In Lamaar Ransome, Private Eye (p. 462), David Galloway played the idea of a super-hard-boiled female shamus strictly for laughs—not very successfully. Here, however, with narrator-sleuth V. I. (Victoria) Warshawski of Chicago, first-novelist Paretsky is doing the same thing with an absolutely straight face; and the result, if rather flat, is a sturdily readable diversion that's no more implausible than any other hard-boiled fare. The case begins when V.I. is hired by banker John Thayer (or so he identifies himself) to locate Anita, the missing girlfriend of his son Peter. But when V.I. then promptly discovers Peter's murdered body, the plot thickens: her client, it seems, was really Anita's father, a shady labor leader; and Peter was working for the Ajax Insurance Co.—which may have had illegal connections with the labor leader and with some mobster types (who rough V.I. up). Then Peter's father (the real John Thayer) is also murdered, so the insurance/bank/union/mob tangle gets more complicated. And before V.I. exposes a convincing insurance scare, she finds the missing Anita and plays godmother to Peter Thayer's unhappy teenage sister. Predictably plotted, but written with agreeable plainness—and, except for V.I.'s affair with a suspect (is he just another "pretty face"?), the sex-role shift is handled with just the right sort of un-cute, matter-of-fact credibility.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1981
ISBN: 0440210690
Page Count: 327
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1981
By keeping the action limited to the college and its surrounding gossip network, James presents a sharply focused story that...
Murder on a college campus leads an informal investigator into interdepartmental drama that smacks of reality TV.
His longtime work in libraries has primed Charlie Harris (Six Cats a Slayin’, 2018, etc.) for lifelong learning. So when he has the opportunity to audit a class in the history of early medieval England at his alma mater, Athena College, Charlie jumps at the opportunity. He’s heard nothing but wonderful things about professor Carey Warriner, and the first day of class exceeds his expectations. There’s even another adult learner in the course, Dixie Belle Compton, who seems equal parts student and fashion plate. When Charlie chats briefly with Dr. Warriner after class, he overhears hints of some sort of conflict between the attractive professor and Dixie Belle. Not that it’s any of his business, but Charlie wonders how the two know each other outside class. Athena is apparently a hotbed of interdepartmental romantic scandals among the faculty. Although Dr. Warriner is married to a fellow professor, it’s possible that he’s been conducting himself with Dixie Belle on an informal basis. Charlie has a history of nosing his way into town gossip, so it’s natural for him to consult with his fellow Athenians about what might be going on, especially when Dixie Belle is killed before the second class meeting. Ably aided by large and ferociously friendly Maine Coon sidekick Diesel and his latest kitten addition, Ramses, Charlie uses his connections to separate fact from fiction. Will he be able to solve the case before the killer strikes again?
By keeping the action limited to the college and its surrounding gossip network, James presents a sharply focused story that celebrates the role of the armchair investigator and his informants.Pub Date: July 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-451-49112-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
Filled with surprising twists and turns, this whodunit in a sullen town is a page-turner.
A young woman’s body is found smoldering in the fire pits of Campbell’s Run, Pennsylvania, and small-town police chief Dove Carnahan is on the case.
O’Dell (One of Us, 2014, etc.) returns with a captivating mystery. Who hated Camio Truly enough to not only bash her head in with a blunt object, but also ditch her body in a fiery grave? As Dove investigates, she’s assisted by Nolan, a gruff detective with the State Criminal Investigations Division and her sometime lover. Practically nobody lives in Campbell’s Run anymore, not since a sinkhole (which had been lurking underground after a mine fire) opened, sucking most of the town into its depths. Since then, Campbell’s Run has declined, as people with the means moved away to nearby Buchanan, so whoever dumped Camio’s body there must be a local. Even before Camio’s murder, the Truly family had had more than its share of troubles, including incarcerated sons and deaths by mayhem, but Dove is shocked at the apathy shown by Camio’s mother, the obese, television-addicted Shawna. Camio’s sister, Jessyca, a single mother, shows far more concern, although she makes little effort to hide her dislike of her younger, more ambitious sister. Yet under the thumb of matriarch Miranda Truly, Camio’s family clams up. Solving the case is further complicated now that Lucky Dombosky has been released from jail after serving 35 years for murdering Dove’s mother. Lucky claims Dove and her sister, Neely, framed him. Meanwhile Dove’s brother, Champ, has shown up, after his own long absence, with a precocious son in tow. O’Dell spins a fine tale, ratcheting up tension with every turn of the screw in Dove’s life and every downward spiral in the Truly family history.
Filled with surprising twists and turns, this whodunit in a sullen town is a page-turner.Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5595-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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