Part of V.I. Warshawski, book 13
First published 2010
V.I. Warshawski takes what seems like a hopeless case when elderly sisters hire her to find a man who vanished four decades ago. The Chicago private investigator expects little from this cold trail, but the search quickly turns dangerous. Old racial tensions from the city's past surface as V.I. digs deeper. A cousin she has never met arrives from Kansas City to work on a political campaign. A nun who once marched with Martin Luther King Jr. dies before she can share vital evidence. On the South Side, residents turn hostile when V.I. appears asking questions. The investigation unearths buried secrets from multiple families, including disturbing possibilities about her own beloved father's police career. V.I. fears learning that her father may have been corrupt, yet she pushes forward despite mounting threats. The case forces her to confront both Chicago's troubled racial history and the possibility that her family legacy may be built on lies.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, family-secrets
Setting: Chicago, Kansas City, South Side
Period: 1970s
446 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons
Content warnings: racism