V. I. Warshawski isn't crazy about going back to her old south Chicago neighborhood, but a promise is something she always keeps. Caroline, a childhood friend, has a dying mother and a problem--after twenty-five years she wants V.I. to find the father she never knew. But when V.I. starts probing into the past, she stumbles onto some long-buried secrets--and a very new corpse. Now she's stirring up a deadly mix of big business and chemical corruption that may become a toxic shock to a snooper who knows too much.

"[Paretsky's] work does more than turn the genre upside down: her books are beautifully paced and plotted, and the dialogue is fresh and smart."--Newsweek

"Her best and boldest work to date . . . a criminal investigation that is a genuine heroic quest."--The New York Times Book Review