Dead Land (V. I. Warshawski Series #20)

by Sara Paretsky, Susan Ericksen (Read by)

Overview

Chicago's legendary detective, V. I. Warshawski, knows her city's rotten underbelly better than most, but she's unable to avoid it when her goddaughter drags her into a fight over lakefront land use.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781094119298
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/21/2020
Series:	V. I. Warshawski Series , #20
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 5.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Sara Paretsky is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous previous novels, including the renowned V.I. Warshawski series. She is one of only four living writers to have received both the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and is also the recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award given by the British Crime Writers’ Association. She is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel.

Susan Ericksen is an actor and voice-over artist. She has been awarded numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. As an actor and director, she has worked in theaters throughout the country.

Hometown:

Chicago, Illinois

Date of Birth:

June 8, 1947

Place of Birth:

Ames, Iowa

Education:

B.A., Political Science, University of Kansas; Ph.D. and M.B.A., University of Chicago

Website:

http://saraparetsky.com/

Editorial Reviews

Shady politicians, greedy public servants and rapacious property developers are no match for V. I. Warshawski…Yes, the plot is as sprawling as it sounds, but trust the author to pull it all together, its many threads wrapped up neatly in a great big bow. Paretsky is justly praised for referencing vital social issues in her mysteries, but here we also get a taste of her flair for creating offbeat but believable characters.

The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

A proper hero for these times . . . To us, V.I. is perfect. . . . Paretsky is justly praised for referencing vital social issues in her mysteries, but here we also get a taste of her flair for creating offbeat but believable characters.” — The New York Times Book Review on Dead Land

"Sara Paretsky’s gloriously kick-ass private eye, V.I. “Vic” Warshawski, is back for the 20th time in a political-rot thriller that’s the definition of perfection in the genre. . . .  The novel’s robustly flavorsome cast of characters includes a semi-deranged land preservationist, a corrupt Nobel Prize winner, a Chilean Ayn Rand disciple and several wonderful dogs." — The Washington Post on Dead Land

"Dead Land is the latest of Sara Paretsky’s swift and superb books starring V.I. Warshawski, her tough and deeply principled Chicago private eye. Always passionate about social issues, V.I. becomes enmeshed with a community action group."
— The Seattle Times on Dead Land

“As usual, Paretsky is less interested in identifying whodunit than in uncovering a monstrous web of evil, and this web is one of her densest and most finely woven ever. So fierce, ambitious, and far-reaching that it makes most other mysteries seem like so many petit fours.” — Kirkus Reviews on Dead Land

"[A] series bar-raiser . . . A high point in Paretsky’s long-running and much-loved series." — Booklist (starred review) on Dead Land

“Enjoy the fun of solving the mystery and rooting for Warshawski to bring down the bad guys. . . . [Dead Land] will please fans of the series and readers who enjoy tough women PIs.” — Library Journal on Dead Land

“Legendary V.I. Warshawski is as dogged and ferocious as ever. So is Sara Paretsky, who is at the top of her crime novel game.” — C.J. Box

“Among today’s P.I.’s, nobody comes close to Warshawski.” — Publishers Weekly

“Wonderful company and a rich discovery awaiting those who have yet to meet [Warshawski]. ” — Los Angeles Times

“ V.I. Warshawski [is] a sleuth to rival the greats, from Sam Spade and Nero Wolfe to Harry Bosch and Stephanie Plum.” — A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author

From the Publisher

"[A] series bar-raiser . . . A high point in Paretsky’s long-running and much-loved series."

Booklist (starred review) on Dead Land

Wonderful company and a rich discovery awaiting those who have yet to meet [Warshawski].

|Los Angeles Times

Legendary V.I. Warshawski is as dogged and ferocious as ever. So is Sara Paretsky, who is at the top of her crime novel game.

C.J. Box

"Dead Land is the latest of Sara Paretsky’s swift and superb books starring V.I. Warshawski, her tough and deeply principled Chicago private eye. Always passionate about social issues, V.I. becomes enmeshed with a community action group."

The Seattle Times on Dead Land

V.I. Warshawski [is] a sleuth to rival the greats, from Sam Spade and Nero Wolfe to Harry Bosch and Stephanie Plum.

A.J. Finn

"Sara Paretsky’s gloriously kick-ass private eye, V.I. “Vic” Warshawski, is back for the 20th time in a political-rot thriller that’s the definition of perfection in the genre. . . .  The novel’s robustly flavorsome cast of characters includes a semi-deranged land preservationist, a corrupt Nobel Prize winner, a Chilean Ayn Rand disciple and several wonderful dogs."

