Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book
Rate this book
Sara Paretsky, one of the most legendary crime writers of all time, presents an exclusive and thrilling short story featuring beloved investigator V.I. Warshawski as a ten-year-old girl on her first investigation.

V.I. Warshawski developed her strength and sense of justice at a very early age.  It’s 1966 and on the south side of Chicago racial tensions are at an all-time high. Dr. Martin Luther King is leading marches at Marquette Park and many in the neighborhood are very angry.

With nothing but a bicycle, eighty-two cents in her pocket, and her Brownie camera hanging from her wrist, Victoria sneaks off to Marquette Park alone to protect her father Tony, a police officer who is patrolling the crowds.

What begins as a small adventure and a quest to find her father and make sure he is safe turns into something far more dangerous.  As the day goes on and the conflict at the park reaches a fever pitch Victoria realizes she must use her courage and ingenuity if she wants to keep herself and her family members out of harm’s way.

48 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 7, 2017

194 people are currently reading
702 people want to read

About the author

Sara Paretsky

272 books2,373 followers
Sara Paretsky is a modern American author of detective fiction. Paretsky was raised in Kansas, and graduated from the state university with a degree in political science. She did community service work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in 1968 to work there. She ultimately completed a Ph.D. in history at the University of Chicago, entitled The Breakdown of Moral Philosophy in New England Before the Civil War, and finally earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Married to a professor of physics at the University of Chicago, she has lived in Chicago since 1968.

The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator. Warshawski's eclectic personality defies easy categorization. She drinks Johnnie Walker Black Label, breaks into houses looking for clues, and can hold her own in a street fight, but also she pays attention to her clothes, sings opera along with the radio, and enjoys her sex life.

Paretsky is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. The Winter 2007 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection is devoted to her work.

Her two books that are non-Warshawski novels are : Ghost Country (1998) and Bleeding Kansas (2008).

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
266 (38%)
4 stars
232 (33%)
3 stars
147 (21%)
2 stars
34 (4%)
1 star
10 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
Profile Image for James.
Author 20 books4,373 followers
August 7, 2020
Wildcat is a short story published by Sara Paretsky in between the major novels of her VI Warshawski thriller series. The series focused on a ~50ish female private eye in the 90's / 00's based in Chicago. In this 'prequel' tale, we meet VI's parents, who'd passed away before the first book in the series began. We've had memories and moments with them, but this actually takes place entirely in the 60s, focusing on the true first case a teenage Victoria Iphigenia takes on. It involves her cousin, Boom Boom, and his mother's brother (not related to VI).

One thing to say... this story is vivid and direct. All the words we're 'not supposed to say' are clear and present. It's the 60's, and while it wasn't quite okay to say them back then, it was the norm. Everyone from Jewish people to African Americans are teased and mocked. Situations like this always bring up the question -- is it okay to write stories about these times? Yes, of course... and no, possibly not. I say that only because sometimes highlighting it helps other people think it's okay to do or say it. That said, this is a book review, and I'm merely focusing on the mystery aspects of the short story.

VI's early instincts and rebellion are shown. She's tough but needs love. Her mother is kind but off-putting. Her aunt is a high holy mess. The priest in their church is downright ridiculous. I forget how much religious figures often told people what they could and couldn't do in their personal lives. I'm not against it by any means; I was brought up Catholic. But for a priest to tell a child how to behave in public when VI wasn't doing anything wrong, is absolutely stepping over the boundaries in my opinion, especially when he was clearly just abusing his power. Kudos to Paretsky for making me a bit angry about the characters, in a good way.
Profile Image for H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov.
2,131 reviews824 followers
August 26, 2020
V. I. Warshawski's First Case (Kindle Single)

Vic is just becoming a teenager and spending a lot of time with her cousin Boom-Boom. Paretsky provides a lot of the background her readers have been asking for in this long series of V.I. Warshawski, Chicago’s relentless private investigator.

The time is 1966 and Martin Luther King has been in town since early in the year organizing against the laws and practices that have penned in Chicago’s African-American population. Racial tensions are high in the South Chicago neighborhood that the Warshawski families call home. Everything comes to a boiling point during a day featuring a protest march by King. "Nothing Mayor Daley said could stop the marchers, and nothing Dr. King said could get the real estate board to change their laws against open housing."

