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    Indemnity Only
    Indemnity Only
    Indemnity Only
    Audiobook8 hours

    Indemnity Only

    Written by Sara Paretsky

    Narrated by Susan Ericksen

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Meeting an anonymous client late on a sizzling summer night is asking for trouble. But trouble is Chicago private eye V. I. Warshawski's specialty. Her client says he's the prominent banker John Thayer. Turns out he's not. He says his son's girlfriend, Anita Hill, is missing. Turns out that's not her real name.

    V. I.'s search turns up someone soon enough—the real John Thayer's son, and he's dead. Who's V. I.'s client? Why has she been set up and sent out on a wild-goose chase? By the time she's got it figured, things are hotter—and deadlier—than Chicago in July. V. I.'s in a desperate race against time. At stake: a young woman's life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateSep 1, 2011
    ISBN9781455822645
    Indemnity Only
    Author

    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.

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    Reviews for Indemnity Only

    4.5/5

    72 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is Sara Paretsky's first book in a long and celebrated mystery career. This story is a hard boiled crime caper set in the city of Chicago. It deals with corrupt big business, organized crime, and unions; the perfect recipe for a crime novel set in the City of Big Shoulders. V. I. Warshawski is a bit hard to wrap your head around, since she seems to act both nard-as-nails tough, and soft and womanly at odd times. You can tell this is a debut, as Paretsky's prose can be choppy at times, and some of her dialogue needs some cleaning up. I'm excited to start in on the rest of the series, as it is touted to be some of the best Chicago crime wiritng there is. Speaking of, I have lived in Chicago for my entire 27 years, however I was born in '83, a year after this novel was first published. It is a bit of an historical look at the city for me, since most of the places and neighborhoods she is writing about have changed significantly since this novel's publication. For me it is an interesting look at the city I know and love, before it knew and loved me. :)
    • 4/5
      This introduces the series with V.I. Warshawski, a female PI. Paretsky does at least give us sketch in more of a background then I've read in a host of private detective fiction. Vic's Italian/Jewish mother and Polish cop father certainly left their mark on her, and she's actually shown to have a friend. The plot, fully of shady businessmen, even shadier labor leaders, mobsters and corrupt cops in Chicago is fairly intricate yet hangs together nicely. I think the "rich people" are rather stereotypical, but several characters do come across as distinct individuals and I did grow to like Vic. She's a bit of a smart ass, but cool, competent and keeps in shape so I can suspend my disbelief and enjoy when she kicks some ass a la Buffy (and because she's not Buffy, she sometimes gets her ass kicked.) I was a bit irked by all the this is no job for a woman stuff, but then this was written in 1979 when Paretsky was as much a pioneer in writing a female PI as any real life counterpart would have been.
    • 4/5
      This is the first mystery in the V.I. Warshawski series. Vic is a female detective in a man’s world. She is hired by a man pretending to be someone else and is asked to find a young woman. The investigation takes many twists and turns, placing Vic and her friends in danger. Vic is a strong and resourceful woman. I enjoyed this book—it was fairly fast paced. Written in the first person narrative, this book takes the reader into the thoughts and musings of the main character. As the mystery was unwoven, I was able to see the thought processes of Vic. The final stand off where Vic revealed the crime seemed anticlimactic, however, because the character had been over it so many times—spelling out the crime at least twice before facing off with the bad guys. I will definitely give this series a try though as it appears to hold promise.
    • 3/5
      I like being in the world of the private detective, and V. I. is fun to read about. A little bit of narrative roughness and uncertainty. I liked the ending.
    • 4/5
      I find Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski Series very readable. The first Indemnity Only makes it clear that this is an homage to Film Noir and hardboiled detectives with V.I. Warshawski meeting her client in a darkened office (the fuses have blown)Lite only by the neon of a nearby bar.In her subesquent adventures V I is beaten up. shoot at and refuses to given in with a tenacity Marlow would admire. I like the slow march of technology through the series in the first book she has a manual typewriter. by the last she conducts internet searchs and has a mobile phone.Throughout she grows even more cynical as she battles against a sea of corruption, causing it seems only minor ripples .
    • 5/5
      The heroine is one tough lady! And the narrator did a great job!
    • 5/5
      Nothing is as mentally empowering as a VI Warshotsky novel!
    • 4/5
      Meet V.I. Warshawski – friends get to call her Vic, never Vicky. Indemnity only is the first in a series of 13 novels featuring the sassy Chicagoan PI.One evening she meets a new client, a banker, who wants her to find his son’s missing girlfriend. Vic goes to the boy’s pad to find him dead at the kitchen table with an expertly placed bullet through his head. No sign of the girlfriend. However it appears that she was set up to find the body, the banker turns out to be a union boss and the girlfriend is his daughter, and its obvious that the gangs are involved too. From there Vic goes on to eventually uncover massive insurance frauds, but not before getting badly beaten up, having a bit of romance too - and there’s still the missing girl to find.I liked Vic immensely – she’s strong, feisty and very independent; she’s feminine too. She had a Polish father and Italian mother, both now passed away. Her father was a good policeman and Vic takes after him having a very strong sense of social