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V.I. Warshawski #5
Toxic Shock
V.I. Warshawski isn't crazy about going back to her old south Chicago neighborhood, but a promise is something she always keeps. Caroline, a childhood friend, has a dying mother and a problem -- after twenty-five years she wants V.I. to find the father she never knew. But when V.I. starts probing into the past, she not only finds out where all the bodies are buried -- she stumbles onto a very new corpse. Now she's stirring up a deadly mix of big business and chemical corruption that may become a toxic shock to a snooper who knows too much.
Published in the UK as Toxic Shock and in America as Blood Shot.
Published in the UK as Toxic Shock and in America as Blood Shot.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
372 people are currently reading
2166 people want to read
About the author
Sara Paretsky
271 books2,370 followersSara 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).
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).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 233 reviews
February 13, 2019
Book Review
4 of 5 stars to Blood Shot, the fifth release in a mystery series of 20 books (and still counting), written by Sara Paretsky in 1988. I stumbled upon this thriller and suspense book series during college, upon coming across some of the bright yellow, red and purple covers. After catching my attention, I gave them a chance and then devoured several in a row in the first few years to try to catch up. The main character, VI Warshawski, is a tough female private investigator in Chicago, a fictional character resembling no person I'd ever met before. In this book, VI goes back to the dangerous streets she grew up on to help a childhood friend find the father she never knew; the friend's mother is dying which leaves a big hole in her life. VI, reluctant to help, gives in and starts an explosive path into history, uncovering crimes among the big business world, including toxic chemicals and the lengths people will go to keep some information secret.
For those new to the series... this is a really great set of "modern day" PI detective books with a strong female lead. For the most part, VI is quite likable; however, it takes a little getting used to. She's tough, a bit rude and direct, and often fails to realize she's holding herself back from being open-minded. In the first few, I thought... no one like this exists. Please forgive me, I was a naive 20 year old from the suburbs who thought all people were generally friendly. VI's a different kind of friendly. If you're on her good list, she'll take a bullet for you. Seriously. And she has. But if she's on your bad list, you might get some acid thrown in your face. OK, maybe not that bad, but you get the drift. The fun part part about these books is they were right in the beginning of technology's rapid growth on the detection front. Cell phones and computers were just becoming common in the hands of regular people. See was still using coins in a pay phone and an answering service. I can't imagine waiting for your service to tell you you had a message. Wow! But makes you realize how much harder she had to work to solve her crime -- natural talents and ingenuity. Good one to sample from the series.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.
4 of 5 stars to Blood Shot, the fifth release in a mystery series of 20 books (and still counting), written by Sara Paretsky in 1988. I stumbled upon this thriller and suspense book series during college, upon coming across some of the bright yellow, red and purple covers. After catching my attention, I gave them a chance and then devoured several in a row in the first few years to try to catch up. The main character, VI Warshawski, is a tough female private investigator in Chicago, a fictional character resembling no person I'd ever met before. In this book, VI goes back to the dangerous streets she grew up on to help a childhood friend find the father she never knew; the friend's mother is dying which leaves a big hole in her life. VI, reluctant to help, gives in and starts an explosive path into history, uncovering crimes among the big business world, including toxic chemicals and the lengths people will go to keep some information secret.
For those new to the series... this is a really great set of "modern day" PI detective books with a strong female lead. For the most part, VI is quite likable; however, it takes a little getting used to. She's tough, a bit rude and direct, and often fails to realize she's holding herself back from being open-minded. In the first few, I thought... no one like this exists. Please forgive me, I was a naive 20 year old from the suburbs who thought all people were generally friendly. VI's a different kind of friendly. If you're on her good list, she'll take a bullet for you. Seriously. And she has. But if she's on your bad list, you might get some acid thrown in your face. OK, maybe not that bad, but you get the drift. The fun part part about these books is they were right in the beginning of technology's rapid growth on the detection front. Cell phones and computers were just becoming common in the hands of regular people. See was still using coins in a pay phone and an answering service. I can't imagine waiting for your service to tell you you had a message. Wow! But makes you realize how much harder she had to work to solve her crime -- natural talents and ingenuity. Good one to sample from the series.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.
January 21, 2016
This is number five in the series and it is holding up well. I am trying to space them out with plenty of other books in between so that I come to each one fresh and ready to find out what our amazing P.I is up to now! This particular book is very good; lots of excitement, a good story, some new and interesting characters and many of our favourite characters back to entertain us. I am already looking forward to the next one.
August 16, 2025
My goal at this point in 2025 is to go through the entire series listening in the Audible format in order. The topic in this book of sexuality and incest is pretty unusual in just about any book and seems especially unusual for this series. But one of the Enjoyable things about VI is that she is a progressive person who matches my politics quite regularly. The fact that she lives through every book in spite of more than your average number of brushes with death is just apparently the lay of the land in this series. We know there is always the next book so that she is always going to live in spite of everything. The addition of the dog is a good thing in this series as is her elderly, first floor neighbor.
_______________________
When I started this book, I didn’t understand how much I wanted a read that rose to five stars. Blood Shot doesn’t rise to the level of great classical literature but it served my needs better than I could have hoped. Lots of action requiring suspension of disbelief led to a conclusion worthy of a graphic comic book. After I finished the book, I looked at the GR ratings and reviews. Of 2700 GR ratings, only seven have given this book only one star. On the other hand, two-thirds have given it four or five stars.
Can there be such a thing as a comfort series (like comfort food)? Strange as it may seem the V.I. Warshawski mystery series calms me as I approach it and, once I start, makes me want to keep reading. This doesn’t mean that Paretsky writes a dull book, but V.I. has a certain personality that is both familiar and being built on in each book. I find that enjoyable: watching someone doing things that require both physical and mental skills. I am passing on my Warshawski books to my 92 year old Dad; he thinks it is not quite believable that she gets beat up regularly but bounces back quite rapidly for more. That happened more than once in this book. That doesn’t bother me since the story is one adventure in a year of her life so she undoubtedly has quite a few threatening-call free and non-pugilistic months. Besides, it is fiction!
