Dead Land by Sara Paretsky

DEAD LAND by Sara Paretsky is the latest V. I. Warshawski mystery.  I always enjoy these, due in part to their Chicago settings, and here is a classic involving real estate development and potential corruption from government officials.  V. I. becomes involved due to pleas from her goddaughter, Bernie Fouchard, who has become obsessed with rescuing Lydia Zamir, a songwriter now living on the streets.  Zamir’s mental health is in peril due to witnessing the murder of her lover at an outdoor concert’s mass shooting.  But, of course, the story is more tangled than that. A local community group is involved, too, and one of their members dies after questioning land use along the lakefront. DEAD LAND received a starred review from Booklist while Kirkus said [Paretsky focuses on] “uncovering a monstrous web of evil, and this web is one of her densest and most finely woven ever.”  Highly recommended.