Review of "Fallout: A V.I. Warshawski Novel of Suspense" by Sara Paretsky

In this 18th book in the 'V.I. Warshawski' series, the Chicago private detective heads for Kansas to look for two missing persons. The book can be read as a standalone.



*****

When young black filmmaker/personal trainer August Veriden goes missing from Chicago.....



.....private detective V.I. Warshawski (Vic) is hired to look for him.



Vic learns that August was commissioned by black actress Emerald Ferring, who's making a movie about her life.



August and Emerald were supposedly headed for Lawrence, Kansas, where the actress grew up, but no one has heard from either of them for weeks. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the gym where August works has been ransacked, as was his apartment.



Vic packs her bag and her golden retriever Peppy, and heads for Kansas, to see what she can find.



Vic seems to be persona non grata the moment she sets foot in Lawrence, both to law enforcement - who she contacts as a professional courtesy; and to Emerald's acquaintances - who don't like a white woman poking around a black neighborhood. Thus everyone is very close-mouthed, and Vic can't get a line on August and Emerald.

Still, Vic manages to learn a few things, including the fact the Lawrence was the site of a missile silo during the cold war, when Emerald was young.....



.....and that Emerald's neighbor was forced to sell some of her land to the Air Force when the silo was dismantled, about 30 years ago.



As Vic is poking into things, she finds two women who've been roofied, a corpse in a house, and a corpse in a river - and additional victims add to the death toll. The sheriff shows up wherever Vic goes, and the detective realizes she's being bugged, tracked and followed.



It's clear something VERY suspicious is going on in Lawrence, something that may be connected to the disappearance of August and Emerald.

As Vic is going about her business, she stays in a motel and Peppy goes to doggie day care.



During Vic's investigation, she interacts with a librarian; an archivist; a retired college professor; a shrewish wife; a mentally ill woman; Air Force personnel; law enforcement officers; people who knew Emerald as a child; and more. Vic's harassed, accused of being a big city snob, and lured into some tricky situations.



Eventually, Vic finds out that current problems in Lawrence are connected to things that happened there thirty years ago, and it's all quite shocking. That's all I'll say because of spoilers.

I enjoyed the book, but it has a couple of flaws. First, the story is overly complicated and has too many characters. It was hard to keep all the people straight. Second, Vic is VERY aggressive and nasty with cops and other authorities, and is practically asking for trouble. This seems unrealistic.

That said, I'm a fan of V.I. Warshawski and I enjoy visiting with the detective, her friends, and her dogs.

Rating: 3 stars