A quick and interesting read for those devoted to the series. 3.5*
Profile Image for Lynda Dickson.
581 reviews64 followers
April 6, 2017
Sara Paretsky is the author of eighteen V. I. Warshawski novels. This is the story of her famous detective's first case, when young V. I., then know as Victoria or Vic, is only 10 years old. Set in Chicago in August 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King's visit sparks a race riot in Marquette Park, where Vic's police officer father is on duty. Vic sets out to warn him of impending danger and gets caught up in a murder. She uses lessons learned from her mother to survive by her wits and manages to solve her first case with a bit of help from her trusty Brownie camera - not quite a digital, but it does the trick!

The story includes appearances by her cousin Boom-Boom, her mother Gabriella, her father Tony, and his friend Sergeant Bobby Mallory. An adventurous story in its own right, I'm sure long-standing fans of the series will find it a hoot. At the end of the story, Vic makes a promise to her mother that we know, in hindsight, she will not be able to keep.

The author includes a complete backstory about her character V. I. Warshawski, from her childhood to her education, marriage, divorce, and career as a private investigator.

This edition also includes the first two chapters of her newest V. I. Warshawski novel, Fallout, due out 18 April 2017.

Warnings: coarse language, violence.

Full blog post (7 April): https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.co...
Profile Image for Joan.
4,354 reviews124 followers
March 8, 2017
Having read many of the V. I. Warshawski mysteries over the years, reading this novella was very interesting. We readers usually come upon our detectives as adults already in some form of detecting business. This short story gives us an insight into Victoria at a young age. She's a feisty one, racing off to a very dangerous area during heightened racial tensions. The part of the story I liked the best was when she got into trouble. Desperate, she remembers her mother's advice of survival. Her mother had escaped the Nazis as a young woman and had told Victoria the way she survived was by her wits: keep calm, think, and be lucky. Those wits helped her at ten years old and would get a workout in her future.

If you are aa reader of Paretsky, you will enjoy this short, finding out a little history of your favorite investigator. You'll also get an advance look at the newest Warshawski novel, releasing in April.

I received a complimentary egalley of this novella through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.
Profile Image for Sheila Beaumont.
1,102 reviews174 followers
April 12, 2017
In this short prequel to the V.I. Warshawski series, set in Chicago in 1966 at a time of extreme racial tension, 10-year-old Victoria hastens to the aid of her policeman father and winds up having to extricate herself from a perilous situation, making use of her mother's advice: Stay calm, think, and be lucky.
Profile Image for James  Love.
397 reviews18 followers
August 2, 2019
An interesting coming of age short story. The precocious 10 year old V. I. Warshawski, along with her cousin Boom-Boom, faces two types of mobs. The rioters outraged by Martin Luther King, Jr and the low level members of organized crime.

The worst thing in life is seeing the members of your own church and community attack each other out of fear and petty jealousy.
14 reviews2 followers
December 14, 2017
Ok for a short story goes, now time to read the first novel of this series
Profile Image for Ed .
479 reviews43 followers
August 22, 2017
V.I. Warshawski, Sara Paretsky's protagonist in her series of Chicago crime novels and stories, was 10 years old when this story was set in 1966. She lived in South Chicago, a neighborhood on the southeast side of Chicago bounded by (now closed) steel mills, the Port of Chicago and Lake Calumet. I was seventeen years old during that amazing summer when Martin Luther King brought his campaign for equal rights for black people to the north--to Chicago. I lived about 20 blocks north of V. I.'s neighborhood, not far from one of her landmarks at 71st Street and Euclid.

Paretsky captures the fear and anxiety of those times, both the wretchedness of the violent racists and the nobility of those who opposed racism and sympathized with MLK and his cause. It is a brilliant word picture of emotions run wild and I recommend it highly. As it happens I was one of the people who journey across town of march behind Dr. King, the first time I had participated in mass action for a cause that had been and would continue to be ignored by those in power (in Chicago and throughout the north) without mobilizations like the open housing marches.

This was protest against de jure racial segregation--neighborhoods were covered by restrictive covenants that prohibited sales of homes to any but white people--and de facto-- some jobs were known by everyone as "white jobs", Chicago Transit Authority bus drivers, for example, or most of the tightly organized construction trades.

