Love & Other Crimes: Stories

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. [em]Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (June) [/em]