Critique du Publishers Weekly
The sixth adventure of Chicago private eye Victoria Iphenigia Warshawski begins with arson and proceeds to homicide as the intrepid V.I. contends with ambitious politicians, a construction-business scam, a corrupt cop and the best intentions of her closest family friends. Trouble erupts when her sweet, crafty and alcoholic aunt Elena, burned out of her SRO hotel, appears with a young hooker friend at V.I.'s Northwest Side apartment. The friend's body is found, along with V.I.'s wallet, at a major downtown construction site soon after the detective is bewildered by mysterious warnings not to get involved with the political campaign of a Hispanic woman to whom she has pledged support. Gradually tying these events together, V.I. is beset by the paternalistic interference of the Chicago police detective who had been her deceased father's best friend. While everyone else in this complicated, occasionally tedious, plot urges her toward traditional female paths, V.I. resolutely forges her own trail, maintaining the spunk and humor that have earned her a large, devoted following. Mystery Guild selection; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates; author tour. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Critique de Kirkus
Once again, Chicago's durable private-eye V.I. (Vicki) Warshawski is tangling with the forces of evil in her own hometown. This time, an arson fire levels a shabby S.R.O. hotel and brings Vic's disreputable, alcoholic Aunt Elena to her doorstep looking for shelter, along with her friend Cerise--young, black, pregnant, and probably addicted. Some days later, Cerise is found dead of an overdose--inexplicably, at a distant building site; Elena has disappeared from the room Vic found for her; and the Ajax Insurance Co. has hired Vic to try to find the arsonist before they pay off owner Saul Seligman. Policeman, sometime boyfriend Michael Furey isn't much help in all this. Meanwhile, Vic has attended a party at the estate of Boots Meagher, who's unexpectedly hosting a fund-raiser for Rosalyn Fuentes--an old, liberal friend of Vic's who's running for office. Boots is the Chairman of the County Board, and the party abounds with politicos and development contractors. Rosalyn seems to think Vic is sitting on something to her discredit, and, in the week after the party, warnings to mind her own business come at Vic from all sides--including head of the arson squad Roland Montgomery and big-shot developer Ralph McDonald. Trying to figure out what has all these people in an uproar, Vic doggedly continues her investigation--visiting an unwelcoming Seligman; climbing over building sites; nearly dying in another fire, from which she rescues Elena, who's hiding from someone--Cerise's killer, perhaps? More mayhem and another murder follow before the dust settles and our heroine is vindicated. The reader, however, may weary before that point is reached. Unlike her previous novels (Killing Orders, etc.), this one suffers from bloat--too many characters; too much domestic detail--meals, showers, runs, and pointless drives around the city in tedious profusion. Vic may still be lean and mean, but, here, her creator's style borders on the flabby. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