justice – it seems almost natural that she should have become a detective. Meanwhile her mother has left her with a love of opera and fashion – what other PI could get beaten up in a navy silk suit (chargeable!).Some years ago, I read one of the mid-series titles which I enjoyed, and I always planned to read more. Earlier this year, I went to an event with Sara Paretsky which I reported on on my blog and now I’ve finally got round to starting back at the beginning (with my signed copy!). The book is set during the late ’70s going into the ’80s having been published in 1982. Back then Warshawski was one of a kind and she’s become a popular crime heroine. Sure, the dialogue is a little clunky at times, but Chicago comes alive. Plot-wise, it’s quite complicated being set in the world of finance, but the action makes up for that keeping it fast moving and easy to read. Now we’ve met Vic, I’m looking forward to reading more as there’s a lot of corruption still out there for her to tackle. (7/10) I bought this book.
    • 4/5
      2012 marks the 30 year anniversary of the first publication of Sara Paretsky's debut novel and after listening to the BBC World Book Club program where she was the guest I decided to pick it up. You can definitely see that Indemnity Only is a debut novel. There is the minute detail often present in authors' first works, from what exactly their characters wore to what they ate. There are inconsistencies in quantities of family heirlooms and thorough accounts of habits and routines. Things like this could do a book in if there is enough of them and not enough of what keeps the reader turning the pages and rooting for the protagonist. In Paretsky's case the balance was in her favor and she went on to write 14 more V.I. Warshawski novels. So what was it that tipped the scales? For me it was the characters, the setting and that none of it got lost in those details. V.I., Vic to friends, is a badass with a soft underbelly. She knows martial arts, runs a 7.5 minute mile and isn't afraid to use her fists when the circumstances call for it, she'll help those in need with a complete disregard for her own safety or bottom line. She bristles when anyone questions her choice of profession or competence because she is a woman, but is realistic about her chances against a strong male opponent in single combat. In short V.I. Warshawski is a believable and relatable female character who is just as relevant today as she was 30 years ago, even if her environment is definitely outdated. She actually reminds me of Maria Bello's character in last year's Prime Suspect, I think Vic and Jane would get along. Secondary characters easily hold their own, even though they don't have quite as much time on the page and more often than not we don't know what they're wearing. I can't decide if my favorite is Lotty of McGraw, a spitfire doctor unfazed by any surprise or a conflicted man comparing himself to King Midas. Or maybe it's Bobby Mallory, who keeps trying to protect his friend's daughter and nearly blows a gasket every time she won't let him. Another thing to Paretsky's advantage is her ability to establish a sense of the world in which V.I. operates. The book is filled with social issues of the day - women's movement, tensions between the radically-inclined and the police, the divide between classes and the lack of acceptance of those who aren't of the same ancestry across all levels of society. With Vic being firmly working class and not particularly fond of the rich it would have been easy to make her just one of the not-too-priviledged and be done with it, but Paretsky makes her straddle the line in a way. Vic judges people by their actions, not their wealth or position, regardless of where they stand on social issues or how unpopular her opinion. It's clear of course that she is rooting for the little guy, just as Paretsky is, and it's no surprise that it's the working class characters who are the more sympathetic ones, but Warshawski isn't blindly prejudiced and justice and truth are her goals every step of the way. All this makes the story resonate more, makes it more personal, makes one think about how much the world has changed in the last 30 years and how much it hasn't. I read some V.I. Warshawski novels when I was in high school and remember enjoying them enough to blow through a half-dozen paperbacks in a couple of weeks, but I don't remember particularly noticing the elements that impressed me most this time around. Maybe I should revisit Warshawski before too much time passes, watch her catch some bad guys and learn something about the past while I'm at it.
    • 1/5
      Meeting an anonymous client late on a sizzling summer night is asking for trouble. But trouble is Chicago private eye V.I. Warshawski's specialty. Her client says he's the prominent banker, John Thayer. Turns out he's not. He says his son's girlfriend, Anita Hill, is missing. Turns out that's not her real name. V.I.'s search turns up someone soon enough -- the real John Thayer's son, and he's very, very dead. So, just who is this client, anyway? Why is he setting her up and sending her on a wild goose chase? By the time V.I. begins to figure it out, things are getting hotter that Chicago in July. It's a race against time, and there are not one but two young girls' lives at stake.I'm very, very late coming to this series. I've heard about it off and on for years, and I recall seeing a movie that starred Kathleen Turner as V.I. Warshawski way back in the 90s. This book was written in the late 1970s and it is very dated, but the action was hard core and fast paced. It tries to be as gritty as the "film noir" detective stories from the 1950s, and doesn't quite make it. The plot was extremely shallow and easy to see through. There were no surprises at all in this book. I'll probably not try to track down any more in this series. Like Hollywood obviously thought, once is quite enough of V.I. Warshawski.
    • 3/5
      Vic is the original Kinsey Milhone. Like the "Alphabet" mysteries, this one won't change your life, but it's fun, the plot is tight, and it's never boring. Good, basic, hard-boiled detective work with a female detective--the first of her kind. Good summer reading.