Love & Other Crimes

Love & Other Crimes

by Sara Paretsky

Narrated by Susan Ericksen

Unabridged — 14 hours, 11 minutes

Love & Other Crimes

Love & Other Crimes

by Sara Paretsky

Narrated by Susan Ericksen

Unabridged — 14 hours, 11 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$31.99
FREE With a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
$0.00

Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime

START FREE TRIAL

Already Subscribed? 

Sign in to Your BN.com Account


Listen on the free Barnes & Noble NOOK app


Related collections and offers

FREE

with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription

Or Pay $31.99

Overview

“Sara Paretsky is a genius.” -LEE CHILD

From New York Times bestselling author Sara Paretsky, a collection of thrilling crime and detective short stories, many featuring legendary detective V.I. Warshawski-including a brand-new V.I. story.

New York Times bestselling author Sara Paretsky is the master of twisting suspense and compelling plots. She has been hailed by the crime community as “a legend” (Harlan Coben) and “one of the all-time greats” (Karin Slaughter). Her acclaimed novels featuring detective V.I. Warshawski have become one of the most celebrated series in modern fiction. Now in this spellbinding collection, Paretsky showcases her extraordinary talents with fourteen short stories, including one new V.I. story and seven other classics featuring the indomitable detective.

In “Miss Bianca,” a young girl becomes involved in espionage when she befriends a mouse in a laboratory that is conducting dark experiments. Ten-year-old V.I. Warshawski appears in “Wildcat,” embarking on her very first investigation to save her father. A hardboiled New York detective and elderly British aristocrat team up to reveal a murderer in Chicago during the World's Fair in “Murder at the Century of Progress.” In the new title story, “Love & Other Crimes,” V.I. treads the line between justice and vengeance when the wrongful firing of a family friend makes him a murder suspect.

For longtime fans of V.I. Warshawski, new readers discovering her for the first time, or any lover of crime and bone-chilling suspense, Love & Other Crimes is a celebration of Paretsky's exceptional storytelling skill and a searing exploration of the dark conspiracies and desperate human acts hiding in plain sight.


Editorial Reviews

AUGUST 2020 - AudioFile

Narrator Susan Ericksen teams up again with author Sara Paretsky to provide listeners with a special treat: 14 short stories themed on love in a variety of machinations. Seven of the stories feature Paretsky’s famous private detective, V.I. Warshawski. Ericksen succeeds in capturing the mini-worlds of the stories, which are populated by both familiar and new characters of different ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities. Ericksen masterfully uses accent, tone, and pace to bring these characters to life in the brief timeframe that the short story structure allows. She also voices Paretsky herself, who shares notes on the inspiration for each story. Fans will welcome this opportunity to gain insight on Paretsky’s writing process. E.Q. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

04/06/2020

The 14 stories in this welcome collection from MWA Grand Master Paretsky (the V.I. Warshawksi PI series) are loosely tied together by the theme of people who kill for love in all its permutations: a sister for her brother, a child for her father, a son for the mother he never knew. Classic mystery detectives appear in two delightful homages: “The Curious Affair of the Italian Art Dealer,” which involves Sherlock Holmes, and “Murder at the Century of Progress,” set at the 1933–1934 Chicago World’s Fair, which includes a Miss Marple-like sleuth. Two standout tales set during the Vietnam War era are “Miss Bianca,” a touching story of a little girl’s love for a laboratory mouse, and “Wildcat,” a child’s-eye view of the 1966 Chicago race riots. “Safety First,” a terrifying story set in a dystopian near future in which a female doctor is arrested for treating undocumented immigrants, feels only too possible, while “Trial by Fire,” set on the Kansas plains during Prohibition, starkly portrays a grim reality of America’s past. The love that really comes through in each story is the love and empathy Paretsky has for her all-too-human characters. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (June)