So here we have a woman who was a skilled basketball player in high school, both parents died when she was quite young, her dad was a cop and she still lives in the same city (Chicago) where she was brought up, she runs five or ten miles most mornings and eats plain peanut butter when “the maid” hasn’t been shopping recently. She does go back to the old neighborhood in this book, the fifth in the series (http://www.goodreads.com/series/55214...) published in 1988 that now is up to fifteen books and still developing.
Maybe you will understand “comfort series” better if I tell you that the last two books I read were in the Burke series of Andrew Vachss. Compare and contrast Burke with Warshawski! That would be interesting wouldn’t it? My my! Maybe it is just that Burke is so noir that he makes Warshawski seem like snows white as. Or maybe it is just Warshawski and her nine lives.
Someone being interviewed by Warshawski asks, “So you’re a private investigator. And do you find it a job that allows you to be both careful and reckless?” I think that summarizes the spirit and methodology of our heroine. Of course, since this is a series with at least ten books to go, there is no nagging fear of her being killed. That contributes to it being a thrilling comfort series, if that combination of words is plausible. It might be different if I was reading the books as they come out; each book could be the last with Paretsky moving on. For some people reading a nearly twenty-five year old series might not be appealing. But I do figure to get up to the current time eventually. In the meantime, I am enjoying the ride.
I thought “catfight” was a sometimes derogatory name for a fight between two women. V.I. and a woman she has known most of her life, Caroline, get into a verbal catfight that consumes several pages on at least a couple of occasions. I found myself being more annoyed at this than it seemed like I would have been if it had been two men. My stereotype is that two men arguing like this would deteriorate into a physical fight. Women aren’t allowed to do the same. It’s not ladylike. That sounds like my own prejudice coming out. If your protagonist is a strong, independent woman detective, does she have to do all the things the macho men do? I hope not! The verbal sparring went on between Warshawski and several other characters as well.Slamming doors and angry phone hang-ups were a steady diet.
V.I says,
So it seems the threat of violence is really only a threat to let Caroline know how very angry Warshawski is. Later in the book there is another aversive verbal interaction with the same woman where V.I. again threatens physical assault. This is not something I remember about her from previous books. Warshawski mostly does not carry a gun because she would rather depend on her “wits.” So there is that about her in relationship to violence. And she carries her gun quite a lot and actually fires it in this book.
You may wonder what the police are doing while Warshawski is busy solving the murder. They tell her to butt out but of course she never does. What would be the point of butting out if you have to solve the case. She usually has some personal connection that gets her involved and then she just has to follow through regardless of the danger to herself or others. When she gets threatening phone calls, she does not tell the police. And withholding evidence is second nature to her.
Warshawski has some shortcomings. At least in the eyes of others.
This book is filled with intense human interactions because Warshawski is closely connected in some way to so many people and puts her nose in just about any business she encounters. I imagine her character in a war novel walking point and doing and heroic things.
My nonagenarian father is right though about Warshawski bouncing back unbelievably quickly from life threatening events. She is a Wonder Woman in this book.
I just don’t have enough experience with murder mysteries to be sure if this is typical but I suspect it must be. How many people want to read something dull and drawn out?
I can only wonder how this truth will play out in the coming books in the series. This book is as much about Warshawski coming to terms with her independence and her limitations.
She is surely “in love with danger and death.” You wonder about my “comfort series” comments earlier? Reading can become a real page turner event with enough action to raise my blood pressure. But still the anticipation of this possibility as I approach the book is somehow comforting. It is my expectation of meeting a friend, going on an adventure that is far outside of my normal life and somehow ending up safe having solved the case. If you seek an adrenaline junkie, you have found one.
I did get my five stars right when I needed it. I may have lowered the five star bar somewhat to allow Warshawski to get over it. It would be OK with me if she worked on being more a team player and less of a Wonder Woman in the future. We will see in her next adventure how many more of her evidently unlimited lives she uses up. I am thinking she is in her late 30s so her body will not stand for the abuse much longer. Of course, one of the supporting characters is a seventy-nine year old who rushes to the rescue with V.I. in the shoot’em up face off. Maybe Sara Paretsky will unveil her fountain of youth one day.
_______________________
When I started this book, I didn’t understand how much I wanted a read that rose to five stars. Blood Shot doesn’t rise to the level of great classical literature but it served my needs better than I could have hoped. Lots of action requiring suspension of disbelief led to a conclusion worthy of a graphic comic book. After I finished the book, I looked at the GR ratings and reviews. Of 2700 GR ratings, only seven have given this book only one star. On the other hand, two-thirds have given it four or five stars.
Can there be such a thing as a comfort series (like comfort food)? Strange as it may seem the V.I. Warshawski mystery series calms me as I approach it and, once I start, makes me want to keep reading. This doesn’t mean that Paretsky writes a dull book, but V.I. has a certain personality that is both familiar and being built on in each book. I find that enjoyable: watching someone doing things that require both physical and mental skills. I am passing on my Warshawski books to my 92 year old Dad; he thinks it is not quite believable that she gets beat up regularly but bounces back quite rapidly for more. That happened more than once in this book. That doesn’t bother me since the story is one adventure in a year of her life so she undoubtedly has quite a few threatening-call free and non-pugilistic months. Besides, it is fiction!
So here we have a woman who was a skilled basketball player in high school, both parents died when she was quite young, her dad was a cop and she still lives in the same city (Chicago) where she was brought up, she runs five or ten miles most mornings and eats plain peanut butter when “the maid” hasn’t been shopping recently. She does go back to the old neighborhood in this book, the fifth in the series (http://www.goodreads.com/series/55214...) published in 1988 that now is up to fifteen books and still developing.
