In this collection of short stories, Sara Paretsky writes about intertwined crime and love | Mercury of Illawarra
lifestyle, books, love and other crimes, sara paretsky, hodder, crime thriller
Sara Paretsky is one of only four living writers, and the only woman, to have received both the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. In 1986, she founded Sisters in Crime, a global support organization for women mystery writers, which today has more than 4,000 members. Paretsky published his first novel starring VI Warshawski, a feisty and hard-nosed Chicago private investigator, Indemnity Only, in 1982. Since then, there have been 20 more best-selling VI novels and an unsuccessful film starring Kathleen Turner. Amour & Other Crimes is a collection of 14 short stories, eight of which feature VI, all of which have an afterword by Paretsky about their creation and their place in his life. The title story sees VI taking on the case of a family friend who has been wrongfully accused of murder. To make matters more difficult, VI must deal with the defendant’s obnoxious sister and a family, “who turn dysfunction into an art form”, before the case is solved. Paretsky writes in his introduction, “we kill out of passion, we kill out of love – love of money, but also love of family”. VI’s love for his policeman father, Tony, is very evident in “Wildcat,” which is set in the turbulent days of riots and racism surrounding Martin Luther King’s August 1966 visit to Chicago. Young Victoria puts herself in danger to solve what turns out to be her very first case. Her mother begs her never again to “put herself in front of killers and mafiosi”. Victoria replies, “Of course, mum, of course. I promise you that.” Paretsky’s love of Victorian detective fiction is reflected in his Arthur Conan Doyle tweak, “The Curious Case of the Italian Art Dealer.” Paretsky assumes the voice of Dr. Watson in a story that pays homage to 19th-century American writer Anna Katharine Green, whose detective stories preceded, and arguably influenced, those of Conan Doyle. A regular character in the VI novels, Dr. Charlotte “Lotte” Herschel, is the victim of the dystopian short story, “Safety First”, set in a world of biased Homeland Security courts and a Keep America Safe law that has saw Lotte imprisoned for “the medical treatment of undocumented aliens” and for the abortions of women who were raped. This is a highly relevant story for a contemporary America where the groundbreaking Roe v Wade judgment would be threatened by the United States Supreme Court. VI’s stories expose social inequality, misogyny, racism, and corporate corruption, mirroring Paretsky’s longstanding concerns about class, racial, and gender discrimination in America.
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- Love and Other Crimes, by Sara Paretsky. Hode, $32.99.
Sara Paretsky is one of only four living writers, and the only woman, to have received both the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. In 1986, she founded Sisters in Crime, a global support organization for women mystery writers, which today has more than 4,000 members.
Paretsky published his first novel featuring the fiery, hard-nosed, Chicago private eye, VI Warshawski, Allowance only, in 1982.
Since then, there have been another 20 best-selling VI novels and an unsuccessful film starring Kathleen Turner.
Love and other crimes is a collection of 14 short stories, eight of which feature VI, all of which have an afterword by Paretsky about their creation and their place in his life. The title story sees VI taking on the case of a family friend who has been wrongfully accused of murder.
To make matters more difficult, VI must deal with the defendant’s obnoxious sister and a family, “who turn dysfunction into an art form”, before the case is solved.
Paretsky writes in his introduction, “we kill out of passion, we kill out of love – love of money, but also love of family”.
VI’s love for his policeman father, Tony, is very evident in “Wildcat,” which is set in the turbulent days of riots and racism surrounding Martin Luther King’s August 1966 visit to Chicago.
Young Victoria puts herself in danger to solve what turns out to be her very first case. Her mother begs her never again to “put herself in front of killers and mafiosi”. Victoria replies, “Of course, mum, of course. I promise you that.”
Paretsky’s love of Victorian detective fiction is reflected in his Arthur Conan Doyle tweak, “The Curious Case of the Italian Art Dealer.” Paretsky assumes the voice of Dr. Watson in a story that pays homage to 19and American writer of the century Anna Katharine Green, whose detective stories preceded, and undoubtedly influenced, those of Conan Doyle.
A regular character in the VI novels, Dr. Charlotte “Lotte” Herschel, is the victim of the dystopian short story, “Safety First”, set in a world of biased Homeland Security courts and a Keep America Safe law that has saw Lotte imprisoned for “the medical treatment of undocumented aliens” and for the abortions of women who were raped.
This is a highly relevant story for a contemporary America where the groundbreaking Roe v Wade judgment would be threatened by the United States Supreme Court.
VI’s stories expose social inequality, misogyny, racism, and corporate corruption, mirroring Paretsky’s longstanding concerns about class, racial, and gender discrimination in America.