Part of V.I. Warshawski, book 4
First published 1988
Private investigator Vic Warshawski walks into her friend's medical clinic and meets Consuela, a sixteen-year-old girl carrying her first child. Dr. Lotty Herschel runs the clinic in one of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods, treating patients who cannot afford the gleaming private hospitals across town. When tragedy strikes the pregnant teenager, Vic finds herself pulled into the shadowy world of Chicago's hospital system. She discovers that medical care depends on money and connections, not just need. The investigation forces Vic to navigate between two worlds: the struggling community clinic where Lotty fights to save lives, and the corporate medical establishments that prioritize profits. As Vic digs deeper, she uncovers how the healthcare system fails its most vulnerable patients. The case becomes personal for both women, testing their friendship and their beliefs about justice and medicine.
Genres: medical, mystery, thriller, social-issues
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, friends-to-lovers
Setting: Chicago
321 pages · Paperback · Penguin
Content warnings: medical-trauma