Maybe you will understand “comfort series” better if I tell you that the last two books I read were in the Burke series of Andrew Vachss. Compare and contrast Burke with Warshawski! That would be interesting wouldn’t it? My my! Maybe it is just that Burke is so noir that he makes Warshawski seem like snows white as. Or maybe it is just Warshawski and her nine lives.
Someone being interviewed by Warshawski asks, “So you’re a private investigator. And do you find it a job that allows you to be both careful and reckless?” I think that summarizes the spirit and methodology of our heroine. Of course, since this is a series with at least ten books to go, there is no nagging fear of her being killed. That contributes to it being a thrilling comfort series, if that combination of words is plausible. It might be different if I was reading the books as they come out; each book could be the last with Paretsky moving on. For some people reading a nearly twenty-five year old series might not be appealing. But I do figure to get up to the current time eventually. In the meantime, I am enjoying the ride.
I thought “catfight” was a sometimes derogatory name for a fight between two women. V.I. and a woman she has known most of her life, Caroline, get into a verbal catfight that consumes several pages on at least a couple of occasions. I found myself being more annoyed at this than it seemed like I would have been if it had been two men. My stereotype is that two men arguing like this would deteriorate into a physical fight. Women aren’t allowed to do the same. It’s not ladylike. That sounds like my own prejudice coming out. If your protagonist is a strong, independent woman detective, does she have to do all the things the macho men do? I hope not! The verbal sparring went on between Warshawski and several other characters as well.Slamming doors and angry phone hang-ups were a steady diet.
V.I says,
“Caroline, I’m mad enough to beat the shit out of you. But I’m not so mad I can’t think. You fingered me to the cops because there’s something you know that you’re scared to talk about. I want to know what it is.”
So it seems the threat of violence is really only a threat to let Caroline know how very angry Warshawski is. Later in the book there is another aversive verbal interaction with the same woman where V.I. again threatens physical assault. This is not something I remember about her from previous books. Warshawski mostly does not carry a gun because she would rather depend on her “wits.” So there is that about her in relationship to violence. And she carries her gun quite a lot and actually fires it in this book.
You may wonder what the police are doing while Warshawski is busy solving the murder. They tell her to butt out but of course she never does. What would be the point of butting out if you have to solve the case. She usually has some personal connection that gets her involved and then she just has to follow through regardless of the danger to herself or others. When she gets threatening phone calls, she does not tell the police. And withholding evidence is second nature to her.
I should go to McGonnigal, tell him what I knew, or rather whet I suspected. But. But. I really didn’t have anything concrete. Maybe I’d give the kid twenty-four hours to show up. If he was already dead, it wouldn’t matter.
Warshawski has some shortcomings. At least in the eyes of others.
“You know, Victoria, in your search for the truth you often force people to face things about themselves that they are better off not knowing. I can forgive you for doing it with Lotty – she’s tough, she can take it. And you don’t spare yourself. But because you are very strong you don’t see that other people cannot deal with these truths.
“Look, Max, I don’t know why Chigwell tried to kill himself. … But if it was because of the questions I was asking, I don’t feel one minute of remorse. … If – and it’s a mighty big if – if I’d known two weeks ago that my seeing him would make him turn on the gas, you’d better believe I’d do it again.”
This book is filled with intense human interactions because Warshawski is closely connected in some way to so many people and puts her nose in just about any business she encounters. I imagine her character in a war novel walking point and doing and heroic things.
My nonagenarian father is right though about Warshawski bouncing back unbelievably quickly from life threatening events. She is a Wonder Woman in this book.
He frowned. “You really are a cold-blooded bitch, aren’t you? Near death one day and hot on the trail the next. Sherlock Holmes didn’t have anything on you.”
I just don’t have enough experience with murder mysteries to be sure if this is typical but I suspect it must be. How many people want to read something dull and drawn out?
“I would ask that you not be reckless, Victoria. I would ask it except you seem to be in love with danger and death. You make life very hard for those who love you.”
I can only wonder how this truth will play out in the coming books in the series. This book is as much about Warshawski coming to terms with her independence and her limitations.
I drank some of the milk and lay down on the daybed with my boots off, but I couldn’t relax. All I could think was that I had run scared from my problems, had turned to the police, and now I was waiting like some good old-fashioned damsel in distress for rescue.
It was too much. A little after midnight I pulled my boots back on.
She is surely “in love with danger and death.” You wonder about my “comfort series” comments earlier? Reading can become a real page turner event with enough action to raise my blood pressure. But still the anticipation of this possibility as I approach the book is somehow comforting. It is my expectation of meeting a friend, going on an adventure that is far outside of my normal life and somehow ending up safe having solved the case. If you seek an adrenaline junkie, you have found one.
I did get my five stars right when I needed it. I may have lowered the five star bar somewhat to allow Warshawski to get over it. It would be OK with me if she worked on being more a team player and less of a Wonder Woman in the future. We will see in her next adventure how many more of her evidently unlimited lives she uses up. I am thinking she is in her late 30s so her body will not stand for the abuse much longer. Of course, one of the supporting characters is a seventy-nine year old who rushes to the rescue with V.I. in the shoot’em up face off. Maybe Sara Paretsky will unveil her fountain of youth one day.
July 24, 2013
Tough detective VI is tough. She remembers her mum: loving, but tough. She remembers her neighbour: flighty, but tough. She leans on her Dr friend Lotty: caring, but tough. She meets an elderly lady: unfulfilled, but tough. Tough women are tough. In a tough town. That's the theme of the book. It's one note, over 399 pages. Possibly, if there'd been less authorial focus on being tough, the book could be a little shorter. That wouldn't be a bad thing.
Do you think I may be mistaken? I'm not:
"She hung up on my incoherent protest. I smiled a little - gruff to the end. I hoped I was that tough forty years ahead."
The plot? Who's the daddy? Why is that woman murdered? It takes a while to find out, and you have to be TOUGH to take the pace.
I thought I remembered liking the VI Warshawski series. I misremembered.
