Dead Land by Sara Paretsky (2020)
(This review contains very general spoilers).
V.I. Warshawski is not your usual detective, and I love her for it. Sheās a fierce, righteous crusader for social justice, with a strong sense of responsibility for everyone in her social circle. Itās that circle that drags her into investigations that promise no financial reward and incur the wrath of oligarchs. Dead Land is no exception. Vicās goddaughter Bernie Fouchard is coaching a soccer team for underprivileged girls, which leads Vic to a fateful community meeting where the girls are being recognized. That community meeting plants the seeds for Vicās investigation of two homicides, which have their roots in a corrupt āpublic-privateā partnership to steal Chicagoās southern lakefront for the wealthy; this converges with the story of a homeless singer whose work Bernie loves, who survived a mass shooting that killed her lover, and had a breakdown following that. The melding of these stories creates a web involving Chilean oligarchs, a University of Chicago economist, a mass shooter in Kansas, prairie restorationists, a big multinational law firm, a small Chicago community group, a corrupt city official, and some of Vicās oldest friends, especially Murray Ryerson. Itās a layered, complex plot, involving some injustices Vic can correct, others that run so deep they can only be exposed, and striking powerfully at Vicās emotions (about her mother, about her friends, about her own detective work and her ethics) and mine. Itās what Paretsky does best.
She also does originality in her villains. Economists from the University of Chicago just arenāt used as villains in fiction enough. This is probably because theyāre too cartoonish. Fiction seems to demand some level of nuance, unlike reality, which is free to be as black and white as it wants. The Chicago Boys didnāt go in for nuance when they allied with Pinochet. Personally, I prefer realistic villains, who often lack delicious ambiguity. So I appreciate Sara Paretsky for making them a villain here. The one slightly jarring note was that Vic didnāt know about them or the U.S. governmentās role in Pinochetās regime. You would think a politically aware, left-wing Chicago native, who has shown some awareness of things like the School of the Americas, would know about it. Itās not out of character, exactlyāeveryone has limits on their knowledge, and this is not common knowledge even in progressive circles. It was just an odd moment.
But the main draw of Paretskyās novels, apart from the intricate plotting, is her relationships. Here, Bernie Fouchard and Murray Ryerson take center stage. Bernie is impetuous, passionate, uncompromising, energetic, and filled with the recklessness of youth, and thus prone to drawing Vic into trouble without losing Vicās sympathy or ours. But Murray, Vicās old friendātheir friendship predates the seriesāone-time lover, and frequent ally, is the real star here. Though heās a falling star at first: heās compromised in his role at Global, but ultimately acts as a true investigator and pays the price for it. His relationship with Vic is given due weight, and itās immensely satisfying to see him start to pull out of the hole heās been in since Hard Time.
I also like how Paretsky has been expanding her setting beyond Chicago in recent books. Here, she takes Vic out to Kansas for a large portion of the investigation. She is helped by some of the local people, and at the same time treated with suspicion by many of them. And she has to deal with the unfamiliar local law enforcementāand the people pulling their strings. Itās a great addition of a new story factor, moving the plot along and giving texture to the world. I enjoy Vic in her element in Chicago, but it adds something to see her out of it.
A great Paretsky. Iād rank it very high on the list. I preferred it to the other recent offerings (Shell Game, Fallout, Brushback, Critical Mass) even though I enjoyed all of those, too.
