Sara Paretsky: Total Recall

By MICHELE HEWITSON

A fat V.I. Warshawski novel just in time for Christmas. Paretsky's tough-as-old-boots, heart-of-gold female PI is back and embroiled, as usual, in a plot with more twists than a pretzel.

In Chicago protesters are calling for an investigation into the recovery of Holocaust assets; V.I. is investigating the non-payment of an insurance claim to a poor black family.

A strange, lonely man appears on the periphery of the drama: he says his name is Paul Radbuka, that he survived the Holocaust and that the man who said he was his father was in fact a Nazi who had abducted and tortured him. Radbuka has only recently learned of his past with the help of a therapist who deals in recovered memories. When Radbuka begins stalking V.I.'s kindertransport friends in the deluded belief that they are hiding their family links from him, the PI has to unravel both mystery and history.

Paretsky's V.I. is believable and, for somebody who jogs, likeable. Complex and satisfying, it should get you through the aftermath of Christmas lunch while somebody else solves the mystery of what to do with the leftover turkey.

Penguin

$34.95