Burn Marks

V.I. Warshawski #6

by Sara Paretsky

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Another triumph for Ms. Paretsky, her most captivating novel yet . . . V.I. herself [is] undoubtedly one of the best-written characters in mystery fiction.”—The Baltimore SunSomeone knocking on the door at 3 A.M. is never good news. For V.I. Warshawski, the bad news arrives in the form of her wacky, unwelcome aunt Elena. The fire that has just burned down a sleazy SRO hotel has brought Elena to V.I.’s doorstep. Uncovering an arsonist—and the secrets hidden behind Elena’s boozy smile—will send V.I. into the seedy world of Chicago’s homeless . . . into the Windy City’s backroom deals and bedroom politics, where new schemers and old cronies team up to get V.I. off the case—by hook, by crook, or by homicide.“One gritty good read . . . V.I. is a worthy heir to Marlowe!”—Daily News (New York)

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Detective, Audiobook

404 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1990

About the author

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).

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I vividly recall seeing the cover for this book when I started reading the series. I had asked for a bunch for Christmas after I read the first two, and this sat on my shelf for weeks as I had a few other books in front of it, plus we couldn't find book 4 for a long time. And I refused to read this one, book 6, until I caught up. Burn Marks by Sara Paretsky will not let you down.

It is full of action, starting with the opening pages. How would you react if the relative you really didn't want to deal with, but loved, showed up telling you that you owed her a favor? And you couldn't remember why... probably because it wasn't true... but when it's family, sometimes you just have to go with it.



Aunt Elena is a hoot. She is what VI could turn into if she isn't careful. But the whole story is a good challenge. You get lots of clues, some of which you don't know how to handle, and in the end, it all fits together. And you also want to shake Elena until she starts being clear and honest.

Though the cover is plain, it seemed so mysterious to me... called out to the old-time detective story and makes you very curious. Plus, I was always curious what happens in a fire; this helps explain a lot of the technical details in an easy-to-understand manner. And Paretsky is really strong at bringing to the forefront the pertinent details so it is educational in a way you don't expect. It's one of the better ones in the series, but don't take my word for it. Go out and see!



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.

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 6 in the V.I. Warshawski series and as it was first published in 1990 it is showing its age. (I can identify with that although I was around quite a bit before 1990!) This is a great series but not one to binge read as it would definitely feel repetitive if the books were read closely after each other. Sara Paretsky had a real formula going at the time she wrote these books and they only differ in the case she is trying to solve. Vic leads an identical life in each one with the same friends and always the same confrontational attitude. So I am spacing them out a bit and thoroughly enjoying each one. Burn Marks is exciting, action packed and a quick and easy read.

[Obsidian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been told by many of my friends that once I got to "Burn Marks" I would love VI Warshawski. Since these books have been hit or miss with me I thought my friends were full of it. Happily, they were not.

"Burn Marks" delves once more into Victoria's messed up family. Her father's sister, Elena (who we have not heard of until now) is a barely functional alcoholic. She pops up on Victoria's doorstep at 3 am looking for a place to stay since the room she had in a single room occupancy (SRO) building caught on fire leaving her homeless. Victoria calls on her uncle (who sucks by the way) to help her out, but it looks like Victoria may be stuck with her aunt for sometime. Then her aunt shows up again with a friend who needs help saying that her baby died in the fire. Couple this with the fact that Victoria keeps getting warned off looking into a friend of hers background spells danger for Victoria.

Victoria is 37 in this one and feeling her age a bit. She's realized that kids and another husband are not in the cards for her. What I like though, is that it doesn't bother her at all. What made me laugh a bit about this book is that Victoria really doesn't want to be involved with looking into what her old friend is up to. But people keep acting like asses to her so she perversely decides to figure out what is going on. And for long time readers they know that Victoria is a feminist and went to school with like minded women. And the blow back she gets about not being there for women when she starts looking into what her friends is getting into felt raw and real. I love the line that she throws out that being a feminist does not mean just letting some other woman walk all over her and or turn a blind eye to whatever she's up to.

She also has a lot of guys thrown at her in this one, but resists a godson of Bobby's that is also on the police force. She realizes that her need to be independent will never work with his need to just have a woman sit there and be pretty.

And man oh man, I love that Victoria and Bobby once and for all have it out in this one. I really loathed this character (Bobby) for 6 books. His dismissing Victoria and always blaming her for being in danger (if she just get married and have kids, none of this would happen) finally hits a point that Victoria has to decide whether it is wise to even be in his life anymore.

We have appearances by Lotty and Mr. Contreras. I am really tired of the character of Mr. Contreras. Seriously. I have a bad feeling he is going to be in the rest of the books and I need him to go away.

