Will I love Deadlock?

As someone who has never been to Chicago and knew nothing about the Great Lakes shipping industry, the book was fascinating in so many ways. Sara Paretsky has a compelling, strong female lead but also takes us places we never conceived of. Paretsky’s murder investigation is thrilling, and the characters are well crafted and ones that the reader will care about. It is an excellent book that has stayed in my memory for decades.

With V.I. Warshawski, Sara Paretsky gives the world a hard-boiled woman detective as tough and driven as any male PI. In the series’ second novel (1984), Warshawki’s Chicago is as detailed and engaging as Spenser’s Boston. A feminist of note, Paretsky is unafraid to depict the Windy City’s love of hockey, its politics, its neighborhoods, its quirks, and the particulars of Great Lakes shipping. Like Buffalo, Chicago is a Rust Belt city with character to add to its characters. Paretsky showcases them all deftly and lovingly.