Windy City Blues (V. I. Warshawski Series)

V.I. Warshawski, “undoubtedly one of the best-written characters in mystery fiction” (The Baltimore Sun), returns in a collection of stories that bring new meaning to “ties that bind.” Decked out in her silk shirts and no-nonsense Attitude, V.I. is out to make a living—by the skin of her teeth.

In “Grace Notes,” V.I. has barely finished her morning coffee when she sees an ad in the paper asking for information about her own mother, long dead. The paper leads V.I. to her newfound Italian cous...