Overboard: A Novel

Written by Sara Paretsky

Narrated by Susan Ericksen

""Readers can find comfort in the dedication V.I. gives the cries for help she hears from friends, neighbors, and strangers... Very few series authors deliver as masterfully as Sara Paretsky.” — San Francisco Book Review

Legendary detective V.I. Warshawski uncovers a nefarious conspiracy preying on Chicago’s weak and vulnerable, in this thrilling novel from New York Times bestseller Sara Paretsky

On her way home from an all-night surveillance job, V.I. Warshawski’s dogs lead her on a mad chase that ends when they discover a badly injured teen hiding in the rocks along Lake Michigan. The girl only regains consciousness long enough to utter one enigmatic word. V.I. helps bring her to a hospital, but not long after, she vanishes before anyone can discover her identity. As V.I. attempts to find her, the detective uncovers an ugly consortium of Chicago powerbrokers and mobsters who are prepared to kill the girl. And now V.I.’s own life is in jeopardy as well.

Told against the backdrop of a city emerging from its pandemic lockdown, Overboard lays bare the dark secrets and corruption buried in Chicago’s neighborhoods in a masterly fashion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: May 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9780063010918

Sara Paretsky

Hailed by the Washington Post as “the definition of perfection in the genre,” Sara Paretsky is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous novels, including the renowned V.I. Warshawski series. She is one of only four living writers to have received both the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. She lives in Chicago.

Reviews for Overboard

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

V.I. Warshawski is entertaining company unraveling this complex mystery.

[shazjhb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good book. A bit long. Liked the Covid stuff.

[shelleyraec · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Overboard is the 21st novel featuring iconic Chicago private detective, V.I. (Vic) Warshawski. The series, credited with transforming the role and image of women in crime fiction, written by award winning author Sarah Paretsky made its debut in 1982. Vic is focused on three cases in this novel. The first involves a favour for her long term friend, Dr Lottie, who has asked her to investigate the harassment of a local synagogue. The second Vic stumbles into when, while walking her dogs along the foreshore, she discovers a badly beaten girl hidden amongst its rocky banks, who later vanishes from her hospital room under suspicious circumstances, and the third, a plea for help from a teenage boy who suspects his mother, whom Vic knew in highschool, is having an affair.Readers who are familiar with series will know what to expect from Overboard. Vic is a methodical and dogged investigator who never backs down and is willing to take risks to defend the vulnerable and innocent. As adept at sifting through paperwork and databases, as she is committing the odd break-in, and fighting off attackers, Vic employs all her skills to resolve the mysteries she is faced with. I enjoy the complexity of concurrent cases, and the entertaining mix of tense action and intelligent investigation. Somewhat improbably, though not troublesomely so, VIc’s three cases also spawn loose links to, and between, a mobbed up developer, a corrupt cop, and elder care abuse.I like that Paretsky references contemporary events within her storylines to ground them in time and place, and in Overboard she highlights several issues of the post-pandemic lockdown period, namely police violence and corruption, the rise of hate groups, and the societal changes wrought by CoVid, like the challenges of financial recovery and the use of masks. Though Overboard can be read as a stand-alone as the plot is self contained, the story is definitely enhanced by familiarity with the characters and their world. I’d expect long time fans, like me, will enjoy and be satisfied with this new instalment.

[kayanelson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I always love the V.I. Warshawski books by Sara Paretsky. Sometimes the plots get a little too complicated for me. But I love the detailed descriptions of Chicago which is where I live. There were also a few plot points that didn’t ring true to me. Taking her jacket off the dead body made no sense. But I will continue to read the next book in the series.

[terran_9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Glad to get back to a V.I Warshawski book, and this was one of the best in my opinion.

[schant-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another superb entry in Paretsky's V I Warshawski series. This time, as well as taking on corporate malfeasance in construction, she highlights the US healthcare system, where money is everything and those who can't pay are left to survive as best they can.

[romonko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have been reading V I Warshawski novels since the series began in 1991. This is book 21 in the series, and every book in the series has been exciting and thrilling. Sara Paretsky's heroine is a tough, smart and dogged P I. She follows every case to the very end, and doesn't give up, even when it becomes dangerous for her to continue. This story puts V I in grave danger and peril. It all starts with her finding a young teenage girl in a small cave on the shore of Lake Superior. Actually, her dog Mitch finds her, and Vic manages to get her out of her perilous perch and to a hospital The girl is cold, frightened and mute. Trying to find out what happened to her puts Vic on a dangerous path that takes her back to her childhood acquaintances in South Chicago where her and her cousin Boom-Boom used to live and play. She finds herself right in the middle of crooked city officials and cops. Crime is rampant and she uncovers shady real estate scams, a high-end painting robbery ring, corrupt senior age homes, as well as some people that won't hesitate to kill whoever they feel they need to in their efforts token their lucrative businesses afloat. They will stop at nothing to find Vic's young girl. There are about four or five storylines in the book right from the outset, and at first they don't appear to be connected, but as Vic continues to dig, very weird connections begin to appear. The book is exciting from beginning to end, but I did find with this book that the storylines were quite convoluted and tangled and there were just a few too many coincidental occurrences. It lost me a few times. It does all come together in the end, and Vic's resourcefulness is put to the test again and again. I highly recommend this series to fans of thrilling crime novels. Vic is one of the most likeable fictional characters out there.

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

law-enforcement, private-investigators, family, family-dynamics, violence, murder, multicultural, multigenerational, Chicago, crime-fiction, criminal-injustice-system, crooks, triggers, antisemitism, dogs, pets****As someone who worked alongside good coppers and deputies for years, I found the behaviors of the "self-entitled bad cops" in this story more than disgusting and very hard to read. The same goes for the blanket condemnation of care homes that are chronically understaffed by people who are more than just underpaid and verbally abused for the thankless work that they do. But the mystery and solution are very well done, and I think it's a good thing for fiction to record the timely realities of living through a pandemic. There is a lot of action at a fast pace, plot twists, red herrings, and exposure of bad politics and worse policework.I requested and received a free ebook copy from William Morrow Books via NetGalley.