V. I. Warshawski, a female investigator, is summoned by her aunt Rosa to clear out Rosa's name. Rosa was the treasurer at a local Dominican monastery in Chicago, and it was found that some stock certificates, five million dollars worth, were stolen under her watch. As nasty as Rosa is to V.I., V.I. takes it upon herself to carry out the investigation, even though Rosa wants her to back off, later. V.I.'s investigation, however through some unorthodox means, points to the monastery head and a mafia boss. During her investigation a killer throws acid in V.I's eyes but misses; someone burns her building down; her friend is murdered; her later abodes are broken into and thrashed; and she is set up to be killed by a doctor's rich wife.

This is one of the best woman detective books I have read. The main character, V.I. Warshawski, is a convincing detective. She is a policeman's daughter and a has-been lawyer who became wary of the justice system. She is highly intelligent, self-sufficient, kind, and sexy.

The plot of the story is planned meticulously also, with many twists and turns that prove to make sense at the end.

There is also a family involvement, with Rosa hating V.I.'s deceased mother, and with a good reason, which brings a much needed softness to an otherwise hard detective novel.

V.I.'s character.

read other books by Sara Paretsky.

Sara Paretsky is the creator of the V.I. Warshawski detective novels. She has received numerous awards, like 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. Her books have been translated into almost thirty languages.

I enjoyed it very much. This book was gifted to me as a used book; otherwise, I would probably not have known about Sara Paretsky's work.

Killing Orders was first published in 1985, and the story is probably taking place during the mid twentieth century.

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Created Dec 21, 2013 at 1:19pm • Submit your own review...