From the Publisher

"A crime-fiction pro struts her stuff with short works featuring V.I. Warshawski, her prickly, stalwart Chicago PI, plus several homages to detectives past. Murder binds these wonderfully varied tales, but so does love—including that of a girl for a lab mouse she is determined to save." — People on Love & Other Crimes 

"Paretsky shows she’s as superior a writer of the short-form crime story as she is of the novel in this consistently entertaining collection." — Washington Post on Love & Other Crimes

"The well-wrought plots and densely imagined worlds make this the most distinguished mystery collection so far this year." — Kirkus (starred review) on Love & Other Crimes

"Paretsky continues to thrill . . . In addition to heart-pounding crime fighting and sleuthing, these stories run deep with aching sketches of love and loss. Some contain scathing political commentary, with haunting versions of possible futures. Fans of witty characters, complicated plots, stories with somber endings, and, of course, V.I Warshawski will enjoy this book." — Library Journal on Love & Other Crimes

"A wisely provocative and zestfully entertaining crime collection."
Booklist (starred review) on Love & Other Crimes

"The love that really comes through in each story is the love and empathy Paretsky has for her all-too-human characters." — Publishers Weekly on Love & Other Crimes

“Wonderful company and a rich discovery awaiting those who have yet to meet [Warshawski]. ” — Los Angeles Times

“Sara Paretsky reigns as one of the all-time greats.” — Karin Slaughter

“Sara Paretsky is a legend . . . If you haven’t read her yet, now is the time.” — Harlan Coben

“As long as Paretsky’s hotheaded, quick-witted sleuth is on the job, imperiled young women . . . will always have a champion.” — New York Times Book Review

“I’m a fanboy . . . When I was teaching myself to write thrillers, I closely studied Sara Paretsky’s detective V. I. Warshawski.” — John Sandford

“Legendary V.I. Warshawski is as dogged and ferocious as ever. So is Sara Paretsky, who is at the top of her crime novel game.” — C.J. Box

“Writing advance praise for Sara Paretsky is like writing a job recommendation for Bill Gates. Paretsky is the gold standard for novels dealing with crime and its consequences.” — Charlaine Harris

People on Love & Other Crimes 

"A crime-fiction pro struts her stuff with short works featuring V.I. Warshawski, her prickly, stalwart Chicago PI, plus several homages to detectives past. Murder binds these wonderfully varied tales, but so does love—including that of a girl for a lab mouse she is determined to save."

New York Times Book Review

As long as Paretsky’s hotheaded, quick-witted sleuth is on the job, imperiled young women . . . will always have a champion.

Booklist (starred review) on Love & Other Crimes

"A wisely provocative and zestfully entertaining crime collection."

Washington Post on Love & Other Crimes

"Paretsky shows she’s as superior a writer of the short-form crime story as she is of the novel in this consistently entertaining collection."

Karin Slaughter

Sara Paretsky reigns as one of the all-time greats.

Harlan Coben

Sara Paretsky is a legend . . . If you haven’t read her yet, now is the time.

|Los Angeles Times

Wonderful company and a rich discovery awaiting those who have yet to meet [Warshawski].

null People on Love & Other Crimes 

"A crime-fiction pro struts her stuff with short works featuring V.I. Warshawski, her prickly, stalwart Chicago PI, plus several homages to detectives past. Murder binds these wonderfully varied tales, but so does love—including that of a girl for a lab mouse she is determined to save."

null Washington Post on Love & Other Crimes

"Paretsky shows she’s as superior a writer of the short-form crime story as she is of the novel in this consistently entertaining collection."

null Booklist (starred review) on Love & Other Crimes

"A wisely provocative and zestfully entertaining crime collection."

C.J. Box

Legendary V.I. Warshawski is as dogged and ferocious as ever. So is Sara Paretsky, who is at the top of her crime novel game.

Los Angeles Times

Wonderful company and a rich discovery awaiting those who have yet to meet [Warshawski].

Charlaine Harris

Writing advance praise for Sara Paretsky is like writing a job recommendation for Bill Gates. Paretsky is the gold standard for novels dealing with crime and its consequences.

