Shell Game

Sara Paretsky's novels always make me shake my fist in anger at the hopelessness of bureaucracy.  All our favorite bad apples and a few new ones appear in this book - ICE, the government, fat cat billionaires, people who prey on others, oh and the Russian mob. Shell Game has V.I. Warshawski up against some ruthless, amoral people.

When Lottie's nephew Felix is dragged to the site where a body is discovered in the middle of the night, V.I. Warshawski is at his side. He doesn't know the victim, but inside the pocket is Felix's name and phone number. Of course that does not stop the authorities from detaining him and accusing Felix of working with ISIS, even though he is Canadian.

As Vic digs deeper into the victim, she discovers Lawrence Fausson was obsessed with Middle East archaeology and had worked on a dig in Syria as a graduate student. She soon connects him to The Oriental Institute and a Syrian Community Center in the suburbs. Naturally any connection to the Middle East attracts the attention of ICE.

Also in the mix are her two nieces (from her long-ago marriage to Dick Yarborough) Reno and

Harmony. Both girls have lead tragic lives living with their drug-addicted, sexually abusive mother, but they seem to have survived despite her lifestyle. When Harmony turns up in Chicago asking Vic to help her find her missing sister Reno, Vic loves nothing better than pulling her ex-husband's chain and sending him into a rage.

While investigating Vic finds herself tangling with the Russian mob, missing artifacts, a shady network of stock scams who prey on financially-distressed people and her missing niece. Connecting the dots before someone else is murdered is a top priority.

An action-packed adventure that leads from Chicago to the Boundary Waters  with impacts in Syria and the Middle East. And in a twist of ironic fate, justice is served at the end. One of Paretsky's best novels. 

Even if you have never read any of the previous V.I. Warshawski books (and why haven't you), this one is superb.