What Will You Read This Weekend?

Sara Paretsky's great invention is VI Warshawski--a heroic detective, like Olivia Benson, but with a bit more sass.

Over many years (thirty? thirty and change?) Warshawski has investigated crimes in Chicago; her main interest is helping the little guy, and ensuring that the big guy pays for his misdeeds.

"Brush Back"--a recent Warshawski novel--has a murder mystery at its center. Who killed Annie, an ambitious, forward-thinking young woman in a conservative home? Could her mother have offed her because of her sex life? Or could a male employer have assaulted her, then killed her to cover up the assault?

In any Paretsky book, the plot twists become challenging to follow; I'd strip back the complexity maybe by twenty percent. But I read for Warshawki's braininess: I love when she knocks a reporter's camera from his hands "by accident," then laughs and says, "Goodness, I didn't realize you were standing so close to me! I hope nothing is broken...." I love when Warshawski catches a villain in a lie...."If you never met Danny, how do you know he is Person X in this photo, and not Person Y? No one told you....."

Another thing I like in a Paretsky book: There really is *movement* within each individual chapter. You're never stuck in a character's head for six pages. This distinguishes Paretsky from Laura Lippman, who is slightly too fond of the interior monologue.

I look forward to my weekend with VI.....

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