Tunnel Vision (V. I. Warshawski)

by Sara Paretsky

1995

Status

Available

Publication

Dell (1995), Edition: Reprint, 480 pages

Description

Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:Stubbornness has landed private eye V.I. Warshawski in big trouble at her Chicago office. With her grand old Loop building set to be razed, she's become a hold-out tenant amid frayed wiring and scary, empty corridors. Then she finds a homeless woman with three kids in the basement, and before she can rescue them, they disappear. Worst of all, she's been implicated in a murder--after the body of Deirdre Messenger, a prominent lawyer's wife, turns up sprawled across her desk. V.I., who had volunteered with Deirdre at a women's shelter, suspects her death is linked to a case of upper-class domestic abuse so slickly concealed that the police refuse to believe it. Increasingly at odds with the cops, V.I. is blindly plunging ahead after the truth. And her path may lead to corruption at the highest levels.or deep into the abandoned tunnels beneath Chicago's streets, where secrets are hiding in the dark like a child's--or V.I.'s--worst nightmare.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member edwardsgt
My second V.I. Warshawski novel, the first too long ago to recall. This is well-written and plotted, with some very well observed social occasions where powerful men hold the floor and the women have as much impact on proceedings as a candlestick, as the author puts it at one point. The locations
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in Chicago seem authentic, although I don't know the city and the characters generally well-rounded and believable. Recommended.
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LibraryThing member Darrol
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Another book with under-street tunnels in the city.
LibraryThing member tututhefirst
Reminiscent of Kinsey Milhone in Sue Grafton's alphabet series, V.I (Vic) Warshawski, private detective let's her enthusiasm for a cause get her into hot water. This is the first of these books I have read, but I suspect it follows the previous pattern. It's a good read, not a great one, but does
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give the reader a sense of adventure on the one hand, and frustration on the other, as Vic continually ignores advice from her boyfriend (a cop), licensed social workers, attorneys and journalists to do her own thing.

In the end, the missing are rescued, the bad guys end up in jail, and the murders get solved....those aren't spoilers, they're the general theme of all such cookie cutter mysteries with "wonder woman" leading ladies.
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LibraryThing member kepitcher
V.I. Warshawski is back again, butting heads and making enemies in her latest detective outing.
In this novel, V.I. is asked to take on a client's son and find him some community service work, at the same time she is asked to look into the mysterious withdrawal of financial backing for a
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woman-owned building rehab project. What ensues is pure V.I. -- a bullheaded detective up against the establishment, police authorities, friends, lover, and the world, while she races to find the bad guys and save the day.
(Read March 2006)
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LibraryThing member jepeters333
V.I. Warshawsky and a homeless family and crooked contractors.
LibraryThing member FiberBabble
Okay, the abridged version of this book is not the way to go. Stopped at about the halfway point (about side 3.5 of 8) after a law enforcement officer brought the parent of a missing child along for the arrest of the kidnapping suspect at the suspect's home.

I can't figure how that would have been
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any more acceptable or required less of a suspension of disbelief in the full-length version.
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LibraryThing member mikedraper
V.I. Warshawski's funds are getting low and she accepts the case of a women's construction group whose contract was turned down by a bank that had a neighborhood lending policy.

Vic's office building is scheduled for demolition and she finds a woman and the woman's three children living in the
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basement. One of the woman's children is sickly.

A parallel story shows Vic invited to a retirement dinner at a wealthy couple's home and witnessing the mistreatment of the family's children by both the wife and the influential husband.

I enjoyed the story and the manner in which the author talks about important topics such as irregularities in the construction business, abused women and troubled children from wealthy and impoverished families. With these topics, the author does a nice job of balancing them within the story so the reader is able to follow a complex plot easily.
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LibraryThing member jhoaglin
This is the 8th book in the V.I. Warshawski series, and I really liked some things about this one--V.I.'s fierce protectiveness of some children she fears are caught between two abusive parents, her work for the homeless, and other issues she champions. But there are several things I did not like
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about her as well, and some of the dialog seemed very contrived and unlikely. And sometimes the plot got so convoluted it was hard to know who was doing what. I have liked this series overall, and hope the next one is something I enjoy more.
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LibraryThing member Pmaurer
I didn't enjoy this book as much as earlier books about this character. The question in my mind that kept coming up was "is this the last we're going to read about VI, or is the author just feeling tired out by her?
LibraryThing member bas615
I found this to be one of the strongest books in the series. Warshawski always seem to push too hard, but here it is quite compelling. Especially in a #MeToo world, it is important to remember that these stories have been going on forever. Further, we are becoming more and more aware that power
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operates in its own sphere and looks down on the rest of us. In the end, despite the continued believability problems with Vic, this was really enjoyable.
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LibraryThing member JenniferRobb
I listened to this as an audiobook I checked out from the local library. I got to disc 5 (of 14) and my checkout time was up and I couldn't renew. Then it was a month or so before it made its way back to me again through the library system. By about disc 9 or so I was fighting to not fall asleep
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while listening to it. I'm definitely not sure I got all the nuances of the plot.

I've mentioned in reviews of previous books in this series that I felt the plots got a bit convoluted--I'd think the book should be done and there'd still be several more chapters of "wrap up" of some other side plots.
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LibraryThing member steller0707
Lots of characters and red herrings with a complicated plot. Not particularly fast moving, but still a satisfying crime story.
LibraryThing member lilibrarian
The police suspect a 14-year-old girl of murdering her mother, but V.I. knows that the mother stumbled into something much bigger.

Awards

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1994

Physical description

480 p.; 4.14 inches

ISBN

0440217520 / 9780440217527

Barcode

1601577
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