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Overall, A Hell of a Woman-featuring largely pink-collar workers, housewives, and students-is raw, given its language and level of violence. Most memorable are Rebecca Pawel's "The Kiss of Death," in which women collectively deal with the "fat jerk" at their tango dances, Eddie Muller's "The Grand Inquisitor," with its twist on the Zodiac Killer, and Charlie Huston's "Interrogation B," a laconic account of a female cop at work. Although some of the women are perpetrators, the impression left by this cutting-edge anthology is of women as victims of men.
Because women mystery writers had been largely ignored by the publishing industry, a handful of them met in 1986 to form Sisters in Crime to make their work known-and it worked. Marking the organization's 20th anniversary, Sisters on the Casespotlights 20 stories (only three of them previously published) by its founders and leaders, now established names in the genre. Paretsky describes her popular PI's first case, in which ten-year-old V.I. Warshawski inadvertently solves a mob murder during the 1966 Chicago race riots. Barbara D'Amato, Margaret Maron, and Nancy Pickard provide delicious final twists in their tales about dealing with a wife's lover, dividing a mother's estate, and double-talking about death. Accomplished work.
Paretsky eventually earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago but had a hard time finding a job as an academic, so she returned to school for an M.B.A., after which she started working full-time in marketing. (In order to complete her first three novels, she juggled family and job with writing at night.) An avid reader, Paretsky has always been a fan of detective fiction, but noticed a lack of intelligent, likable female protagonists in the genre. Thus, with the inspiring city of Chicago as the background, her signature character, V. I. Warshawski, was born.
Readers and critics have responded with appreciation for Paretsky's confident, modern, noir female detective. Unlike other noir heroines, V. I. refuses to be categorized by her sexuality. Despite the patriarchy she confronts on every case, she's a single woman in total control. Paretsky says of V. I., " I started aging V. I. because although she is a fictional character, she is grounded in historical events: she came of age during the Civil Rights movement and the anti-War movement. Her mother was a refugee from Fascist Italy. And her cases are all based on real events. Who she is depends on her being born in the Fifties. Now, of course, I have this dilemma of how to let her get older while still continuing to be an effective detective. I haven't quite figured that out yet."
Beyond her successful series, Paretsy has proven her range of talent with short stories (1995's Windy City Blues) and a handful of stand-alones (Ghost Country, Bleeding Kansas). She has also edited anthologies of mysteries and crime fiction by famous and less well-known female writers.
Generous with all she has learned throughout the years, Paretsky is a co-founder of Sisters in Crime, an organization dedicated since 1986 to bringing the female voice in detective fiction to the attention of booksellers and libraries. Sisters in Crime is a business resource for women on how to prepare a press kit, arrange a signing at a local bookstore, or search for an agent—as well as a treasure chest of new writers on the scene. Check out all they have to offer at www.sistersincrime.org.
Comparing herself to V. I. Warshawski, Paretsky says that they both love dogs, enjoy good food and good Scotch, and are both diehard Cubs fans.
Anonymous
Posted September 26, 2009
I always enjoy Sara Paretsky books, and although I was very interested in the history of the women's group written at the beginning of this book, I didn't realize that it was a compilation of very short stories. Great for quick reads and the ability to experience a variety of authors, but not what I expected.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This twenty-story anthology celebrates ¿twenty years of Sisters in Crime¿. The tales run the gamut of the mystery genre especially procedurals and historicals, but not limited to those sub-genres as for instance Eve K. Sandstrom goes tribal, Clare McNab writes about an Aussie investigator interrogating a canine movie star and Sue Henry turns mystical. Fascinatingly Chicago seems to be the prime spot for crime thrillers though other locales are used. Each of the tales is well written as expected by the renowned female authors who contribute. Especially fascinating is Ms. Paretsky¿s preadolescent Warshawski¿s first case when she is called Victoria or Tori. Once again the Sisters in Crime prove they still are on the case of providing first rate entertainment with this superb collection of all new tales.---------- Harriet Klausner
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