Do you think I may be mistaken? I'm not:
"She hung up on my incoherent protest. I smiled a little - gruff to the end. I hoped I was that tough forty years ahead."
The plot? Who's the daddy? Why is that woman murdered? It takes a while to find out, and you have to be TOUGH to take the pace.
I thought I remembered liking the VI Warshawski series. I misremembered.
December 22, 2012
Wow.
This is one THRILLING book! I couldn't put it down! V.I. Warshawski faces her most PTSD-inducing case in the series so far and manages to dig up a lot of information on her own past, both of which promise to give her nightmares for a long time.
V.I. would rather drive into hell than go back to her old Chicago neighborhood, but a pleading request from a childhood friend, Carolyn Djiak, during a charity basketball game for her old high school forces her to submit to her conscience and give in. As she drives through the familiar streets, her heart sinks as she realizes that the massive manufacturing job losses among her old Polish Catholic neighbors has changed the xenophobic community for the worse; unpainted houses, deferred maintenance of roofs and gardens, abandoned businesses and empty lots. However, the poverty only depresses her, but what sets her teeth grinding is seeing evidence everywhere that for this community, 1950's values have never been discredited. Wives are still second-class citizens and housemaids, daughters are raised to know their place is providing cleanliness, housewife skills and obedience, and getting an education is discouraged as being against the edicts of God for women. V.I. can barely control her rage and disgust.
Carolyn's request is that she wants to find out who her father is. Her mother, Louisa, is dying of cancer, and she refuses to tell her daughter anything about the circumstances about the pregnancy and the subsequent rupture of her relationship with her, Louisa's, parents, who threw Louisa into the streets at age 15 upon learning of her pregnancy. V.I.'s distaste at becoming involved with anything to do with her childhood friends is so great she'd rather put out her own eyes than take this case, but once again, the memory of V.I.'s dead mother, Gabriella, haunts her into compliance with Carolyn's desire.
Unexpectedly, in following up on gossip about who Louisa was dating, V.I. hits a wall of hostility, suspicion and lying. Curious, she digs further into the chemical company the two possible fathers worked for, which leads to a politician and union leader, an industrial doctor, a mob boss, a workman's compensation insurance provider, and the neighborhood's wealthiest investor - all of whom become very nervous at her mundane questions. For the first time, V.I. wants to solve this mystery, even after Carolyn reverses herself and tries to fire the stubborn P.I.
Every rock that V.I. turns over seems to lead to an ever-growing pile of evidence of a cover-up and corruption - but what? One thing for sure, the threats and escalating attacks against her quickly lead V.I. to the startling awareness that in starting this investigation, she must now finish it - or she will be killed.
This is one THRILLING book! I couldn't put it down! V.I. Warshawski faces her most PTSD-inducing case in the series so far and manages to dig up a lot of information on her own past, both of which promise to give her nightmares for a long time.
V.I. would rather drive into hell than go back to her old Chicago neighborhood, but a pleading request from a childhood friend, Carolyn Djiak, during a charity basketball game for her old high school forces her to submit to her conscience and give in. As she drives through the familiar streets, her heart sinks as she realizes that the massive manufacturing job losses among her old Polish Catholic neighbors has changed the xenophobic community for the worse; unpainted houses, deferred maintenance of roofs and gardens, abandoned businesses and empty lots. However, the poverty only depresses her, but what sets her teeth grinding is seeing evidence everywhere that for this community, 1950's values have never been discredited. Wives are still second-class citizens and housemaids, daughters are raised to know their place is providing cleanliness, housewife skills and obedience, and getting an education is discouraged as being against the edicts of God for women. V.I. can barely control her rage and disgust.
Carolyn's request is that she wants to find out who her father is. Her mother, Louisa, is dying of cancer, and she refuses to tell her daughter anything about the circumstances about the pregnancy and the subsequent rupture of her relationship with her, Louisa's, parents, who threw Louisa into the streets at age 15 upon learning of her pregnancy. V.I.'s distaste at becoming involved with anything to do with her childhood friends is so great she'd rather put out her own eyes than take this case, but once again, the memory of V.I.'s dead mother, Gabriella, haunts her into compliance with Carolyn's desire.
Unexpectedly, in following up on gossip about who Louisa was dating, V.I. hits a wall of hostility, suspicion and lying. Curious, she digs further into the chemical company the two possible fathers worked for, which leads to a politician and union leader, an industrial doctor, a mob boss, a workman's compensation insurance provider, and the neighborhood's wealthiest investor - all of whom become very nervous at her mundane questions. For the first time, V.I. wants to solve this mystery, even after Carolyn reverses herself and tries to fire the stubborn P.I.
Every rock that V.I. turns over seems to lead to an ever-growing pile of evidence of a cover-up and corruption - but what? One thing for sure, the threats and escalating attacks against her quickly lead V.I. to the startling awareness that in starting this investigation, she must now finish it - or she will be killed.
May 25, 2024
3.5* Another above-average detective novel and a solid addition to the series. I am, however, noticed a very distinctive pattern to the structure of these novels which, in my experience, can ultimately dull the reader's response to the story. I will certainly read at least a few more in the series to see if this pattern predictably recurs.
November 12, 2025
Great story. V.I. agrees to find out who Caroline’s father is after visiting her dying mother Louisa. A routine missing-persons case quickly escalates to a homicide; and Warshawski must battle corrupt local politicians and businessmen, who do all they can to stop her investigation.
The investigation uncovers corruption and a nasty surprise of who is Louise’s father. The homicide is her friend Nancy who is murdered while investigating why a permit for a solvent recycling facility was rejected V.I. realizes something is fishy after recovering some of Nancy’s paperwork.
There is a deadly combination of chemical corruption and insurance fraud. Humboldt the octogenarian owner of a chemical conglomerate worth billions is mixed up in the mess. V.I. escapes death from the dead stick pond an actual real location in Chicago and a lot cleaner today.