I have read most of Paretsky's novels but got out of the habit. After "Wildcat: I plan to read those I missed.
Profile Image for Cathy Cole.
2,241 reviews60 followers
August 12, 2017
Well-written, fast-moving short story that lets us see V.I. Warshawski as a child during riots that occurred when Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Chicago. We see everything through the eyes of a child and do not really know exactly what happened until adults fill in the blanks.
Profile Image for Freda Mans-Labianca.
1,294 reviews125 followers
March 13, 2017
A fun little story!
I wouldn't call it V.I's first case so much as her introduction to bad guys. She didn't really go on a case, but was being a nosy child chasing things she maybe shouldn't have.
It made for a good, quick read though. It also helped shape why V.I. became the private detective that she did. This incident would have created that whole spark.
I loved the movie, so it was nice to read a story with a familiar character. I definitely want to read more now too!
Profile Image for Katreader.
952 reviews49 followers
March 31, 2017
WILDCAT: V.I. WARSHAWSKI'S FIRST CASE by Sara Paretsky
A Prequel to the V.I. Warshawski Mysteries

Travel back in time to the summer of 1966 when more than the temperatures were getting hot in the South Side of Chicago. This was a summer of civil unrest including protest marches led by Martin Luther King Junior and race riots. When 10 year old Victoria hears her Uncle Tomasz threaten to "teach Tony a lesson" she races to the middle of the demonstrations to warn her father, police officer Tony Warshawski. With her trusty camera in hand Victoria discovers more than she bargained for. Will the words of her mother as well as her own determination save her?

This prequel is short...very short... and as such there is not much room for plot development. There's not much investigating and Victoria is trying merely to warn her father instead of actually trying to solve a case. But we see great characterization and realize the impact these events will have on the future V.I. Warshawski. Despite its brevity, WILDCAT is rich in atmosphere. You can feel the anger spew into the sweltering heat, turning neighbors into vicious mobs. The writing is intense and immensely visceral forcing us to feel the emotions of the characters, indeed the emotion of the era.

WILDCAT is a most fitting mystery for today, especially given the current political clime. We need to look at history, as Gabriella does, for we dare not repeat it.

FTC Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of this book in the hopes I would review it.
Profile Image for Diane Bliss.
19 reviews1 follower
March 9, 2017
The Best from the Best

Sara Paretsky is a Grand Master and proves it once again in this novella, this time set in the 1960s when V.I. is just 10 years old and still known as Victoria. Not to be missed, especially by die-hard fans of the V.I. series.
Profile Image for Michelle Adamo #EmptyNestReader.
1,543 reviews21 followers
February 7, 2022
Wildcat is book 17.5, a short story published in 2017, around the time of “Fallout”, the 18th book in the V.I. Warshawski series. It is a prequel, showing the very young V. I. Warshawski on what turns out to be her first “case”. The story takes place in 1966 Chicago during a time of tense racial relations in the city. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr is visiting the city, leading marches and speaking for equality. Tempers are short and pro and anti activists are out in mass. Every police officer in the city is on duty, with strict orders to keep Dr King safe. Many have been working around the clock for days on end.

In the story, Warshawski’s parents are both still alive. Her father is a police officer for the Chicago Police Department.
V.I. is just 10 years old when she overhears her uncles’ friend (who had been caught stealing from his employer and turned in by Officer Warshawski) questioning her father’s loyalty and saying that he is going to “teach him a lesson about loyalty he won’t forget in a hurry”. Fearing for her father’s safety, V.I. hops on her bicycle and heads out to find her father so that she can warn him. Along the way V.I. gets more than she bargained and she quickly finds that she is in over her head.

Wildcat was fun, quick read but, not as good as her novels. But then, it would be a rare short story that could do that. It certainly won’t stop me from reading Paretsky’s other novels, or her other short stories. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#EmptyNestReader #instagram #facebook #Goodreads #Wildcat #SaraParetsky #VIWarshawski #prequel #fiction #JanuaryReads #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramalabama #bookstagrammichigan #bookreviews #bookreviewer #bookrecommendations #readalittlelearnalittlelivealittle #ebooks #librarybooks #Hoopla #vestaviaHillsLibrary #vhlitfgram
Profile Image for Tara.
388 reviews14 followers
March 2, 2017
Confession: I've never read anything by Sara Paretsky before. So when I was sent the widget to read this one, I thought it would be interesting to know V.I.'s first case before starting the series. This short story was interesting but I found it hard to follow in places - I had to go back and re-read some sentences to know who was talking and who they were talking about. but other than that it was a nice, quick read that gave me a perfect introduction to V.I. And left me eager to finally give this series a chance.
Profile Image for karla.
166 reviews12 followers
December 19, 2018
ok let me just say this I ABSOLUTELY LOVE VICTORIA WARSHAWSKI and seeing little 10 year old vic here... MY HEART

she hasn't changed has she? <3 since she was little she's been impulsive and driven by justice and smart and ugh i love her