I did laugh about the budding war between Victoria and her downstairs neighbor due to her and her late night visitors.

The writing in this one was really good and the flow worked very well. This book touches upon feminism, race, Chicago politics, etc. I can honestly say that I was wondering how everything was going to tie up in the end, but it does work wonderfully. I do wonder if Elena is going to pop up in any other books or not.

The ending left Victoria I think with finally getting some much needed respect from the police force. I do wonder though what is going to happen in the next book. Can't wait to read it.

[Larry Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Find myself in 2025 trying to go through this entire series in the audible format in order. I’m finding it a little difficult to go through these books back to back to back without much rest in between. It seems to take a little of the shine off of them And shows some of the weak points. VI breaks the law. That was always obvious, but it was mostly breaking and entering and the use of her picks to get through doors. She kills somebody with her gun in this book and says that it is the first time she has ever done that. This book has a little too much violence for my taste and far too much aggressive, communication and shouting and arguing. So far I had bumped all of the books up to five stars but this one I am leaving at four because I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Usually when you read a series, there is a reasonable amount of time between books as the episodes come out gradually. This one was published in 1990.
_______________________
I seem to be going through this Paretsky series once again 10 years later. This time in the audible format, which is a different experience from when I read it for the first time in print. I am not going through it in order, and I am not quite enjoying it as much as I think that I did the first time around. However, the audible version is mostly presented by the same person who does a very good job. That definitely adds some thing. Significance to my experience of the books. I am going through a pretty good clump of VI. Warshawski books now, and I have another significant number lined up in my list of audible books that I might not get to for another year. The books have a lot of similarities bills into them, which is probably not surprising, considering it is the same author. Reading to many of them back to back can take away a little bit of their entertainment and suspense value. VI. Faces death at least once in each book but since you know, there is always the next book in the series, you can be assured that she will somehow make it out alive as improbable as that may seem.
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I ran across the word “aeon” in a book I just finished and then again in a book that I just started. Both spelled in this British way rather than the more common “eon”. I considered that a sign. Both books were published in 1990 and I thought that cinched it. I should move into the current era and stop considering that 1990 represents “current” in any way.

Learned an important bit of information from our heroine, Ms. Warshawski , that expanded my horizons: In 1990 in Chicago you could get $90 from a cash machine. I hadn’t even been introduced to cash machines in 1990 and all the machines I have known since then have dealt solely in twenty dollar bills. Shows what you can learn reading books eons (or aeons) old.

V.I. Warshawski is your average thirty-seven year old, divorced, self-employed private investigator, former public defender. Laundry, jogging, dog, third floor walkup, Cubs fan, an occasional date, an occasional attempt on her life. Normal stuff of life. Her big money case in this book is investigating the arson of an old residential hotel for the insurance company. She is also trying to help an idiosyncratic aunt, to check out the apparent overdose death of a young woman junkie and to look into some potentially crooked politics. In her spare time, her life is complicated by the hopeful amorous attentions of several men.

Ms. Warshawski’s experiences and dilemmas range from the improbable to the impossible. In this book she is locked in a burning, abandoned building with her elderly aunt. She escapes in a manner that is thrilling and leaps off the page of the book but is certainly out of the range of reality. After this life threatening event in which she is badly injured, she is back on the case within days performing additional feats of daring-do. She should be the star of a super heroine comic book. But I read on in spite of my apathy about super powers. V.I. with all of her unlikeliness has captured me!

V.I. breaks into the offices of a construction company in a scenario shows the age of the book. She climbs a telephone poll that has the spikes to allow a phone company worker to clamber up the poll. I remember those from fifty or more years ago, but by the time I was tall enough to reach the bottom rung, I didn’t want to climb the poll any more. No bucket trucks yet in 1990. And having broken into the office V.I. sees an apparently abandoned Apollo computer, a brand from a 1980s company. From 1980 to 1987, Apollo was the largest manufacturer of network workstations.

A Smith & Wesson is Warshawski’s weapon of choice but she normally keeps it locked in a safe in her apartment. She gets it out, loads it and carries it when she thinks she is going into a very dangerous place. She gets it out, loads it and uses it in Burn Marks.

She might not always be so wise in picking her friends and lovers:

My stomach twisted some more. He couldn’t have tried to blow me up. We’d never been in love, but we’d been lovers for a brief sweet time. Can you want to think of a body you’ve caressed torn into ragged chunks of bleeding bones? Or did my rebuff make him want to see me so?

Dum-da-dum-dum, dum-da-dum-dum-DAAA

Sara Paretsky continues to put out a series that I want to keep reading. It is tamer at times than a lot of mystery thrillers you will find. But it definitely has sections of high drama and intensity as it builds toward a conclusion. I like Warshawski’s feminist, left leaning politics that come out occasionally. I look forward to watching our wonder woman gradually age as the series advances from year to year. And of course she defies death – she is the lead character in a series. She can’t die!

Small bits of humor throughout and a few allusions to sex:

Robin agreed, somewhat unwillingly. It was perhaps the hope of dinner – et cetera – with me that made him agree at all. I was going to have to build up my strength and get over a lot of wounds before I was in the humor for much et cetera.

Four stars for a fun and enjoyable read. A little out of date, but what the heck. As Murray, the newspaper reporter said, “You go back to bed, kid. Once more Wonder Woman saves the city. Go to sleep.” V.I. has two years to rest up for her next big adventure in book #7 with her golden retriever and her 78 year old downstairs neighbor.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

V.I. Warshawski has jumped into the fire again but this time it was literal at one point! I thoroughly enjoy the characters in this series and another wacky one or two have entered the picture. Vic's Aunt Elena is one and the catalyst for the action that ensues. As a living paycheck to paycheck Private Investigator, she takes on a case of arson for the insurance company which soon is entangled in a web of corporate graft, political machinations and murder. There is a love-hate relationship with some members of Chicago's finest and it comes to a head in this installment. Some eyes may finally be opened about their archaic thinking of a woman's role in society among the boys in blue. Maybe.

There are some unbelievable moments at times where V.I. appears to be superhuman, some funny, LOL moments, dated items (she has to make all her calls from pay phones when out in the field), and some touching moments also. I think I'll name my next dog Peppy!

[Eric Plume · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much as I hate to do it I've gotta give up on Sara Paretsky. Just as with her last few novels, I ended up defeated by the confused beginning and had to put it down before the mystery even got rolling. Paretsky spends too much time setting the scene before she gives the reader any clue what the book is about, a flaw I as a reader just can't get over. Which is a shame, as V.I. Warshawski is a compelling protagonist once the story finally gets rolling, at least in Hard Time (The one Paretsky novel I've been able to actually finish). 'Tis a shame.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, the truth is I gave this an extra star because V.I. Warshawski has a 'wacky' aunt and this book is all about her. I'm an aunt, and I'm getting wackier by the day, so I'm supporting the troops.

VI's aunt, Elena, is a drunk now, but before, when she was a teenager, Elena could not settle down into the path mapped out for her - high school graduation, marriage, kids and housework. Instead she runs away from home at age 16. Unlike myself, so far, she is a rebel without a cause, living off of an inherited pension in SRO hotels and some money given to her by a brother, VI's uncle, to stay out of his life, as well as occasional earnings of rather dubious sources. When she shows up at VI's condo in the middle of the night, she is stinking of sour beer with a story of woe. The cheap hotel she was living in has burned down, set on fire by an arsonist. VI is not feeling a bit sympathetic, but she reluctantly allows the woman one night to stay, mostly because her aunt has aroused the neighbors from sound sleeps, particularly a new neighbor, a tight-assed banker, Vinnie, who cannot contain his outrage. Adding to the pressure is Mr, Contreras, self-appointed grandfather, who is in reality a 77-year-old neighbor, living vicariously through VI's romances and cases, is standing in the hallway as well adding to the confusion.

The chaos is only beginning. After a great deal of leg work, phone calls and mostly a fruitless investigation, begun after a chance meeting with an official arson insurance investigator, Robin Bessinger, at the hotel, VI has many many many many many people mad at her, the police, her lovers old and new, her neighbors, her closest friends, even the janitor of the building where she has her office. Despite all of that, she turns up enough odd behaviors that her instincts tell her something is deadly wrong, and her aunt is right in the center of the arson. While pondering what it could all be about, a peculiar invitation to a political fundraiser by a candidate's running mate, a childhood friend, Marissa Duncan, that VI hasn't heard from in a long time, turns out to be an opportunity for her friend to give her an unusually ugly warning to let childhood secrets stay secret - but what secret? VI could not be more in the dark than if she had been lost in a cave!

Adding insult to injury, her car is literally grinding to a halt.

Stir in the aunt's disappearing again, the murder of a friend of Elena's, a mugging, a beating, and several slaps - and that's from the cops! - and even another arson - this one is designed to make 'Burn Marks' possibly VI's last case! Talk about being the walking wounded! No part of VI's body and heart is unbruised, no part of her psyche can be calmed. Her troubles cause her to lose ten pounds and me to lose two days of sleep reading.

Omg. Again.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

1990 doesn’t seem that long ago! V.I helps out her alcoholic Aunt Elena whose apartment building burns down and she ends up on her doorstep. This story is fast paced and delves into construction corruption in Chicago. The further she investigates the more she gets embroiled in the case with dodgy politicians and politicians. I was surprised to see a chapter called Not Donald Trump! Talk about prophetic.

The formula of the story is the same with V.I getting angry a lot and injured as well as escaping death on several occasions. Lotty is angry with her taking risks. Mr Contreras is angry she doesn’t take him along on her escapades even though he is 77. Peppy the golden retriever is angry she keeps getting injured and is unable to walk her. Murray the journalist is angry she never tells him the whole story. It is a common theme of her stories as well as picking the wrong boyfriends.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Bizarrely the policeman who is the murderer seems to get away with it. The high up corrupt politicians also don’t get prosecuted and V.I reconciles with Lieutenant Mallory who loses his rag with her. Aunt Elena survives and V.I buys a trans am.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn't connect with the main character. It was dragging me down, took me days to finish this one. The fact that I finished it is not because it was good but because I just can't keep a book unfinished.Thank God it's done. The phrase that came to my mind for Victoria warshawski, the private detective is " Bull in a china shop".
She has no skill and while she goes around burned out and knocked out and everything she expectsto be treated with courtesy and patience, which is good, but she herself doesn't treat anyone like that. To be frank the only saving grace this character had was how she was concerned for Elena.W hile I enjoyed some parts, most of it was Vick being a colossal pain and a fool.
Awful read.

[Milica · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite plots of the series, I feel like this kind of white collar crime gone mobster is where Paretsky thrives and she really hit her stride here. The only thing that gets somewhat tiring for me is the constant element of men telling her she shouldn't be doing what she's doing and living how she's living as it doesn't suit a woman, because sometimes it seems to banal to be believable, but I'm guessing that's how brazen it was in the 80s. Otherwise she's right on the ball. I loved the slight racial aspect of the story especially because I like it when she gets political, particularly as this came out in 1990 and I don't think you would expect a book like this to touch on those subjects as well.

[Nick Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book by Sara Paretsky, another case for V.I. Warshawski. This time it is about dirty property development and corruption in local politics. The Warshawski novels have a fairly clear format and they keep to it...although they are getting longer, which I don’t approve of: the golden rule of crime novels is that they should be 250 pages max. As in the previous one in the series, Warshawski isn’t thrown into a case, rather it sneaks up on her – events occur that don’t seem to be linked, but, of course, it turns out they are. And, because we know we are reading a crime novel, we expect them to be linked…as such, we are ahead of Warshawski. In Burn Marks Warshawski’s reprobate, alcoholic aunt is made homeless when of her rundown apartment building burns down. An old friend who is running for public office thinks Warshawski is plotting against her and some of her supporters begin to warn off Warshawski. Gradually Warshawski is drawn in, different plot strands become connected. But I wonder if this was your first Warshawski book whether it would all feel a little unfocused at the beginning. And then, as Warshawski and the book proceeds, we get the expected variations – for instance, there is the scene where Warshawksi’s life is imperilled, in this one she is trapped in a burning building. And there are her usual friends responding to her in much the same ways as they had previously. Suspicions will fall on a character Warshawski trusts – these may be false or valid suspicions…I won’t say what they are in Burn Marks. Having now read the first six in the series, I’m left wondering why they aren’t becoming monotonous. I think they are dependent on our liking the central character – if you don’t warm to Warshawski I imagine the books will fall flat. But I find her fun company. From a distance they tend to merge into each other and I can’t remember which incident occurred in which adventure. I wonder if there were more variations in the later books or whether they just got longer. But, for the moment, I will carry on with them.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of us who love reading have favorite authors we gravitate towards, writers whose works leave us wanting more. For me, Sara Paretsky is one of those writers, especially with her V.I. Warshawski series.

I'd bought most of the series, reading books out of order. But a while back (maybe a year or two ago), I decided to start at the beginning and read each V.I. Warshawski book in order. (Unfortunately, I'm still missing the very first in the series, Indemnity Only. I'll eventually have to pick up a copy.)

Burn Marks is memorable is its intensity, as well as pure V.I. When Vic's aunt Elena arrives at Vic's doorstep at 3 A.M. after a fire at the SRO where Elena stayed, V.I. is less than happy. To say that aunt Elena is not the easiest person to get along with is an understatement. But family is family.

Reluctantly, V.I. goes about trying to uncover the arsonist, while trying to find another place for her aunt. Of course, this puts V.I.'s life in danger while trying to tie up all the loose ends.

While Burn Marks is a book that can stand on its own, it's also one that any V.I. Warshawski fan should read.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing and the characters of this novel are decent, but I just couldn't get very excited over it. I don't know who is imitating who, and it doesn't matter, because it just seems like the same old stuff.

The plot is decent enough and offers some good suspense. V.I.'s alcoholic aunt shows up in the middle of the night declaring that her building has burned down. Soon, V.I. is in the middle of an arson investigation and it seems everyone wants her to butt out.

However, what annoys me is the similarities between this series and Sue Grafton's alphabetical mystery series.

Both are strong independent women.

Both have a gentle, good natured, older male neighbor that looks after them.

Both drive crappy old cars.

Both get mixed up romanticly with the bad guys from time to time.

Both have trouble making ends meet.

Both eat odd things from their kitchen cabinet to keep going.


I'm not saying that either author realy emulates the other.. but they are similar enough that after awhile I have to ask myself what letter of the alphabet I'm on.

So for me, it was like reading a familiar western novel where you know a range war is going to break out, or you know that some rustling is going on, or something else that just seems so familiar that it just doesn't seet to tread new ground.

Chicago-ites might enjoy this story more than I did.. It suggests that Chicago politics are full of crooks and double-dealers (gasp!) and further the streets and highways might be familiar enough to be more fun.

so, I didn't partticular hate this one.. just didn't get very excited over it.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story’s plot can be summed up in two aphorisms: no good deed goes unpunished and don’t shoot the messenger. At times Vic is more a social worker than an investigator.

Vic takes in her indigent, alcoholic Aunt Elena after her apartment building burns down. Vic even finds another apartment for her but her aunt goes off and reappears later with a young black woman who is pregnant and a junkie. They steal from Vic and disappear. Vic finds that the apartment building is insured by a company she’s done business with previously and is hired to investigate its arson. Meanwhile the police arson investigator accuses her of being the arsonist and treats her like a criminal. Concurrently one of her Latina friends is running for office and has the support of “the machine” and warns her not to be bringing up her past.

Vic soon finds the connections between the politicians, corrupt police, and the ultimate goal of “the machine.” Lots of danger close for Vic in this one.

As usual the misogyny and paternalism from the cops makes you want to gag. This is set in the 1980’s and it’s like time traveling.

[Joe Slavinsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw this book available, as an ebook, at the library, I thought it was new. I could've sworn that I have read all of the Warshawski novels, to date, but I didn't get that feeling that I'd read this one before. At any rate, it was a nice look back in time to V.I.'s earlier life, with the requisite drama, and suspense. This one had me turning pages rather faster than I expected.

BTW, I was on a mini-vacation, while reading this, and the previous book. It was a great getaway, with my eldest son, and his family, to an area with no internet, near the Texas/Oklahoma border. It was a chill extended weekend, with no TV, politics, or Covid. It was heaven.

[Dad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another VI Warcheski novel and while enjoyable, it’s time to take a break and give Hera rest as these books are merging together as I’ve read several in a row. Set in Chicago, this novel revealed more of VI’s family tree than the previous novels have and it definitely makes her character richer and deeper. It was troubling to see the struggles of the homeless but insightful in many ways particularly with the on set of winter. All in all, a fair read but notin a hurry to move onto number 7 in-the series.

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burn Marks by Sara Paretsky is the 6th book in the V.I. Warshawski Mystery series. Private Investigator V.I. Warshawski helps her alcoholic aunt after the hotel where she was living was burned dowwn and as she investigates the arson discovers political and police corruption involving the construction industry. Another exciting, action packed thriller in the series where V.I. manages to survive several harrowing experiences. A bit dated now but still enjoyable and hopefully she now has a better relationship with the police.

[tortoise dreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to live in a certain city on the East Coast of the U.S. There was an extended family in the area that owned a number of restaurants -- seemingly each member of the family had their own eatery. And over a number of years every restaurant in the fam (except one) burned down at one time or another. At least one of them burned twice. I worked in one; it was common knowledge. Each was built back bigger and better than ever. Saved on renovations, I guess. Not sure why I thought of that. Here's hoping I've avoided a defamation suit. [4★]

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

V.I. (Vic) Warshawski's alcoholic aunt shows up on her doorstep after Her aunt's hotel has burned down. Her aunt, a senior citizen who is not above turning a trick to buy a bottle and other legally questionable activities, wants to crash at Vic's apartment. More problems pop up when her aunt brings a junkie who also lived at the burned hotel. The junkie is soon found dead at a constructions site. How is this related to the political fundraiser Vic was invited to? A Paretsky book is always worth a read.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

V.I keeps getting better and better. Bonus for police *and* political corruption.

[Amy Ingalls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one in the series. I liked the fact that it gets personal, and goes into V.I.'s relationship with her family, as well as with Bobby Mallory.

[Bernadette Dekker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious, convoluted story. Main message seems to be - don’t trust men, police or family. Oh, and being a bumbling detective with a death wish solves the crime. Give me a break.

[le-trombone · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an older V. I. Warshawski novel (for reasons that I have yet to pin down, I tend to divide the V. I. books between pre- and post- Tunnel Vision). The mystery is not complex - V. I. is investigating whether a fire at an SRO hotel was arson, and she has to investigate and deal with very sleazy real estate speculators and developers.

Complicating the case is her alcoholic aunt Elena, who lived in the hotel, now has to stay with someone, and makes V. I. the obvious choice.

Much of the book is taken up with V. I.'s interactions with her neighbors, her relatives, and friends of her parents. Nearly all of them don't approve of her life, and while this does lay the ground work for later books, a lot of it just felt like an authorial excuse to delay V. I. from asking the potentially case-solving questions.

It's enjoyable enough, but it's not getting a permanent spot on my bookshelf.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book centers around political and police corruption in Chicago. In that context, there is nothing particularly surprising or mysterious about the mystery. Still a routine story can be good if the characters are interesting and you care about them. I found I didn't much care about the detective, V. I. Warshawski. She seemed like a flake repeatedly putting going into obviously dangerous places alone and not checking for her messages. These lapses were need to move the plot along, but there were so many it put me off.

[John Biddle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this. It took way too long to get to an actual mystery and the characters were all awful people using VI and she just went along with it, hating it but alowing it. I got sick of it and DNFed. I see that I gave this a high rating when I joined GR but must have been remembering something else because even much younger me couldn't have liked this one that much. No Happy Valentine for Paretsky, 2 generous stars.

[Rich Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the high watermark set by the excellent Warshawski book 5 Blood Shot, I went into Burn Marks with high expectations, and what a crushing comedown this was.

Where Blood Shot had shown Sara Paretski able to conjure up great conspiracies and unwind them at perfect pace, layer together multiple strands to reveal something much greater come the conclusion, and write a great action set piece, as well as just fine tuning her writing and narrative, here it seems to have fallen apart.

This isn’t to say this is a bad book, but it’s got some issues. Top of that list is that it’s too long and far too drawn out. I don’t need things to start with a bang, but this takes far too long to get going. It’s about a fifth of the book in before we’ve a scent of a case and even then it’s still page 130, a third of the way in, when the first major development occurs. There’s a lot of not a lot happening.

The blurb covers the story basics that take a while to get going - a little seen aunt who’s seen better days arrives at Vic Warshawski’s home in the middle of the night, cause some chaos, and then not only does she disappear but a friend of hers also turns up dead in odd yet brushed aside circumstances.

The second biggest problem then here is with the characters. Aunt Elena is a nightmare of a character. She is a selfish, intrusive, self-obsessed narcissist, that brings destruction everywhere she goes, but she’s also a whiny and plays the guilt card constantly. She is such a terrible person, that you can’t help but agree with Vic’s uncle who wants nothing to do with his sister. And you’ll be bewildered as to why Vic does. Once it’s revealed she’s stolen from her as well…

On top of this there very few likeable people in this. We’ve a veritable rogues gallery of politicians, thugs, bent police, and more, but there’s everyone else is just terrible as well. Returning Mr Contreras, the downstairs neighbour who should stay downstairs more, is an annoying exasperating presence for both us and Vic. If he’s not sticking his nose in where it’s not wanted then he’s petulantly sulking. And he takes up far too much of the ink in here. Worse still is Bellowing Bobby Mallory is back bringing his half-baked theories but fully cooked misogyny. Unlikeable since day one, he’s not as bad as he has been here, but he’s so one note, and has such a short memory of all the times he’s been wrong and Vic’s been right, he’s an absolutely infuriating presence.

It bubbles over though into everyone, including our heroine Vic. Everyone is constantly angry with everyone else, or at least tired of them, and it often feels like characters are being deliberately difficult to get a rise out of people, and this happens with Vic on several occasions. Where previously she’d been shown to be headstrong, dedicated, focused, tenacious, but also wily and witty, here she is bullish to a fault. Often with little to back her up. Even the usually reliable Lotty is only present mostly to admonish Vic. Does anyone in Chicago like anyone?

And yet, there is a good story here. The conspiracies are still very strong. They’ll keep you guessing to the end. Also when the action kicks in it’s exhilarating. It’s during these few scenes as well when we see Vic at her thoughtful, quick and witty best.

There’s also some slight potential growth in some of the more negative characters, that leaves you hopeful that if and when we see them again they’ll be much better and more welcome. Otherwise we’re back to square one, but worse.

I made the point in my Blood Shot musings that as much as Paretski clearly gets better as a writer, the Warshawski books are better read with distance between each one. And that goes doubly for Burn Marks. The story here is good, and it’s exciting at times, but it’s too long, it’s too dragged out and I feel it is in need of better editing. Sara Paretski is a great writer most of the time, and it has to be said a great researcher too, but after the high point of the previous entry this feels like a steep drop off.

And after all that’s transpired here in this book, and the precious entries, are we expected to feel sorry for Bobby Mallory? His wife Eileen tells Vic and us that we should forgive him, and the book ends in a way telling us to. But this is a man whose relationship with Vic is entirely hostile, to the point that he physically assaulted her not that long ago. It was the 80s I guess?

Book 7 can wait a little while…

[Matias Mestas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las 'Marcas de fuego' que sí puede dejar una detective

Es la primera novela que leo de la saga de aventuras de la detective Victoria Warshawski, escrita por la autora estadounidense Sara Paretsky, y resultó ser una grata sorpresa. ‘Marcas de fuego’ es una buena novela policial de tintes feministas, con una trama que engancha, buen desarrollo de personajes, y con esa sensación de misterio constante que te deja una historia de detectives. Un plus, para mí, el hecho de que transcurra enteramente en Chicago, donde viví una de las mejores experiencias de mi vida (hasta ahora). Conocer varios de los lugares que se nombran es un mimo a la nostalgia.

Vida personal, corrupción, muerte y misterio, se entremezclan en este libro de Paretsky que, como me enteré después, es la sexta parte de una serie de alrededor de 20 episodios escritos entre 1982 y 2018. Lo que puedo afirmar con respecto a esto es que, sin dudas, no hace falta para nada haber leído alguno de los libros anteriores para entender la historia. Al principio parece que no va a suceder nada importante pero poco a poco se va construyendo una trama con varias aristas interesantes. Tal es así que la novela toca temas de gran calibre como el feminismo, el racismo y la corrupción política, y sale airosa. Y más aún, es una novela publicada en 1990 y ya tocaba estos tópicos.

Otro aspecto a destacar, a mi juicio, es el desarrollo de los personajes y de las situaciones. El recurso de la descripción para mí siempre fue un arma de doble filo. Bien ejecutado puede alcanzar un nivel magistral. Sin embargo, si se abusa o se lo utiliza sin el suficiente tino, se transforma en un contrapeso letal. Habiendo dicho esto, Paretsky a este desafío lo juega bien, sobre todo destacando subliminalmente el hecho de que su protagonista principal no vive las 24 horas del día siendo detective sino que tiene su vida personal y cotidiana, algo que no suele suceder en otras historias de este estilo.

En este sentido, vale aclarar que Paretsky es reconocida por ser una de las principales responsables de transformar el rol y la imagen de las mujeres en el género de la novela policial, saliéndose del típico detective masculino.

En fin, ya tengo otra de las aventuras de Vic Warshawski para ver si la saga mantiene el nivel (o lo supera). Eso habla de cuán manija me dejó esta novela. Dudo mucho que una serie de más de 10 libros pueda mantener el alto vuelo por mucho tiempo, pero será algo que probaré con el tiempo. Por el momento, solo puedo decir que ‘Marcas de fuego’ es una novela muy entretenida y que demuestra que no todos los detectives son tan perfectos como los de las viejas películas de Hollywood, Sherlock Holmes o James Bond. Una buena historia, con muchas idas y vueltas, y que al transcurrir en Chicago me veo obligado a subirle un poco la puntuación. Permítanme ese desliz cien por ciento arbitrario. Siempre pueden después pedir el VAR.

Mi calificación para el libro: 4 estrellas si viviste en Chicago. 3 estrellas si no.

[Joelb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why do I read mystery/detective/police procedural novels, especially ones in series? For the same reason I love baseball and Bach fugues. Repetition and variation. But not just any old repetition and variation. It must be artfully woven, the themes must be rich and dense, the characters or players must be captivating. This sixth entry in Sara Paretsky’s V. I. Warshawski series checks most of the boxes.
Based on experience with #1-5, I know what to expect. Because of family loyalty, an essential component in a Chicaga Polish goil’s psyche, V. I. once again gets dragged into investigating that which she would rather not investigate. Because of her determination, an essential component in a liberated 80’s woman’s toolbox to protect her self respect when the world tells her to have kids and stand by her man, she digs into the investigation tenaciously when her political and police force contacts tell her to back off. Because of her stubborn willfulness, she almost gets killed. Because she’s a liberated 80’s woman, she does NOT get rescued by a knight in shining armor. She escapes immanent death, twice, through a combination of intelligence and physical prowess. She suffers betrayal by a trusted colleague along the way, but hasn’t lost the capacity to trust. She re-earns the respect of people who wish she would conform to their idea of womanhood, but are resigned to accepting her as she is.
The foregoing describes all the Warshawski novels I’ve read, but I still enjoyed Burn Marks and expect to enjoy others in the series. It’s satisfying to see how Paretsky returns to themes and varies them. The Chicago locale is endlessly conducive to creating the contrasting worlds that Warshawski negotiates, the morally bankrupt milieu of the monied in their north shore mansions or their Lake Shore Drive high rises, contrasted with the seedy SRO hotels and two-flats that provide housing for the hopeless and income for their exploiters. Though Warshawski’s contempt for corrupt politicians, cops and capitalists is palpable, she’s clear-eyed enough to realize that each time she wins her battle against them, another set will rise to the surface. She’s not cynical. She actually cares about and sometimes loves the people she saves, and she’s surrounded by a small network of friends and neighbors who provide aid and comfort.
Someday I’ll write a comprehensive essay about the necessity of reading detective fiction and the importance of having Sara Paretsky’s V. I. Warshawski on the essential detective fiction. Meanwhile, this review serves as an incomplete set of notes.

[Nyx Blackwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a note, this is my introduction to the V.I. Warshawski Series since I brought only this sole book out of the series at a cheap book sale since it got my interest with its yellow version of the cover and intriguing back summary. From my reading, it seems you can jump into any book in this series without missing a lot if you don't read the previous books, with how several past details are repeated constantly for context. If you are interested in learning about 1980's Chicago, then this book may be for you, as one of its strengths is exploring its setting, especially when it was written in the 1980's. Although its writing style, characterization, and the structure it goes about its plot is where it falters. Personally, multiple times throughout my reading, I found myself feeling as if a majority of this book is filler, such as the several times it describes her walking the dog or going into detail of where she is driving for pages to where it felt I had to push myself through pages of boredom to get to the actual driving parts, which were only slightly engaging at that point. As for the characters, many of the male characters just follow the same formula of representing toxic masculinity, and even the one who isn't as bad as the others is still a "healthy" form of it with being overprotective towards the protagonist seemingly because she is a woman. The only man who I can fully see as being some form of positive presentation for masculinity was Rick York with how he just existed as himself regardless of anything, nonetheless gender. I understand that for the time period, misogyny was way more common and to a worse degree than we have it today, but some of the dialogue and actions from male characters feel extremely unrealistic or, at the least, sudden at times to where it gives the impression of simply wanting to stereotype men. Overall I would recommend this book as something to read before bed with how dragged out it is or a few chapters every once in a while if you want to get through it or just study it for aspects of 1980's Chicago, but I won't be returning to this series any time soon.

[Michelle Adamo #EmptyNestReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taking place in 1980s, Chicago, Burn Marks is book 6 in the V.I. Warshawski mystery thriller series. Warshawski (only her closest friends call her Vic) is a lawyer and former public defender, now self-employed as a Private Eye. She is smart, tough and (mostly) fearless.

Warshawski is surprised when her late father’s alcoholic sister, Elena, shows up at her door at 3am. Surprised, and not happy. Elena had been living in a single room occupancy (SRO) hotel when it burnt to the ground earlier that night. Although she’d love to turn her back on her aunt, she knows that isn’t possible. She lets her stay the night planning on finding her a new place in the morning. She contacts a politically connected friend (who recently hit Warshawski up for a donation to her campaign) and all is set. A few days later the aunt returns, this time with a friend who claims her baby died in the fire. This combined with being warned away from looking into the fire peaks Warshawski’s interest. She’s not one for looking the other way - especially when everyone is telling her to do just that. Immediately she gets bad vibes from her political friend, and from the friend’s supporters and, interestingly, from not only Chicago’s finest but from the head of arson investigation who is trying to pin the arson on Warshawski herself.

Some characters from previous books return (Bobby, Mr Conteras, Lotty) and we meet a couple of new ones too. Keep in mind that this book was published in 1988 and some of the character’s attitudes and actions are outdated. Keep that in perspective and you’ll have a fast, enjoyable read. A fun who-dun-it with plenty of surprises. My favorite of the series, thus far. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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