Her old neighbor Mr Contreras is once again looking after Peppy and cooking her meals. Lotty the doctor is tending her injuries and telling her not to put herself in danger. Good luck with that!
The final confrontation between an undercover boss and corrupt alderman becomes a shootout. I especially liked Ms Chigwell a 79 stubborn and strong 79 year old.
The investigation uncovers corruption and a nasty surprise of who is Louise’s father. The homicide is her friend Nancy who is murdered while investigating why a permit for a solvent recycling facility was rejected V.I. realizes something is fishy after recovering some of Nancy’s paperwork.
There is a deadly combination of chemical corruption and insurance fraud. Humboldt the octogenarian owner of a chemical conglomerate worth billions is mixed up in the mess. V.I. escapes death from the dead stick pond an actual real location in Chicago and a lot cleaner today.
Her old neighbor Mr Contreras is once again looking after Peppy and cooking her meals. Lotty the doctor is tending her injuries and telling her not to put herself in danger. Good luck with that!
The final confrontation between an undercover boss and corrupt alderman becomes a shootout. I especially liked Ms Chigwell a 79 stubborn and strong 79 year old.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 15, 2015
Once again, Private Detective V.I. Warshawski stumbles and bumbles around Chicago trying to solve cases with limited success. She never seems to learn anything, and neither do the police, especially Lt. Bobby Mallory. From one book to another, the characters make the same stupid mistakes, never learning from any of them.
This novel, and the other V.I. Warshawski novels are written very much like 1950’s-era noir detective novels where the detective makes a lot of wise cracks while stumbling from one event to another and making the police look like fools. A “real” detective should have enough between the ears to figure some things out before being hit in the face with them. For V.I. Warshawski, wise cracks are a substitute for analysis, planning and critical thinking. These books make me think about what it would look like if the Keystone Kops met the Three Stooges.
Warshawski has a gun which she is licensed to carry. Presumably, she has been trained in the use of that gun. Yet, she consistently leaves the gun at home, especially at times when you would think that she would know enough to carry it with her. Because of this bias against carrying her weapon, Warshawski is nearly killed in every story the author writes. She gets beat up, almost drowned, shot at, and she never figures out that having a license to carry a gun in a dangerous occupation is a good reason for her to carry that gun. She also uses a shoulder holster, or no holster at all. She frequently shoves the gun into her waistband where she can accidentally shoot herself rather than to obtain an inside- or outside-the-waistband holster to use when the shoulder holster is not feasible. In fact, Warshawski gets beat up so much that I am beginning to believe that there might be a thread of masochism running through all of the stories.
Warshawski is less than 40 years old. She exercises regularly, including running and working out at home. She watches her diet and is, presumably, very fit. Yet, she seems to be in such poor physical condition that she frequently collapses from exhaustion. She falls asleep while talking to others and exhibits the physical characteristics of a 90 year-old woman. She whines constantly about being weak, tired or exhausted. What’s up with that? Why does she seem to have no stamina? She seems to have some sort of “sleeping sickness.” No matter how much sleep she gets, she has trouble staying awake long enough to get through the plot.
On page #154 Warshawski tells us: “I don’t make a habit of carrying a gun -- if you do, you get dependent on them and your wits slow down …” Does she believe, then, that police officers are slow witted? After all, they carry guns. This statement represents the absolute rubbish that is used to explain why Warshawski often leaves her gun behind even when she steps into dangerous situations after being threatened, and even attacked.
On page # 218 Warshawski sticks her Smith & Wesson into her jeans, but is then apparently allowed into a police station where she looks at suspects in a lineup. The police do not require her to leave her loaded gun in a safe place. On top of that, after Warshawski shoots two men and the police arrive, her gun is not confiscated and held for evidence.
We know that Warshawski occasionally stays with her friend, Dr. Charlotte (Lotty) Herschel. On one of these occasions, described on P. 274, she decides to load a second “clip” for her gun and stick it in her jacket pocket. She does not explain why she refers to magazines as clips, why she has a second, empty, magazine with her, why it is empty, or how and where she obtained the ammunition with which to load it at her friend’s home.
The end of the story is unsatisfying. Loose ends are left dangling. We are never told, for example, whether the people who murdered her friend Nancy, and who tried to murder Warshawski, herself, are ever brought to justice. The small fish seem to routinely get caught by the police while the big sharks seem to swim away unharmed in this author’s novels. It is a pattern that is repeated in all of her works that I have read so far. The top bosses of the evil bad guys seem never to be brought to justice.
This is the fifth V.I. Warshawski novel that I have finished reading. They are becoming tedious and repetitive. I would not recommend this book, and I won’t be reading any more of the series. 1 Star
This novel, and the other V.I. Warshawski novels are written very much like 1950’s-era noir detective novels where the detective makes a lot of wise cracks while stumbling from one event to another and making the police look like fools. A “real” detective should have enough between the ears to figure some things out before being hit in the face with them. For V.I. Warshawski, wise cracks are a substitute for analysis, planning and critical thinking. These books make me think about what it would look like if the Keystone Kops met the Three Stooges.
Warshawski has a gun which she is licensed to carry. Presumably, she has been trained in the use of that gun. Yet, she consistently leaves the gun at home, especially at times when you would think that she would know enough to carry it with her. Because of this bias against carrying her weapon, Warshawski is nearly killed in every story the author writes. She gets beat up, almost drowned, shot at, and she never figures out that having a license to carry a gun in a dangerous occupation is a good reason for her to carry that gun. She also uses a shoulder holster, or no holster at all. She frequently shoves the gun into her waistband where she can accidentally shoot herself rather than to obtain an inside- or outside-the-waistband holster to use when the shoulder holster is not feasible. In fact, Warshawski gets beat up so much that I am beginning to believe that there might be a thread of masochism running through all of the stories.
