Victoria Iphigenia “Vic” “V. I.” Warshawski is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories written by Sara Paretsky. She is a gritty, independent private investigator from Chicago. Aside from one short story, The Pietro Andromache, all of Warshawski's adventures are written in the first person.
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Victoria Iphigenia Warshawski, called “Vic” by her friends, is the daughter of the Italian-born Gabriella Sestrieri and the Polish Anton “Tony” Warshawski, a former Chicago Police Officer. Gabriella died of cancer when Vic was in high school, and Tony died ten years later in 1976.[1] This implies that Vic was born about 1950. We also learn from Blood Shot (published as "Toxic Shock" in the U.K.) that Vic was last at her high school some 20 years previously; therefore, this story was set in 1988, the year of the book’s publication. In an interview, Sara Paretsky pointed out that Warshawski aged in real time.[2]
Vic grew up on the Southeast Side of Chicago, in the shadow of shuttered steel mills and factories.
After earning a law degree at the University of Chicago, Vic had a short stint as a Public Defender before becoming a private detective specializing in white-collar crime. Vic is divorced from corporate lawyer Dick Yarborough. She has no children.
In most novels, she is drawn into murder cases connected to white-collar crime. Vic 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.
A lean, athletic brunette who runs to keep in shape, Vic is not afraid of physical confrontations, relying on her karate skills or her Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol with its nine-round magazine.[3]
Hot-tempered, sarcastic, and fiercely self-reliant, Vic prefers T-shirts and jeans and sleeps in the nude, but she can dress stylishly if necessary. She hates to admit being scared or vulnerable. Her capable and willful personality has led fans and literary critics to consider her one of the few feminist detectives.[4] She loves opera and classical music; she often sings arias and plays her piano in times of stress. She stays trim despite a ravenous appetite and favors multi-course ethnic meals with good wine. She often indulges in big, greasy breakfasts and Polish sausage sandwiches.[3]
She shares two dogs, Peppy and Mitch, with her neighbor.
In addition to one failed marriage, Vic has had a few lovers over the years. Some of them appear in more than one book, even after the relationship has ended.
Her closest friend is Viennese physician, Dr. Charlotte “Lotty” Herschel, who treats her various illnesses and combat-related injuries.
(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.)
With year of first publication:
Only Deadlock has been turned into a movie, V. I. Warshawski, with Kathleen Turner in the title role. The film, which took many creative liberties with Paretsky's character, was meant as a franchise for Turner, but those plans were scrapped when it was not a commercial success, grossing only $11.1 million domestically.
BBC Radio 4 has produced four radio dramas based on the series. The first two, Deadlock and Killing Orders, feature Kathleen Turner reprising her movie role, with Eleanor Bron as Dr. Charlotte “Lotty” Herschel. The third, Bitter Medicine, stars Sharon Gless as Warshawski and in the fourth, "Publicity Stunts," http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer Warshawski is accused of murder and, with all eyes upon her, goes after the truth before the law closes in on her.