department. V.I. always seems to get on the wrong side of the law, but this time there is good reason for it. Lamont Gadsen disappeared during the late 60's, a time of racial tension in the city of Chicago, and both the police and other government officials would like to keep this dark part of the city's history buried and forgotten. V.I. uncovers stories of police brutality at the time, but what is most disturbing to her are innuendoes that her beloved late father, known to all as one of the "good cops," somehow may have been involved. Her search for the missing Lamont soon turns into a personal quest for the truth about her father as well.

As if she doesn't have enough problems, a young cousin she's never met before suddenly appears. Petra, fresh out of college, has come to Chicago to work on a political campaign. Bubbly and naive, she's the opposite of V.I.'s jaded realism and seems to have a secret agenda in her probing of V.I.'s family history. When Petra suddenly disappears, V.I. is determined to find her and soon finds herself in danger as well.

The never-to-be-forgotten Lurie Garden

V.I. Warshawski hasn't changed much in the 27 years since she began pounding the pavement as a P.I. She still runs with her dogs each morning, she still lives in an apartment above Mr. Contreras, and she still manages to irritate most authorities she deals with. She has little patience and a quick temper. But she is determined to find the truth, no matter whose toes she steps on, and that is what makes her such a likable character.

The Bean, a good place for "reflection"

When Paretsky created V.I., she set the bar for all other fictional female detectives, and in my opinion, no one else has come close. It is not just the characterization, however, that draws the reader in. Her plots are complex and suspenseful, and she weaves a fascinating history of different parts of the city of Chicago into her stories. I remember well the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and the protests that made headlines at that time. But I didn't remember the earlier marches and demonstrations that made Chicago a hotbed of racial tension. Hardball gives us a detailed background of this time period. While Warshawski may not have changed that much over the years, Paretsky's books have---they just keep getting better and better.

Disclaimer: All book reviews posted here are purely at the whim of this blogger. No remuneration of any kind was received for this review.