Warshawski is less than 40 years old. She exercises regularly, including running and working out at home. She watches her diet and is, presumably, very fit. Yet, she seems to be in such poor physical condition that she frequently collapses from exhaustion. She falls asleep while talking to others and exhibits the physical characteristics of a 90 year-old woman. She whines constantly about being weak, tired or exhausted. What’s up with that? Why does she seem to have no stamina? She seems to have some sort of “sleeping sickness.” No matter how much sleep she gets, she has trouble staying awake long enough to get through the plot.
On page #154 Warshawski tells us: “I don’t make a habit of carrying a gun -- if you do, you get dependent on them and your wits slow down …” Does she believe, then, that police officers are slow witted? After all, they carry guns. This statement represents the absolute rubbish that is used to explain why Warshawski often leaves her gun behind even when she steps into dangerous situations after being threatened, and even attacked.
On page # 218 Warshawski sticks her Smith & Wesson into her jeans, but is then apparently allowed into a police station where she looks at suspects in a lineup. The police do not require her to leave her loaded gun in a safe place. On top of that, after Warshawski shoots two men and the police arrive, her gun is not confiscated and held for evidence.
We know that Warshawski occasionally stays with her friend, Dr. Charlotte (Lotty) Herschel. On one of these occasions, described on P. 274, she decides to load a second “clip” for her gun and stick it in her jacket pocket. She does not explain why she refers to magazines as clips, why she has a second, empty, magazine with her, why it is empty, or how and where she obtained the ammunition with which to load it at her friend’s home.
The end of the story is unsatisfying. Loose ends are left dangling. We are never told, for example, whether the people who murdered her friend Nancy, and who tried to murder Warshawski, herself, are ever brought to justice. The small fish seem to routinely get caught by the police while the big sharks seem to swim away unharmed in this author’s novels. It is a pattern that is repeated in all of her works that I have read so far. The top bosses of the evil bad guys seem never to be brought to justice.
This is the fifth V.I. Warshawski novel that I have finished reading. They are becoming tedious and repetitive. I would not recommend this book, and I won’t be reading any more of the series. 1 Star
December 28, 2009
This is one of the earleir V. I. Warshawski novels by Sara Paretsky. It is quite good and a good example of the quality of her series.
One reason I liked this better than some of the books is that Vic is drawn book to her roots in the old South Chicago neighborhood she was raised in. Now, she is seeing the past through adult eyes.
Caroline, a family friend since Vic was eleven years old, has asked her to find out who her father was. Her mother was a single parent, and never revealed it to her daughter. A bit reluctant at Caroline's manipulative behavior, V. I. nevertheless begins to poke around.
Unfortunately for her, some politicians with plenty to hide do not beleive she is poking around South Chicago for such an innocent fact. They feel this is a cover story for her real investigation. They have plenty to hide, and are willing to use almost any means to stop anyone asking too many questions.....
Fast paced; a good read; with some excellent background material about Vic and her parents. No unusual plot twists--rather, like most real investigations the information is discovered bit by careful bit.
For those who have not read this series at all, I would recommend it as an excellent place to start. Each of the books in this series is complete on its own, and may be read in any order.
Recommended for fans of mysteries, especially if you like strong female characters.
One reason I liked this better than some of the books is that Vic is drawn book to her roots in the old South Chicago neighborhood she was raised in. Now, she is seeing the past through adult eyes.
Caroline, a family friend since Vic was eleven years old, has asked her to find out who her father was. Her mother was a single parent, and never revealed it to her daughter. A bit reluctant at Caroline's manipulative behavior, V. I. nevertheless begins to poke around.
Unfortunately for her, some politicians with plenty to hide do not beleive she is poking around South Chicago for such an innocent fact. They feel this is a cover story for her real investigation. They have plenty to hide, and are willing to use almost any means to stop anyone asking too many questions.....
Fast paced; a good read; with some excellent background material about Vic and her parents. No unusual plot twists--rather, like most real investigations the information is discovered bit by careful bit.
For those who have not read this series at all, I would recommend it as an excellent place to start. Each of the books in this series is complete on its own, and may be read in any order.
Recommended for fans of mysteries, especially if you like strong female characters.
November 2, 2017
2017 reread: While some aspects of this 5th entry of the Warshawski series are slightly dated, overall it remains an exciting PI story. Paretsky creates a great sense of place with her descriptions of various parts of Chicago, especially the economically struggling South Side.
I found that even though I recalled some aspects of the story from my previous reading (20 or so years ago), much of the story took me by surprise, making this a more exciting read than I had expected.
I found that even though I recalled some aspects of the story from my previous reading (20 or so years ago), much of the story took me by surprise, making this a more exciting read than I had expected.
August 8, 2017
Blood Shot begins with Victoria Warshawski going back to her old neighborhood in South Chicago. The mystery which sets up the story has to do with identifying and finding the biological father of a childhood friend, but it is set in the midst of a decaying community which has already been the victim of pollution and very much bears the scars of greed and abuse. The answer to that mystery is telegraphed very early such that Blood Shot would be very unsatisfying if that were all there was to the story. But the story has multiple strands, fascinating characters, and complex relationships to keep the reader going—especially since one of those interesting characters is murdered, drowning while unconscious in a wetland so polluted it might as well have been known as PCB Pond (although Dead Stick Pond may be even more colorful).
The murder mystery comes off better than the unidentified person mystery. There are more suspects and hence, more possible “red herrings” for the reader to discover. And, there is the classic trope of the private investigator, warned off from several directions, plunging into danger regardless (and, inevitably, putting other people in danger, as well). There are caricatures of social activists who have been victimized by their own naivete. So, the interactions with these characters offer a tremendous satisfaction in terms of struggling against an avalanche of injustice in attempting to find some justice. This seemed very satisfying to me.
