No one would accuse V.I. Warshawski of backing down from a fight, but there are a few she'd be happy to avoid. High on that list is tangling with Chicago political bosses. Yet that's precisely what she ends up doing when she responds to Frank Guzzo's plea for help. For six stormy weeks back in high school, V.I. thought she was in love with Frank. He broke up with her, she went off to college, he started driving trucks for Bagby Haulage. She forgot...

When the teenage daughters of some of Chicago's most influential families discover the body of a ritually murdered victim, investigator Warshawski explores theories that the killing is linked to a hostile media campaign against a senatorial candidate or a wealthy patriarch's childhood in Nazi-occupied Lithuania.

When V.I. Warshawski returns to her Chicago office, she finds her once tidy work space in ruins. Ripped documents, upended drawers, and framed pictures have been strewn about. The most chilling find, though, is a bracelet belonging to Warshawki's cousin, Petra. With Petra missing, the cops spring into action, labeling the episode as kidnapping, assault, and aggravated burglary. As they investigate, Warshawski wonders if her connection to the Anacondas...