I LOVED READING ABOUT HER BEING W HER PARENTS it was so sad to remember they're dead *tears*

I WANT TO READ ALL THE VI WARSHAWSKI BOOKS, I already own 5 soooo gotta go get the other 17!
68 reviews
January 22, 2021
Interesting to think what V. I. might have been like as a girl (pretty much what you'd expect.). In this story you get to see Tony and Gabiella and Boom Boom who are present but peripheral in the later books. Chicago and it's cityscapes are always well drawn and figure largely in the unraveling story. If you wonder how she ended up detecting, the seeds of it are all here. Even the red glasses make a cameo appearance. Good backstory.
Profile Image for Vivian.
Author 2 books137 followers
March 12, 2017
I received a digital review copy from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

If you've ever read any of the V.I. Warshawski books, you might think you're very familiar with this character. But the V.I. Warshawski in Wildcat isn't like the V.I. we all have come to know and love. First, this V.I. is known as Victoria. Second, she's only ten years old. Victoria is experiencing societal injustice and the fight to overcome it for the first time with the civil rights marches in Chicago for equal access to housing. Victoria's parents are very supportive of Dr. Martin Luther King and his crusade. Victoria's aunt and uncle, not so much. Adding to the drama and confusion of the summer is the fact that even the local Catholic priest and his church member's are against these desegregation efforts. Although Victoria is concerned about the ongoing battles against injustice in her city, she's more concerned about what might be happening to her father, a local police officer. When Victoria hears something that indicates her father is in jeopardy, she does the only thing she can think of and heads off to warn him. Things don't exactly go as planned, but we do witness where and when the spunk, smarts, and sass we've come to expect with V.I. originated. (No, I'm not going to tell you everything that happens. Read the book!) Wildcat is a short story and an incredibly fun and fast read. I've read a few of the V.I. Warshawski stories in the past and reading Wildcat has made this reader want to return to this series. If you've read any V.I. stories in the past or are a diehard V.I. fan, you'll definitely want to read Wildcat. Seriously, go and grab your copy today!

This review originally posted on 03/12/2017 at www.thebookdivasreads.com.
Profile Image for Donna.
16 reviews
September 5, 2021
VI’s First Case

As a child, Victoria impulsively puts herself in the middle of a drama: a mob hit during a riot, in a brave attempt to protect her father. This dynamic story establishes her character, and sets her on the path to become VI Warshawski, detective. Excellent and well crafted short story that launches the iconic VI.
10 reviews1 follower
October 9, 2023
novella based on childhood event

I realize you can’t expect much from a ten year old and VI’s brownie camera helped police resolve the murder of her uncle’s brother in law. However a little warning that this is not really a book would be nice. I was so looking forward to settling in with another great Paretsky Novel . . .
Profile Image for Kaye.
270 reviews27 followers
September 17, 2017
Very good prequel

Who knew how V I grew up? It explains a lot about how she became so independent and how she learned to take care of herself. I loved the insight into her childhood.
170 reviews
November 4, 2018
A quick enjoyable read

Although this was not what I expected for a first case, it was quick read and an interesting introduction to the series. I expect the action will take off from here.
17 reviews1 follower
August 12, 2019
Wow! What a kick! V.I. as a kid!

The backstory! How V.I. came to be! Oh, better than Nancy Drew, or the Hardy Boys! The beginning of such pluck! And poignant enough for tears. Goddam! Good!
14 reviews2 followers
September 19, 2021
First off the point and predictable of her future

I chose this rating because it was her first attempt and vastly better than most first attempts. Successful anticipation of the future.
Profile Image for Jim.
1,112 reviews56 followers
April 11, 2023
V I Warshawski's first case as a 10 year old at the time of the Chicago riots. Where fearing from her police officer father's life she joins the crowds going to see Martin Luther King and gets more than she bargained for. A nice filler for V I's back story.
4,418 reviews37 followers
June 6, 2023
Early Vicki

At only50 pages it is quite short. Interesting to read a story set in a time before Martin Luther King was a legend. As a fan of this author I enjoy this prequel and have read over the series.
Profile Image for Kimiko.
704 reviews3 followers
March 9, 2017
A pre-series book telling us about VI as a child. Now we can see why she chose to become a Private Investigator.
Profile Image for Joann.
348 reviews3 followers
May 8, 2017
This is a vert short story about V.I. and Boom-Boom when they was really young. Not sure why but maybe that will come out in a later book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.