John Sandford

I’m a fanboy . . . When I was teaching myself to write thrillers, I closely studied Sara Paretsky’s detective V. I. Warshawski.

Library Journal

06/01/2020

Paretsky continues to thrill with her latest collection filled with stories set in her home state of Kansas as well as her PI heroine V.I. Warshawski's hometown of Chicago. These 14 stories transcend time with settings ranging from the Prohibition era through the 1960s and modern day. Many of them extrapolate upon past Warshawski novels, telling stories readers never knew they needed. Vic sniffs out likely and unlikely suspects in "Love & Other Crimes" and "Is It Justice?" In "Safety First," Dr. Herschel gets sent to jail in a dystopian nightmare. "Trial by Fire" features ancestors of characters in Paretsky's novel Bleeding Kansas, a miniprequel in the making. The author pays homage to mystery authors past, such as Agatha Christie and Anna Katharine Green with letter formats, fun plot lines, and rich characterizations. In addition to heart-pounding crime fighting and sleuthing, these stories run deep with aching sketches of love and loss. Some contain scathing political commentary, with haunting versions of possible futures. VERDICT Fans of witty characters, complicated plots, stories with somber endings, and, of course, V.I Warshawski will enjoy this book.—Kay Strahan, Univ. of Tennessee Health Sciences Lib., Memphis

AUGUST 2020 - AudioFile

Narrator Susan Ericksen teams up again with author Sara Paretsky to provide listeners with a special treat: 14 short stories themed on love in a variety of machinations. Seven of the stories feature Paretsky’s famous private detective, V.I. Warshawski. Ericksen succeeds in capturing the mini-worlds of the stories, which are populated by both familiar and new characters of different ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities. Ericksen masterfully uses accent, tone, and pace to bring these characters to life in the brief timeframe that the short story structure allows. She also voices Paretsky herself, who shares notes on the inspiration for each story. Fans will welcome this opportunity to gain insight on Paretsky’s writing process. E.Q. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2020-03-29
Fourteen stories, most dating from 1996 to 2018, about Chicago shamus V.I. Warshawski, her friends and family, and a remarkably diverse group of other people.

Five of the seven stories about Warshawski are first-rate; only “Wildcat,” which takes the young Victoria’s family through the disruption of Martin Luther King’s 1966 visit to Chicago, and “Is It Justice?” a wish-fulfillment sequel to Critical Mass (2013) in which somebody shoots a newly exonerated killer as he descends the courthouse steps, play better as politics than fiction. In the others, V.I. seeks out a student she humiliated at a high school Q&A; finds a contemporary case of plagiarism beneath a decade-old murder; hunts down her client’s father only to be told that he’s not her client’s father; turns down a bodyguard gig on behalf of a wealthy author who begins trash-talking her every chance she gets; and, in the brand-new title story, goes to bat for her dislikable ex-neighbor’s kid brother when he’s arrested for murder. What’s even more impressive is the variety of the other seven stories. Paretsky effortlessly masters Dr. Watson’s voice in an adventure that shows Sherlock Holmes bested by an upstart American and sends Carroll John Daly’s pioneering hard-boiled dick Race Williams to the 1933 Century of Progress Fair. The deftly plotted “Acid Test” shows an apostle of nonviolence arrested for bombing a neighbor’s scientific institute. The charming “Miss Bianca” turns on a 10-year-old girl’s solicitude for a lab mouse. The dystopian fantasy “Safety First” and “Trial by Fire,” a pendant to Bleeding Kansas (2007), show off Paretsky’s willingness to take risks. And “Heartbreak House,” in which a romance writer’s editor recommends that she consult a psychotherapist, who promptly gets killed, ends the collection on a wryly amused note.

The well-wrought plots and densely imagined worlds make this the most distinguished mystery collection so far this year.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940177561059
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 06/30/2020
Edition description: Unabridged
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews