Burn Marks (V.I. Warshawski Novels) [Kindle Edition]

Sara Paretsky (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The sixth adventure of Chicago private eye Victoria Iphenigia Warshawski begins with arson and proceeds to homicide as the intrepid V.I. contends with ambitious politicians, a construction-business scam, a corrupt cop and the best intentions of her closest family friends. Trouble erupts when her sweet, crafty and alcoholic aunt Elena, burned out of her SRO hotel, appears with a young hooker friend at V.I.'s Northwest Side apartment. The friend's body is found, along with V.I.'s wallet, at a major downtown construction site soon after the detective is bewildered by mysterious warnings not to get involved with the political campaign of a Hispanic woman to whom she has pledged support. Gradually tying these events together, V.I. is beset by the paternalistic interference of the Chicago police detective who had been her deceased father's best friend. While everyone else in this complicated, occasionally tedious, plot urges her toward traditional female paths, V.I. resolutely forges her own trail, maintaining the spunk and humor that have earned her a large, devoted following. Mystery Guild selection; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Paretsky's best book to date." --  Kansas City Star

  "V.I. Warshawsi is good company and a rich discovery  awaiting those who have yet to meet her." --  Los Angeles Times

"Sara Paretsky just keeps getting better and better!"  -- The Atlanta Journal  -constitution

"Another triumph for Ms.  Paretsky, her most captivating novel yet... V.I.  herself [is] undoubtedly on of the best-written  characters in mystery fiction." -- The  Baltimore Sun


From the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 630 KB
• Publisher: Dell (July 22, 2009)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002IPZJZQ
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,352 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Sara Paretsky is the award-winning creator of the V I Warshawski detective novels. When Sara introduced V I in Indemnity Only in 1982, she revolutionized the mystery novel. By creating a female investigator who uses her wits as well a her fists, Sara challenged a genre in which women were traditionally either vamps or victims.

V I is the quintessential urban woman. She grew up in the shadow of the old steel mills on Chicago's Southeast side and knows her way around every alley in town. She's a street fighter, a singer, a bit of a clothes horse, and a woman of great intensity and passion.

So how much like V I is her creator? They certainly come from very different places. Sara grew up in rural Kansas where she attended a two-room school. She continues to believe the high point of her life came at the age of twelve when she was picked to play third base for the Kaw Valley District 95 baseball team.

Bleeding Kansas, Sara's 14th novel, is set in the part of the Kaw River Valley where Sara grew up.

Sara first came to Chicago in 1966 to do community service work in the same neighborhood where Martin Luther King was organizing. It was a time of fierce passions in the city and in the country as people fought over racial justice, the rights and wrongs of the war in Vietnam, and women's rights. Sara has always felt that that summer changed her life forever, and when she finished her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas, she came back to make Chicago her home. Some of the history of that summer is recounted in her essay collection, Writing in an Age of Silence.

Like V I, Sara likes to sing, in an amateur way, has a hopeless passion for the Cubs, loves Italian shoes'and is obsessed by the search for the perfect cappuccino, so much so that she even went to cappuccino school.

In other academic ventures, Sara received a PhD in American History and an MBA from the University of Chicago. In 1976, she married physics professor Courtenay Wright. The two live in the city of Chicago with their wonder dog Callie. Their lives are made brighter by their adored granddaughter, Maia.

Sara shares V I's passion for social justice. She founded Sisters in Crime in 1986 to support women readers and writers in the mystery world. To give back to the community, Paretsky established the Sara and Two C-Dogs Foundation, which primarily supports girls and women in the arts, letters, and sciences. She has endowed several scholarships at the University of Kansas, and has mentored students in Chicago's inner city schools. She serves on the advisory boards of Literature for All of Us, a literacy group for teen moms, and Thresholds, which serves Chicago's mentally-ill homeless.

Sara has received numerous awards, including the Diamond Dagger for Lifetime achievement from the British Crime Writers Association, the Gold Dagger for best novel for her book Blacklist, and the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from several different universities. Sara's books have been translated into almost thirty languages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Paretsky, May 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Burn Marks (V.I. Warshawski Novels) (Paperback)

Vic must reluctantly rescue her Aunt Elena, a notorious drunkard, con woman and flirt. While she is disgusted at Elena's antics, she is discerning enough to know that she shares some of Elena's character flaws. As usual, Vic's good heartedness leads her into a murky world of dishonest politicians, traitorous cops and disgruntled bankers. As usual, she can rely on none but herself to solve the mystery and right the wrongs of the system. As usual, Peppy, Mr. Contreras (Sal)and Lottie are ever watchful and protective of their friend. As usual, this book is filled with interesting characters, locations, events and probing character analyses. If you like your protagonists intelligent, resourceful, wisecracking yet wearing the perfect set of Magli pumps, this heroine is for you.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stuff!!!, August 6, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Guetersloh, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burn Marks (V.I. Warshawski Novels) (Paperback)

One of Paretskies greatest Books ever. Private Eye V.I.Warshawski gets in trouble in helping her old aunt, who is adicted to alcohol and got thrown out of her appartment. Watching V.I. stumbling through the world of crime, government politics and lovely neighbourhood, listing to her sarcastical comments and sharing her decisions concerning her wardrobe is once again great fun and everybody who has read any of the other Paretsky books will love this one. It definitely is my personal favourite of all V.I.-Adventures!

3.0 out of 5 stars Get rid of the typoos, December 28, 2011

By 

Frank Kitzinger (Toronto) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Burn Marks (V.I. Warshawski Novels) (Paperback)

I like the books of Sara Paretsky, this review is about the alarming increase of typoos in the Kindle editions. This may have an adverse effect on the future of this otherwise very smart way of reading. The books are typed into Kindle form too hastily and then checked by rather stupid software for errors. The result is Hispanic spelled as his panic. Utterly ridiculous. The typoos are too many to count, does this bother anybody at Kindle? Maybe Sara Paretsky should have a word with Kindle.