Book Review: Fire Sale

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Fire Sale     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Sara Paretsky
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Private Investigator   Woman Main Character
Series: V.I. Warshawski # 13
Putnam, Jul 2005

Private Investigator V.I. Warshawski says no when her former basketball coach at Bertha Palmer High School Ms. McFarlane asks her to take over the girl’s team until she can come back to work or another volunteer surfaces. The coach reminds Victoria that basketball enabled her to get a scholarship to the U of Chicago. That fails to move Victoria, but when Coach mentions she is having cancer surgery implying she will never return Vic reluctantly takes over the sixteen girl squad that includes gang members and a center with two kids.

One of the team’s stars Josie Dorrado asks Ms. Warshawski to talk with her mother who is concerned with rumors she overheard that someone is going to blow up By Smart’s nearby manufacturing plant. If this happens many people including the older Dorrado will be out of work as By Smart is the biggest employee besides maybe the gangs in the depressed South Chicago. In spite of expecting nothing, Vic. goes to check out the tip when the explosion occurs. At about the same time, Josie and Billy Young, grandson of the By-Smart owner, run away. Vic hopes to find the teens before they get into trouble and also uncover who blew up the plant killing someone she knows while recovering from injuries and finally coaching teen basketball.

The who-done-it starts late, as Sara Paretsky provides her fans with an absorbing tour of Warshawski’s old neighborhood. The team is delightful to follow with their fights, clichés, and camaraderie with several having unique personalities. More personal than usual, FIRE SALE is a fabulous South Chicago mystery that provides an interesting new side to V.I. that of mentoring coach. Sara Paretsky talent shines through with each book she writes.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner