First edition as new

La detective Victoria Warshawski, mujer independiente, solitaria, aparentemente dura e incapaz de ordenar su vida doméstica y sentimental, vuelve a hacerse cargo de la causa de los desheredados encarnada en dos de sus vecinos: una anciana que vive sola con sus perros y cuya presencia incomoda a los nuevos residentes del barrio y el entrañable señor Contreras, que le pide su ayuda para localizar a un antiguo compañero de trabajo desaparecido cuando hacía averiguaciones sobre las condiciones de jubilación de la empresa en la que ambos trabajaban. En esta doble actividad, Warshawski se asomará a la problemática de los ancianos en una sociedad despiadada que no duda en aprovecharse de sus miembros más desfavorecidos.

V. I. uncovers bank scam involving elderly neighbor, local yuppies, and her ex-husband

This was such a great book. I enthused about it to several people on vacation. The first couple of VI books were hard to take. She was hard to take. But in this one, "Guardian Angel" we have two separate cases that VI is working that end up coming together.

In this one we finally have VI facing the consequences of some of the decisions she is making that end up impacting her and her friends. Also we have a new love interest for VI in this one which was nice. This character we have met before, and I am curious how that is going to work due to the racial dynamics at play (VI is white, her new lover is black).

This seems like a pretty straight forward story. VI is dealing with her shared dog (Peppy) becoming pregnant. VI of course wants nothing to do with it and blames Mr. Contreras for letting it happen. I have to say though that I loved reading about the puppies. Though VI has some cases she is wrapping up, not much is going on with her. She has reached a new understanding with Bobby Mallory (thank goodness) and though she's alone, she's still focused on staying independent.

When a neighbor of VI's ends up taking a fall that lands her in the hospital, some of the other neighbors use that as a way to get approved as guardians for the older woman. They then put her dogs to sleep and go about trying to get the deed to the house in order to put it up for sell. VI of course puts her nose in cause the whole putting her dogs to sleep thing has her ticked. Mr. Contreras also needs VI's help due to an old friend of his getting in some trouble. When Mr. Contreras's friend winds up dead, VI starts poking around to figure out who would want the older man dead.

The two plots end up syncing up though I have to say that I was surprised at how Paretsky did it.

What was really good though is that Lotty's longtime nurse is ready to move on which leads her in a bad mood. Things get worse when Lotty is attacked due to the assailants thinking she is VI. The friendship between the two women takes a huge hit and one wonders if they are able to get past it.

I have to say though that VI seems to learn in this one that her behavior has consequences and that she can't just keep doing what she is doing. Frankly, I find her stubborn and kind of a jerk at times in this one. But I can see why. She is doing a lot of soul searching due to having her ex-husband back in her face in this one and having to see the new wife he traded her in for as well. I do like though that more people called Vic out on her crap. ( )

Again, I have to wonder how V. I. stays solvent with all the cases she takes for friends and relatives. In this book, it starts out with helping her downstairs neighbor Salvatore Contreras figure out what happened to his friend, Mitch. It evolves into helping a neighbor lady down the block, Mrs. Frizzell. All with very little pay--or at least very little pay that we hear about, despite Mr. Contreras's insistence that he'll pay her rates. (Not that I blame her for not charging him. It was a nice thing to do. But considering that through most of the book she's trying to figure out how she's going to buy new running shoes since hers are on their last legs even before they end up at the bottom of the canal as well as figuring out how she's going to pay to fix the Trans Am. . .)

Mitch and Mr. Contreras worked together at Diamondhead. Mitch is now an alcoholic and claims that he's got something that will make Diamondhead's bosses pay him, despite the fact that he's well retired. Then, Mitch just disappears.

While checking into that, V. I. also runs afoul of her ex-husband, Dick, and his father-in-law as well as others in the father-in-law's family. Though I was surprised when Dick and Terry confronted V. I. near the end of the book with how Dick acted.

Mrs. Frizzell's dog, Bruce, is the father of Peppy's puppies, even though she won't admit it. When Mrs. Frizzell falls in her bathroom, V.I. and another neighbor, Marjorie Hellstrom try to take care of the dogs. Another neighborhood couple, Todd and Chrissy, go to court to get guardianship of Mrs. Frizzell and have all the dogs put down. This angers V. I. enough that she starts looking into Mrs. Frizzell's finances and finds that someone promised Mrs. Frizzell a 17% return on what turn out to be junk bonds.

The issue between Lottie and V. I. isn't resolved by the end of the book--so I wonder if they will go back to being the way they were or if this will be a new normal. Also, I wonder if Carol Alvarado's role in the series will diminish based on her decisions.

As seems normal for me with this author, I think things should be wrapped up and there's still more chapters to come. Sometimes I feel that the author needlessly complicates the plot. ( )