Sun 20 Jun 2010
SARA PARETSKY – Deadlock. The Dial Press, hardcover, 1984. Paperback reprints include: Ballantine, 1984; Dell, 1992.
I am not a private eye fan, but even so, I like V.I. Warshawski. I like her loyalty to her cousin, ex-hockey player Boom Boom Warshawski, which leads her to investigate his death in spite of there being no one to pay her.
I like her tenacity, which keeps her going even after she recognizes that she is in danger. I like her intelligence, which enables her to master a field she knows nothing about and find vital clues.
As usual with P.I. novels, I’m sorry that there are so many deaths, especially those of innocent persons. But I’m happy to be introduced into Vic’s world: her friends, old and new, and her Chicago, a Chicago I never knew in 25 years of living there.
This is the Chicago of the city dweller, not the suburbanite; the Chicago of the long-time ethnic groups; the Chicago that is a Great Lakes port and headquarters of a substantial shipping industry. Boom Boom apparently falls to his death from a slippery pier, but V.I. discovers that he has been checking into the financial affairs of the grain company he’s working for.
Her investigation takes her to the Port of Chicago, to a large grain freighter, to the locks on the Soo, to elegant homes in Lake Bluff and a condo on Astor Place. I found out more about the business of shipping than I really wanted to know, but it was in a good cause — an interesting story and a fascinating wrap-up, with a P.I. I will read about again.
Editorial Comments: I reviewed Deadlock back here a few months ago. I reported on the book at hand, but I think Maryell does a better job here in explaining V. I. Warshawki’s overall appeal, and why she’s been a best-selling character ever since her first appearance, which was Indemnity Only in 1982. Deadlock was her second.
June 21st, 2010 at 1:37 am
For the most part those same virtues mentioned in this review have stayed with the character and the writer over time, though tough female eyes are no longer as rare as they were when she began these books.
There are a good many more female eyes (or might as well be private eyes) around today, but V.I. and Paretsky are still among the best which is no small accomplishment considering the competition.
Whatever else there is a conviction to the writing and the character that few writers — male or female — manage to convey. Her Chicago is as much a singular creation as Holmes London, Maigret’s Paris, Marlowe’s Los Angeles, Spenser’s Boston. Even when an individual book isn’t the best in the series you read it to find up what is happening to Vic and her world.
And it is interesting to contrast her Chicago with that of Craig Rice’s John J. Malone and Thomas Dewey’s Mac, the same mean streets from other eyes over time. I suspect Paretsky’s version may be closer to many people’s realities, but whether it is real or not, it feels that way.
June 21st, 2010 at 5:38 am
For me, there is no chance I will like a series like this and continue reading it unless I find the protagonist at least somewhat likeable.
I read the first Warshawski book many years ago and, frankly, it didn’t come close to that threshold. I didn’t like her and had to interest in returning to her world. There are too many books and not enough time to read half the ones I want to read. Why spend time with a character I don’t like?
June 21st, 2010 at 11:57 am
As for me, I think you’ve missed a great series of books, Jeff, but you’re certainly right about the fact that there are too many books out there and you do have to pick and choose.
I’d also have to agree that V.I. has a prickly personality, one that’s obviously rubbed you the wrong way, but to me, that’s part of her appeal. That’s who she is, and not only that, she knows who she is also.
V.I. was a pioneer in a lot of ways, and even more, I think that David and Maryell have summed up very well the reasons she’s been able to stay around so long.
— Steve
June 21st, 2010 at 4:26 pm
I certainly wouldn’t argue V.I. isn’t prickly, and I agree with Jeff that if you don’t like a character — especially a first person narrator — don’t read it. That said though V.I.’s prickly nature seemed part of her character from the start, not just something tacked on by the writer — it felt real.
That may be the key. Whether she is or not V.I. feels real. Her world feels real — or at least real within the needs of plot and action. You feel if you wandered around Chicago long enough you might just bump into her — which is precisely what Doyle, Chandler, Simenon, and Parker achieved with their creations — a fictional world that feels as real as the one we live in.
Frankly I treasure the writers who can do that for me.