Recently, taking the train on a round trip to and from a small town near Pittsburgh, I had both an evening and morning view of the area being described. Author Sara Paretsky has always been able to describe parts of Chicago so that even her fictitious venues seem right. Xerxes Chemical is a fabrication but one would almost expect to see it with its pipes propped atop greasy scaffolding and its concrete dock beside the Calumet. It was perfect for a frightening and dramatic scene, just as an early scene in an alderman’s office was perfect for showing the relationship between the minions of a stereotypical Chicago politician and said politician’s son while, at the same time, showing how ward politics actually work.
Blood Shot does a great job of balancing personal and environmental relationships. In spite of the fact that Blood Shot begins with a rather mundane problem and regardless of the relative transparency of the motive for the eventual murder which ties the story together, Blood Shot is an intriguing and satisfying story.
The murder mystery comes off better than the unidentified person mystery. There are more suspects and hence, more possible “red herrings” for the reader to discover. And, there is the classic trope of the private investigator, warned off from several directions, plunging into danger regardless (and, inevitably, putting other people in danger, as well). There are caricatures of social activists who have been victimized by their own naivete. So, the interactions with these characters offer a tremendous satisfaction in terms of struggling against an avalanche of injustice in attempting to find some justice. This seemed very satisfying to me.
Recently, taking the train on a round trip to and from a small town near Pittsburgh, I had both an evening and morning view of the area being described. Author Sara Paretsky has always been able to describe parts of Chicago so that even her fictitious venues seem right. Xerxes Chemical is a fabrication but one would almost expect to see it with its pipes propped atop greasy scaffolding and its concrete dock beside the Calumet. It was perfect for a frightening and dramatic scene, just as an early scene in an alderman’s office was perfect for showing the relationship between the minions of a stereotypical Chicago politician and said politician’s son while, at the same time, showing how ward politics actually work.
Blood Shot does a great job of balancing personal and environmental relationships. In spite of the fact that Blood Shot begins with a rather mundane problem and regardless of the relative transparency of the motive for the eventual murder which ties the story together, Blood Shot is an intriguing and satisfying story.
April 6, 2016
This is not quite as obvious of a mystery, but her interpersonal relationships are still totally unbelievable. I’m mad at myself for wasting so much of my time, and completely amazed that anyone sees anything in these.
June 14, 2017
I usually finish mysteries within 5-10 Days. But this book was a slow read. The last sixty pages are suspenceful. This is not one of Sara PRetsky's best.
October 16, 2024
Another case, another social evil. V.I Warshawski is asked by an old childhood friend to identify and track down her unknown father. While talking another childhood friend turns up…there are machinations in local politics blocking a community recycling plant. We know we are reading a detective novel and therefore expect these two plot suggestions to come together. And when the second friend is murdered, we know they will come together. If Warshawski knew she was a character in a detective novel she would be much quicker off the mark. There is a convoluted plot that covers violence and murder and corruption and the cover up of industrial death, but it is all strangely comforting. Warshawski and her usual buddies are a nice bunch – it’s nice to spend time with them. Those behind misdeeds are bad people…and they are finally thwarted. There’s a character who seems nice, but turns out not to be…but that doesn’t shake the nice/nasty dichotomy. Finally the world is put to rights. This is the fifth in the series and the fifth I’ve read and I’m getting a bit dubious about them…but I still enjoyed it and will probably move on to the next.
Maybe Chicago should be mentioned. I don't know the city, but I presume the Warshawski books are geographically consistent with the city and I expect the locales hold connotations that I miss. At the least, the continual mention of locale gives the novels a sense of detail or realism...in the same way that Warshawski telling us what she is having for every meal adds to the texture of the narrative. And with a series of books, Chicago is a developing character, the old industries crumbling, a new financial industry gaining importance. I can recognise this having lived for nearly 40 years in a city that has undergone industrial decline, although hasn't had financial sector growth.
Maybe Chicago should be mentioned. I don't know the city, but I presume the Warshawski books are geographically consistent with the city and I expect the locales hold connotations that I miss. At the least, the continual mention of locale gives the novels a sense of detail or realism...in the same way that Warshawski telling us what she is having for every meal adds to the texture of the narrative. And with a series of books, Chicago is a developing character, the old industries crumbling, a new financial industry gaining importance. I can recognise this having lived for nearly 40 years in a city that has undergone industrial decline, although hasn't had financial sector growth.
July 13, 2021
Blood shot by Sara Paretsky is the 5th book in the V.I. Warshawski detective series. Private investigator V.I. Warshawski is hired by a childhood friend to find her father, but finds herself investigating the murder of an enviromental activist friend and corruption at a chemical factory. V.I. is as tough and capable as always and I love her tenacity and loyalty to her friends. Plenty of action and danger and situations where she just manages to scrape through. A terrific addition to the series.
March 23, 2025
Exciting, dramatic and full of righteous anger at those who abuse and exploit others.
Very clear comparison of the peace, quiet and comfort money can buy compared to the grit and grime of the south side.
Some interesting exploration of those who do and those who don't leave their South Side working class routes, and some prescient stuff about a kind of "activism envy."
Also some wise words about how one person can't heal the whole world and "only megalomaniacs" think they can.
Very clear comparison of the peace, quiet and comfort money can buy compared to the grit and grime of the south side.
Some interesting exploration of those who do and those who don't leave their South Side working class routes, and some prescient stuff about a kind of "activism envy."
Also some wise words about how one person can't heal the whole world and "only megalomaniacs" think they can.
August 13, 2019
This one was really good and the introduction of post-Washington Chicago politics and industry decline was much appreciated.
November 14, 2022
Fast paced and keeps the reader guessing all the way through. By this point in the series, the reader is familiar with the characters and setting, so the plot of this one is a wild ride.
Read
June 27, 2023I forgot what can make these books wearing - it's almost an endless description of people leaving phone messages for each other
November 11, 2025
I enjoyed this one! Perhaps less complicated/involved but very solid and readable
June 30, 2019
This has not been my favorite of the series. The ending was very soft and wonder if another book may be coming with some of the characters.
