Review by New York Times Review
What really matters in a Sara Paretsky mystery are the crimes behind the crimes - the corrupt politics, the class divisions, the economic inequities, the dirty business practices and all the other injustices that incite the wicked deeds we love to read about. BREAKDOWN (Putnam, $26.95) takes its first crack at a soft target: a cult series of lurid vampire novels that sends a group of impressionable preteenage girls into a graveyard to perform a giddy initiation ritual for their book club. But once V. I. Warshawski, the intrepid private eye who sees herself as "a street fighter, a product of the mills and ethnic wars of Chicago's Steel City," has rescued the girls from the trauma of discovering a murder victim, the true villains come into sharper focus. A right-wing news operation called the Global Entertainment Network seizes on the fact that two of the girls are related to left-wingers on its hit list. One is the daughter of a liberal university president who blocked the teaching of creationism in biology classes. The other is the granddaughter of the Jewish billionaire financing that same university president's campaign for a seat in the United States Senate. The network unleashes its most rabid attack dog, a faux-populist journalist named Wade Lawlor, to lead the assault, which extends to the private foundation funded by the grandfather to lend a hand to immigrants and refugees, and to encourage their children by establishing book clubs for little girls with a passion for reading. No one would call Paretsky a nuanced writer, and there are times when she sounds as shrill as Lawlor, whose televised rants against illegal aliens leave him with "spit flecking his lips." But her cause is righteous, and she certainly knows her enemy. In packaging its brutal politics as blood-sport entertainment, the network manages "to dirty up the news until the viewer can't tell truth from fiction." That's an offense that especially riles Paretsky's crusading sleuth, because the media giant bought and smashed a venerable newspaper that was once the pride of Chicago. A visit to a friend at the paper's gutted news division makes her remember their youthful vows to clean up the city. "Instead, fraud had spread along every corridor of American life and had infected the newsroom." And that crime-behind-the-crime really makes her fighting mad. Can't get enough of Chicago? The most dynamic character in Charlie Newton's fierce first novel, "Calumet City," and its terrific sequel, START SHOOTING (Doubleday, $25.95), is the Windy City - the down and dirty side of it, anyway. The narration alternates between a cop named Bobby Vargas, and Arleen Brennan, whose twin sister was raped and murdered back when they were all just 13. Now Bobby and his homicide detective brother, Ruben ("a fine doorway full of man"), are policing a gang war involving the Latin Kings, and Arleen is caught in the cross-fire. "The big gangs in the ghetto districts outnumber us 12 to 1 and have better guns," according to Bobby. "What's that say about America?" The plot is a hot mess, with Newton fielding multiple story lines, dual time frames and too many conspiracies. But the voices reverberate in your ears, and the smell of gunfire lingers long after the last man is down. There's both a pattern and a purpose to the superb historical mysteries produced by the mother-and-son writing partners known as Charles Todd. Like THE CONFESSION (Morrow/HarperCollins, $25.99), the novels in their evocative Ian Rutledge series, set in the aftermath of World War I. always begin with a murder that sends him from Scotland Yard to some distant shire to be viewed with suspicion by the insular natives. But the hostile reception doesn't distress the detective, who was shellshocked at the Somme and takes no joy in the hurly-burly of community life. To complete the plot blueprint, the villagers are often safeguarding a collective secret, and the resolution of the mystery rarely restores peace. "The Confession" tweaks that plot template by introducing the murder victim while he still has breath, presenting himself at Scotland Yard and confessing to the murder of his cousin. But when the man's body washes up in the Thames, Rutledge undertakes another one of his solitary journeys, this time to a village in Essex whose ragged coastline "isolated the inhabitants in a world little changed with the passage of time." But the war put an end to that isolation, giving Rutledge another chance to bear witness to ruined lives and broken traditions, and to serve as chief mourner for all that has been lost. It's no big deal for an author to return to a beloved sleuth - but a beloved serial killer? That's the trick Val McDermid pulls off in THE RETRIBUTION (Atlantic Monthly, $25) when she revives Jacko Vance, the "charismatic, handsome, charming" and quite loco TV star who in his heyday murdered 17 teenage girls and was locked up in a maximum-security prison at the conclusion of an earlier thriller, "The Wire in the Blood." The series's sleuths, Dr. Tony Hill, a clinical psychologist, and Carol Jordan, a police officer, are already occupied with the hunt for a sadistic killer who is going after street prostitutes. But when they get word that their old nemesis has escaped from prison, they know they're prime targets for payback. Hill and Jordan are two very bright detectives, but you still want to toss them under the bus when Jacko, who is every bit as charming as he thinks he is, flashes his come-hither smile. V.I. Warshawski sees herself as a street fighter, 'a product of the mills and ethnic wars' of Chicago.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [January 8, 2012]
Review by Booklist Review
British Detective Inspector Ian Rutledge has had the satisfaction of solving some tough cases, but there's no balm to soothe the psychic wounds he suffered as a soldier in WWI. In this entry, set in 1920, Rutledge applies his formidable detecting skills to the case of Wyatt Russell, a terminally ill man who confesses to murdering his cousin. Rutledge doesn't believe Russell for a moment, and a lunch meeting with the dying man does nothing to change his mind. Armed with just a few leads, Rutledge journeys to an obscure corner of Essex, where the locals receive him with equal parts loathing and fear. The cold case becomes even more chilling when Russell is fatally shot. Rutledge continues to probe, as a singular question consumes his thoughts. Why would Russell confess to a crime he didn't commit? Todd serves up plenty of period detail and plot twists, but the real attraction here is Rutledge, a shrewd, dedicated detective grappling with the demons of his past.--Block, Allison Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in 1920, Todd's excellent 14th mystery featuring Insp. Ian Rutledge (after 2011's A Lonely Death) offers an intriguing setup. When Wyatt Russell shows up at Scotland Yard and confesses to murdering a cousin, Justin Fowler, five year earlier, Rutledge is unwilling to accept the story at face value, especially since Russell refuses to explain why he killed Fowler. Russell, who's dying of cancer, agrees to lunch with the inspector in London, but divulges little more. Rutledge travels to a remote corner of Essex to pursue the few leads Russell provides, but receives an extremely hostile reception from the locals. The cold case takes an even stranger turn after Russell suffers a fatal gunshot wound to the back of his head. The plot convolutions compel, but the book's main strength is its remarkable lead, who has survived the trench warfare of WWI and remains haunted by what the exigencies of the battlefield forced him to do. Agent: Jane Chelius. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Confession is deadly for the soul. Todd's 14th Ian Rutledge mystery finds the World War I vet and Scotland Yard inspector listening to a dying man's confession of murder. Wyatt Russell professes to have murdered his cousin Justin Fowler while on leave from the army several years prior. Rutledge's suspicions are heightened when Russell is discovered dead from a gunshot wound to the back of his head. The only clue Rutledge has is a woman's gold locket found around Russell's neck. With more questions than answers, Rutledge's search leads him to Russell's estate in Essex. There the villagers are openly hostile to Rutledge's inquiries. What are they hiding? Did Russell kill Fowler? Why would anyone kill a dying man? Rutledge must quickly solve the case because this killer's lust for vengeance is far from satiated. Verdict While Rutledge shines as the stalwart detective wrestling with his personal demons, the compelling mystery of shameful secrets and revenge are what keep these pages turning. Highly recommended for all historical mystery enthusiasts who like detectives with true grit. Jacqueline Winspear fans seeking new readalikes will also enjoy this intelligent series. [See Prepub Alert, 7/25/11.]-Susan O. Moritz, Montgomery Cty. P.L., MD (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A Lonely Death, 2011, etc.) listens attentively to the Scotland Yard walk-in who says that his name is Wyatt Russell, that he's dying of cancer and that he murdered his cousin Justin Fowler in 1915 and is admitting it now, five years later, so that he can rest in peace. Wondering if his tale is true, Rutledge heads for the man's home at River's Edge, near Furnham in the Essex marshes, and encounters extremely unfriendly villagers anxious to send him on his way. Two weeks later, when the man's body washes up in the Thames with a bullet in the back of the head, Rutledge's queries become more serious. He discovers that the victim was not who he claimed to be, though a clue to his real identity may lie in the picture in the locket around his neck. Questions about that picture lead to birth and death notices at Somerset House and the disturbing knowledge that Mrs. Russell, once the matriarch of the deserted River's Edge house, upped and disappeared one day. Suicide? Or something more sinister? Cynthia Farraday, who seems to have attracted all the males on the estate, appears. So does the real Wyatt Russell, just in time to be assailed. Who then was the confessor? Rutledge won't settle matters until he unravels a long-ago double homicide and delves into the mysterious enmity of the River's Edge residents. Rutledge, still consumed with his own war memories, seems headed for a fierce emotional collapse this time out. One fervently hopes the Todd writing partnership can offer him solace in the next go-round.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
