V. I. Warshawski

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French DVD cover of V.I. Warshawski starring Kathleen Turner as private eye V.I. Warshawski
French DVD cover of V.I. Warshawski starring Kathleen Turner as private eye V.I. Warshawski

Victoria Iphigenia “Vic” Warshawski is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Sara Paretsky. She is a gritty Chicago private investigator. Nearly every novel and short story in the series is written with V.I. as the narrator in the first person (though the short story “The Pietro Andromache” is in the third person instead).

Contents

[edit] Biography

Victoria Iphigenia Warshawski is the daughter of the Italian-born Gabriella Sestrieri and Polish police officer Tony Warshawski, a member of the Chicago police department. Both her parents are deceased; Gabriella died of cancer, two years before V.I. went to College, and ten years before the death of her father in 1976[1]. This implies that V.I. was born in about 1950. We also learn from Toxic Shock that V.I. was last at her high school some 20 years previously; therefore this story was set in 1988, the year of the book’s publication. Sara Paretsky, in an interview, tells us that V.I. ages in real time.

She studied law but, after a short stint as a P.D., decided to become a private detective specializing in commercial cases and company finances—white-collar crime. V.I. has been divorced once, from lawyer Dick Yarborough. She has no children.

In most novels, she is drawn into murder cases that have a connection to white-collar crime. V.I. regularly ends up pursuing cases that affect her friends and estranged family, or those she feels are being bullied by the upper crust of Chicago. She also shares two dogs with her neighbor, named Peppy and Mitch.

In addition to one failed marriage, V.I. has had a few lovers over the years. Some of them appear in more than one book, and some even after the relationship has ended.

[edit] Recurring Characters

(Note: Because the novels and short stories span a large number of years and there are changes at the end of each one, some characters do not appear as the novels progress, or do not appear until later novels. Characters listed here appear in at least two novels.)

  • Carol Alvarado, a nurse at Dr. Herschel’s clinic
  • Sal Barthele, statuesque owner of the Golden Glow bar
  • Freeman Carter, V.I.’s legal counsel on retainer (when she needs it)
  • Salvatore Contreras, downstairs widower neighbor and slightly overbearing friend
  • Terry Finchley, a police detective whom V.I. interacts with regularly
  • Darraugh Graham, an extremely important and long-standing client
  • Dr. Charlotte “Lotty” Herschel, close friend and perinatologist at Beth Israel Hospital; formerly had her own clinic as a general practitioner
  • Max Loewenthal, Lotty’s significant other; executive director of Beth Israel Hospital and an art and music aficionado
  • Bobby Mallory, police officer and friend of V.I.’s father Tony
  • John McGonnigal, police officer who regularly interacts with V.I.
  • Mary Louise Neely, an officer in the Chicago P.D. who provides a significant amount of assistance to V.I. over time
  • Conrad Rawlings, a detective in the Chicago P.D.
  • Murray Ryerson, reporter at the Herald-Star newspaper; V.I.’s longtime friend and sometime rival

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Novels

With year of first publication:

[edit] Short Stories

  • Windy City Blues (1995) Published as V.I. For Short in the UK.

[edit] Movies

Only Deadlock has been turned into a movie, V.I. Warshawski, with Kathleen Turner in the title role. The movie was not a commercial success.

[edit] Radio Adaptations

BBC Radio 4 has produced three radio dramas based on the series. The first two, Deadlock and Killing Orders, feature Kathleen Turner reprising her movie role, with Eleanor Bron as "Lotty".. The third, Bitter Medicine, stars Sharon Gless as Warshawski.

[edit] Popular Culture

[edit] References

  1. ^ Toxic Shock
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