January 21, 2023
These books are getting better with each installment. While trying to learn the identity of her childhood neighbor's father, V.I. stumbles upon a much bigger mystery.
September 11, 2024
This is such a good series. Mysteries are good. Characters are good. Chapters have names.
What more can a reader ask for?
What more can a reader ask for?
February 24, 2021
I think I wanted to enjoy this more. This is the first V.I. Warshawski book I’ve read and I suppose I was expecting more than an everyday hard boiled P.I. with a few quirks (she plays piano and calls her parents by their first names) written in that Chandlerish style but who happens to be a woman. The “being a woman” part didn’t make this distinctive enough from dozens of other detectives and hundreds of other detective novels. The writing felt too episodic, like an RPG or a “build your own adventure” - go here and the character will tell you this etc. Plus, considering the amount of action, the whole book felt very slow.
So, for me, it was competent but not in any way exceptional.
So, for me, it was competent but not in any way exceptional.
July 4, 2014
Blood shot is book five in the Sara Paretsky’s V. I. Warshawski series. V.I. is an attorney turned private investigator in Chicago. In this book Paretsky gives us a tour of Chicago with all the sights, sounds, smells and history of Chicago’s South side. This book was written in 1989 when computers were just starting to be common place but cell phones were rare and expensive. V.I. is hunting for phone booths while searching for change and is using a word processor in her office. Vic returns to the South side to her high school basketball team’s 20th re-union of winning the championship as the current team is on the brink of winning. Carolyn who had lived next door to Vic wants her to find out who her father was. Carolyn’s mother is dying of kidney cancer. She had worked all her life at the local Xerxine plant. In hunting for men her mother knew from work Vic finds many have died of kidney or liver cancer and discovers how toxic Xerxine is. The author juggles wisecracks, tenderness, and grit in a fast pace action filled story. Paretsky always has created great characters and this book is no exception. The book has a great plot and numerous sub plots that keep the readers on their toes. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible Susan Ericksen does an excellent job narrating the book.
December 31, 2019
WOW. I really enjoyed this outing by Sara Paretsky's bull-headed Chicago private eye V.I. Warshawski, even staying up til almost 1 a.m. to finish it. I liked the first few novels Paretsky wrote about her opera-singing, cop-baiting tough cookie, but this one was the best so far.
Warshawski grew up in South Chicago, and a rare return to her roots for a basketball game leads to a request from an old frenemy for a favor: Find out who her father was. The frenemy's mom, who is dying, refuses to help because, she says, the dad was a baddie. But Warshawski starts poking around anyway, and ends up stirring up a real mess involving toxic waste, insurance fraud, political favors, financial malfeasance and some even uglier stuff than that. Before it's over, one person is murdered and Warshawski is very nearly becomes a second victim. But she toughs it out very believably to see the case through to its astonishing conclusion.
There are some standout scenes in this book, and the plot twists and turns in ways that were both believable and yet not forseeable. My one small complaint was that there are so many characters that a couple of times I lost track of who Warshawski was talking to or about and had to backtrack. Other than that, though, this is a terrific read and I can't wait to get to the next book in the series.
Warshawski grew up in South Chicago, and a rare return to her roots for a basketball game leads to a request from an old frenemy for a favor: Find out who her father was. The frenemy's mom, who is dying, refuses to help because, she says, the dad was a baddie. But Warshawski starts poking around anyway, and ends up stirring up a real mess involving toxic waste, insurance fraud, political favors, financial malfeasance and some even uglier stuff than that. Before it's over, one person is murdered and Warshawski is very nearly becomes a second victim. But she toughs it out very believably to see the case through to its astonishing conclusion.
There are some standout scenes in this book, and the plot twists and turns in ways that were both believable and yet not forseeable. My one small complaint was that there are so many characters that a couple of times I lost track of who Warshawski was talking to or about and had to backtrack. Other than that, though, this is a terrific read and I can't wait to get to the next book in the series.
February 6, 2017
Each time I'm midway through a VI book I get this feeling that that one is better than the one that came before, and I can't tell if it's just because the story is new and fresh and I'm in it, or if it actually is better; hopefully a bit of both. The first two thirds of the book are really engrossing and scary and fun, but once ish goes down in the Xerxes plant, the way the loose ends get or don't get tied up in the end felt pretty weak. It reminded me of taking a lot of time to write a paper, starting eagerly and early and really going to town on it for the bigger part of it, but then abandoning it for some time and writing the conclusion in an all-nighter haze, trying to finish before a deadline. I felt this way especially concerning the whole arc with Caroline, it was just so eh. What didn't aid this at all was plainly bad dialogue towards the end, and not like good bad in a crime story way, but bad bad. I'd also hoped for some more cop sexy-timez but what are you gonna do.
January 6, 2014
Fifth entry in a mystery series occurring in Chicago in the 1980s. Loved seeing the protagonist complain about the clubs and hearing about locations and conditions that no longer occur in the Loop.
While some plot devices are now irrelevant, a person leaving two messages with your answering service, which you don't receive until after they are dead; the story itself kept me reading nonstop. I almost broke the cardinal rule of kindle reading and skipped ahead to the end, so I could taste the cup of Warshawski's victory early.
I haven't read a bad novel in this series yet.
While some plot devices are now irrelevant, a person leaving two messages with your answering service, which you don't receive until after they are dead; the story itself kept me reading nonstop. I almost broke the cardinal rule of kindle reading and skipped ahead to the end, so I could taste the cup of Warshawski's victory early.
I haven't read a bad novel in this series yet.
September 14, 2025
It was 20 years since I last read this book. I really liked this because the plot was not simple or obvious. The supporting characters in V.I.'s life weren't as annoying either as in the later books. This was not a quick read, which was also nice!
...Aand I re-read this now, in 2025, having forgotten the plot completely. Still enjoyed reading this!
...Aand I re-read this now, in 2025, having forgotten the plot completely. Still enjoyed reading this!
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