For the fourth year in a row, Chicago is America’s most corrupt city, and Illinois is the third-most corrupt state, according to a new report from the University of Illinois at Chicago.” This, from a 2023 article online from Chicago’s PBS station, WTTW. “’Political and government-related bribery, extortion, fraud, conflicts of interest, theft of campaign funds, and tax cheating continue to undermine the public’s trust in government,’” said one of the report’s coauthors. But the city’s enduring reputation for corruption long predates the present day. Because from 1973 to the present “four governors and numerous elected officials, judges, and public employees have been sent to prison for corruption. And that ignores the era of mob-connected, greasy politics earlier in the twentieth century.” No wonder, then, that Sara Paretsky uses corruption as the central theme in the twenty-two V. I. Warshawski novels she has written since 1982.
A remarkably consistent detective
One of the most remarkable things about the V. I. Warshawski series is the consistency of detail throughout. That’s not necessarily the case with other long-running detective series. (Check out the Spenser novels by Robert Parker, if you doubt me.) Paretsky created her heroine four decades ago, yet the supporting cast already includes several of the recurring characters still alive and kicking in the latest entries in the series. And nothing has changed in the detective’s backstory. In Indemnity Only, Vic Warshawski is much younger than in the subsequent books—because she ages gradually over time. But in every other respect she’s the same woman.
Indemnity Only (V. I. Warshawski #1) by Sara Paretsky (1982) 336 pages ★★★★☆
Insurance fraud is at the heart of the case
Judging from the title, and the many scenes that involve a major insurance company, it will be no surprise to any reader that insurance fraud is involved in Vic’s investigation. It’s clear early on that the leadership of a major labor union is port of the picture, too. The suspense in the story lies in how Vic gradually untangles the complications involving the two organizations and their links to the event that brings her into the case. That happens when a man shows up late at night at her office announcing himself as the executive vice president of one of the country’s biggest banks. He tells her his son’s girlfriend is missing. Except that he’s not a banker at all, and the real focus of the case is that the boyfriend, who is indeed a banker’s son, has been murdered.
V. I Warshawski’s backstory
Vic is a non-practicing attorney, a former public defender. She was born somewhere around 1950 (although Paretsky later moved her birthday seven years later), so in this book she would be in her early thirties. She’s divorced after a short marriage to a high-powered lawyer who practices corporate law at a major firm.
Her mother, Gabriela, was an Italian immigrant who sang opera and wanted nothing more for Vic than to be a singer like herself. She died of cancer when Vic was in high school. Her father, Tony, a Chicago cop of Polish extraction, was honest in a force that was notoriously corrupt.
To avoid the roadblocks her father encountered, she has set up a practice as a solo private investigator. However, she isn’t the stereotypical PI, chasing wayward spouses in divorce proceedings. Vic has developed a stable of corporate clients for which she does background checks or investigations into suspected bad behavior such as embezzlement.
The supporting cast
The supporting cast in Indemnity Only includes:
- Lieutenant Bobby Mallory, who was her father’s partner earlier in his career. He takes a fatherly interest in Vic. To her annoyance, Bobby always hovers close by to keep her out of danger. But Vic doesn’t need protecting.
- Vic always turns far more quickly to Lotty Herschel, a surgeon who as a child escaped Nazi-ruled Austria. Lotty patches Vic up when necessary and ministers to her occasional illnesses.
- To publicize her cases on occasion, or to avoid publicity, Vic turns to Murray Ryerson, a reporter at the Herald-Star newspaper.
Other recurring characters familiar to readers of the series enter the scene in later books. These include, for example, her dogs, Peppy and Mitch; Freeman Carter, her attorney; and Sal Contreras, the aging Hispanic man who lives on the ground floor of her building and cares for her dogs as much as she does.
About the author
As Sara Paretsky (or her agent) writes on her own author website, “Sara Paretsky revolutionized the mystery world in 1982 when she introduced V.I. Warshawski in Indemnity Only. By creating a detective with the grit and smarts to take on the mean streets, Paretsky challenged a genre in which women historically were vamps or victims. V.I. struck a chord with readers and critics; Indemnity Only was followed by twenty [now twenty-three] more V.I. novels. Her voice and her world remain vital to readers; the New York Times calls V.I., ‘a proper hero for these times,’ adding, ‘to us, V.I. is perfect.’” And, yes, all of this is true.
Paretsky was born in Iowa in 1947 but grew up in Kansas, the daughter of a microbiologist at the University of Kansas. She herself graduated from the university but moved to Chicago, where she worked in community service on the South Side. Paretsky earned both a master’s and a PhD in history at the University of Chicago. She married a professor of physics there. They were together until his death in 2018. In addition to the twenty-four V. I. Warshawski novels published to date, Paretsky is the author of three short story collections and three works of nonfiction. She has won numerous awards for the novels in the V. I. Warshawski series.
For related reading
Previously I’ve reviewed nine later novels in the V. I. Warshawski series, the most recent of which are:
- 18. Fallout (Biowarfare, white supremacists, and a Hollywood star)
- 19. Shell Game (V. I. Warshawski uncovers fraud in high places once again)
- 20. Dead Land (The private eye as investigative reporter)
- 21. Overboard (V. I. Warshawski finds Chicago cops running wild)
You’ll find other great PI novels at 10 top novels about private detectives.
You might also enjoy my posts:
- 26 mysteries to keep you reading at night
- Top 10 mystery and thriller series
- Top 20 suspenseful detective novels
And you can always find my most popular reviews, and the most recent ones, on the Home Page.
