Bitter Medicine
Jan. 17th, 2020 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustGood news: I've been reading and watching a lot of good stuff lately. Bad news: I'm so far behind on posting about any of it.
Anyway. Detective novels, particularly women detective novels. I discovered Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone and Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawski during my formative years. I fell behind with Sue Grafton halfway through the alphabet series, but I never stopped following Sara Paretsky. I love how intricately plotted and carefully researched each book is, whether she delves into some contemporary issue or a historical event. I love how VI's investigation into a murder, or a missing person, or some other innocuous thread, unravels a bigger mystery, often involving the coverup of greater misdeeds. It's a staple of noir: greed and corruption, by powerful individuals and institutions. Anger at injustice, and determination to bring those responsible to account. Hard-won victories, sometimes bittersweet victories. And friends and allies, to fight the good fight with.
Bitter Medicine, the fourth VI Warshawski novel, is one of my favourites. VI tries to help the daughter of a family friend, a teenager with a high-risk pregnancy, when she goes into labour early, and has to go to an expensive hospital in an unfamiliar suburb. Things do not go well. VI is dealing with the aftermath, when a brutal murder occurs elsewhere in the city, that may or may not be connected.
It's been a long time since I reread it, but what I remembered was the audacity of the truth behind the mystery. After recently finishing the audiobook of Fallout, read by Liza Ross, I thought I'd revisit Bitter Medicine as an audiobook, read by Susan Ericksen. I enjoyed it! There was a lot I had forgotten, so it was a rollercoaster of highs and lows. And it was a pleasure to hear all the voices brought to life, vivid and distinctive.
Some observations:
* I'm used to older detective novels with their older technology. Like people looking for a landline to make a call, or checking with their answering service for messages. But I was still thrown when VI asked, "What's an ultrasound?" And was told, "A new technology in our state-of-the-art obstetrics unit! It lets you check a baby's heartbeat, and at a later stage, determine a baby's sex!" 1987 doesn't seem that long ago, until suddenly it does. It's mindblowing what we take for granted now.
* Having mainlined a lot of Lawrence Block recently, it's a striking contrast that all PIs get doors slammed in their faces, but women PIs also have to deal with smarmy men condescending to them. You would hope less of it in 2020 than in 1987, but it's still a thing you have to deal with, whether you're VI Warshawski, Kinsey Millhone, or Veronica Mars. It really is like that line about dancing backwards in high heels.
* PEPPY. VI's adorable golden retriever is so much a part of her life, I had totally forgotten that she wasn't always around, and I had totally forgotten how VI had come to look after her. So when we meet Peppy - or rather, when we meet Peppy AND HER LOVING OWNER - I was like, OH NO.
Anyway. Detective novels, particularly women detective novels. I discovered Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone and Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawski during my formative years. I fell behind with Sue Grafton halfway through the alphabet series, but I never stopped following Sara Paretsky. I love how intricately plotted and carefully researched each book is, whether she delves into some contemporary issue or a historical event. I love how VI's investigation into a murder, or a missing person, or some other innocuous thread, unravels a bigger mystery, often involving the coverup of greater misdeeds. It's a staple of noir: greed and corruption, by powerful individuals and institutions. Anger at injustice, and determination to bring those responsible to account. Hard-won victories, sometimes bittersweet victories. And friends and allies, to fight the good fight with.
Bitter Medicine, the fourth VI Warshawski novel, is one of my favourites. VI tries to help the daughter of a family friend, a teenager with a high-risk pregnancy, when she goes into labour early, and has to go to an expensive hospital in an unfamiliar suburb. Things do not go well. VI is dealing with the aftermath, when a brutal murder occurs elsewhere in the city, that may or may not be connected.
It's been a long time since I reread it, but what I remembered was the audacity of the truth behind the mystery. After recently finishing the audiobook of Fallout, read by Liza Ross, I thought I'd revisit Bitter Medicine as an audiobook, read by Susan Ericksen. I enjoyed it! There was a lot I had forgotten, so it was a rollercoaster of highs and lows. And it was a pleasure to hear all the voices brought to life, vivid and distinctive.
Some observations:
* I'm used to older detective novels with their older technology. Like people looking for a landline to make a call, or checking with their answering service for messages. But I was still thrown when VI asked, "What's an ultrasound?" And was told, "A new technology in our state-of-the-art obstetrics unit! It lets you check a baby's heartbeat, and at a later stage, determine a baby's sex!" 1987 doesn't seem that long ago, until suddenly it does. It's mindblowing what we take for granted now.
* Having mainlined a lot of Lawrence Block recently, it's a striking contrast that all PIs get doors slammed in their faces, but women PIs also have to deal with smarmy men condescending to them. You would hope less of it in 2020 than in 1987, but it's still a thing you have to deal with, whether you're VI Warshawski, Kinsey Millhone, or Veronica Mars. It really is like that line about dancing backwards in high heels.
* PEPPY. VI's adorable golden retriever is so much a part of her life, I had totally forgotten that she wasn't always around, and I had totally forgotten how VI had come to look after her. So when we meet Peppy - or rather, when we meet Peppy AND HER LOVING OWNER - I was like, OH NO.
