Part of V.I. Warshawski, book 20
First published 2020
V.I. Warshawski knows Chicago runs on dirty money, but she gets dragged into the mess anyway when her goddaughter Bernie tries to help Lydia Zamir. Lydia was once a famous singer-songwriter until a mass shooting killed her lover and destroyed her life. Now she lives on the streets. Bernie's rescue attempt puts both women in the crosshairs of ruthless developers scheming over lakefront property. The situation turns deadly when someone murders Bernie's boyfriend, a computer programmer working for a community organization called SLICK. V.I. searches for a mysterious man called Coop who walks the lakefront at night with his dog. She believes he knows why bodies keep piling up around SLICK and why an international law firm represents the mass shooter who killed Lydia's lover. Instead of answers, V.I. uncovers a conspiracy that reaches from Chicago's parks into America's dark history in South America. The case pushes the detective toward her breaking point as powerful people play for keeps.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, investigation, powerful-people
Setting: Chicago, South America
Period: Contemporary
416 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow
Content warnings: death, murder, violence