7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Great Novel, 2003-12-08
I am a late-comer to the V.I. Warshawski series. I'd known about for years, but after seeing the dreadful Kathleen Turner movie version, I decided to skip the books. Stupid me! I've only read this first book, but I have to say I'm hooked. The character of V.I. Warshawski is probably one of the best female P.I. characters out there. Sara Paretsky has written strong, three dimensional female that you can easily become attached to. The plot of this first book was a little choppy, but the author's understanding of Chicago -- the lay of the land, the police, the politics -- makes up for any shortcomings. Bravo job! I look forward to reading the entire series.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Wonderful place to start, 2002-07-07
A great series, that actually starts off strong. Some of her next novels fall short, some are better. Unless you fall head over heels for Paretsky, I would read other reviews to see which ones are better, and skip the 'read-in-order' process.
I read this around the time that that awful movie with Kathleen Turner came out, but through so-so books and a bad movie, I'm still a fan. That has to say something about Mrs. Paretsky.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
The beginning of a legend, 2002-02-27
After reading JM Redmann's wonderful Death by the Riverside featuring MIckey Knight, I was so vividly taken with the strong female character that I just had to re-read the other strong female character that I love: VI Warshawsky. Like Knight, Warshawsky is a tough cookie who can hurt, a smart woman who makes human mistakes, and a real pain... for friends who wish she wouldn't get herself into such danger.Paretsky's gift in storytelling is the way she takes a small incident and lets it mushroom until seemingly unrelated incidents form the picture of a larger, uglier tale. Warshawsky herself is complicated and richly textured character and I loved revisiting her.
7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Indemnity Only, 2002-01-26
V.I. Warshawski is one of the best P.I.s ever! This is a series you can't put down. Once I read one, I had to read all the rest in the series. Sara Paretsky is great!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Is Anyone Who They Say They Are?, 2001-08-07
After a late night visit from a client asking her to find a missing girl, V. I. Warshawski finds the body of a collage student shot in the head at his kitchen table. V. I., Vick, as her friends call her, has a mystery to unravel. The first thing she unravels is that nobody appears to be who he or she says they are.
I truly enjoyed this book. V.I. Warshawski was a wonderful character. Ms. Paretsky did a wonderful job at making her colorful and humorous. Indeed, Ms. Paretsky made all of the characters good. This book, though a little on the older side was the first in the V. I. Warshawski series. Not possessing the extreme descriptions that so many authors in this genre feel needs to be included, Ms. Paretsky described people, places and things providing enough information without overkill.
Ms. Peters (reader) also did a wonderful job at bringing characters to life. Though the male characters weren't overpowering, (tough for a female to do a male characters voice), the female characters were all outstanding, including that of Jill the 14-year girl.
This was my first experience with Ms. Paretsky and found it enjoyable. Being one who listens to many audio books while commuting to/from work. I found this book enjoyable and certainly plan on trying others by Ms. Paretsky.