The Washington Post on Dead Land

A proper hero for these times . . . To us, V.I. is perfect. . . . Paretsky is justly praised for referencing vital social issues in her mysteries, but here we also get a taste of her flair for creating offbeat but believable characters.

The New York Times Book Review on Dead Land

Wonderful company and a rich discovery awaiting those who have yet to meet [Warshawski].

Los Angeles Times

 “A proper hero for these times . . . To us, V.I. is perfect. . . . Paretsky is justly praised for referencing vital social issues in her mysteries, but here we also get a taste of her flair for creating offbeat but believable characters.

null The New York Times Book Review on Dead Land

"Sara Paretsky’s gloriously kick-ass private eye, V.I. “Vic” Warshawski, is back for the 20th time in a political-rot thriller that’s the definition of perfection in the genre. . . .  The novel’s robustly flavorsome cast of characters includes a semi-deranged land preservationist, a corrupt Nobel Prize winner, a Chilean Ayn Rand disciple and several wonderful dogs."

null The Washington Post on Dead Land

"[A] series bar-raiser . . . A high point in Paretsky’s long-running and much-loved series."

null Booklist (starred review) on Dead Land

"Dead Land is the latest of Sara Paretsky’s swift and superb books starring V.I. Warshawski, her tough and deeply principled Chicago private eye. Always passionate about social issues, V.I. becomes enmeshed with a community action group."

null The Seattle Times on Dead Land

"Dead Land is the latest of Sara Paretsky’s swift and superb books starring V.I. Warshawski, her tough and deeply principled Chicago private eye. Always passionate about social issues, V.I. becomes enmeshed with a community action group."

null Seattle Times on Dead Land

"[A] series bar-raiser . . . A high point in Paretsky’s long-running and much-loved series."

null Booklist(starred review) on Dead Land

 “A proper hero for these times . . . To us, V.I. is perfect.

null The New York Times Book Reviewon Dead Land

"Sara Paretsky’s gloriously kick-ass private eye, V.I. “Vic” Warshawski, is back for the 20th time in a political-rot thriller that’s the definition of perfection in the genre. . . .  The novel’s robustly flavorsome cast of characters includes a semi-deranged land preservationist, a corrupt Nobel Prize winner, a Chilean Ayn Rand disciple and several wonderful dogs."

null Washington Post on Dead Land

As long as Paretsky’s hotheaded, quick-witted sleuth is on the job, imperiled young women . . . will always have a champion.

New York Times Book Review

2020-01-27
V.I. Warshawski’s search for a homeless woman with a fraught past leads her deep into a series of political conspiracies that stretch over generations and continents.

Bernadine Fouchard, V.I.’s goddaughter, thinks that Lydia Zamir, whose songs about strong women she reveres, was shot dead along with her lover, Hector Palurdo, at a Kansas fundraiser four years ago. She’s only half right. The 17 victims ranch hand Arthur Morton shot in Horsethief Canyon include Palurdo but not Zamir, whom V.I. and Bernie happen to hear banging out haunting tunes on a toy piano under a Chicago railroad viaduct. But they glimpse her only momentarily before the traumatized musician flees and eventually disappears. Soon afterward, Bernie finds herself in trouble when the young man she’s been dating—Leo Prinz, a summer employee of SLICK, the South Lakefront Improvement Council—is murdered and she becomes a person of considerable interest to Sgt. Lenora Pizzello. The search for Lydia Zamir morphs into an investigation of her relationship with Palurdo, an activist against the Pinochet regime in Chile long before he was shot apparently at random. In the meantime, the disappearance of Simon Lensky, one of SLICK’s elected managers, throws a spotlight on the organization’s controversial proposal for a new landfill on the South Side. Everyone in the city seems to have strong opinions about the proposal, from Gifford Taggett, superintendent of the Chicago Park District, to Nobel Prize–winning economist Larry Nieland, to an inveterate protestor known only as Coop, who kicks off the story by vanishing after parking his dog with V.I., to her consternation and the ire of her neighbors and her own two dogs. As usual, Paretsky (Shell Game, 2018, etc.) is less interested in identifying whodunit than in uncovering a monstrous web of evil, and this web is one of her densest and most finely woven ever.

So fierce, ambitious, and far-reaching that it makes most other mysteries seem like so many petit fours.

Kirkus Reviews